My week started very quietly, on Monday 27th June, and I was trying my best to save money. We still didn’t really know how much my going in and out of the country would cost us but it was an amount we hadn’t budgeted for. I had teacake loaf and Frosties, with my Yorkshire tea, for breakfast then did some Turkish practice. I was still way behind on my lessons and thought I should check with Vanessa where she was with her’s this week. I had a late lunch of chicken, rice, sweetcorn, carrots and mushrooms which I steamed in the rice cooker, with a gluten free stock cube, and was super healthy. That evening I had a chicken sandwich and a couple of Strongbow ciders for dinner as I had decided to forego curry night this week. For dessert I had Red Leicester with the last of Kate’s fruitcake then I had an early night.
My day started a little after 4.30am on Tuesday 28th June. I had got up for a pee and decided to check my phone, which was on do not disturb mode. I don’t normally check my phone like that but I had a strange feeling. I’d heard some tragic news from a friend and work colleague yesterday which I think had been playing on my mind. A former colleague had died unexpectedly and some of my friends were still in the same team. It was hard not to think about everyone who would be affected and I’d not slept too well. I had a message from a friend, in England who was upset and so we messaged for a bit. I went back to sleep for a couple of hours but then it was too hot, today would turn out to be a warm one. I didn’t have any breakfast as I didn’t feel hungry but for lunch I had more chicken and veggie rice. In the afternoon I started helping someone in Dalyan. I was in the pool when I noticed a visitor, one I used to see a lot last year. It was Eric the bee, he was back and he stayed on the door to the pool for hours. After lots of swimming it was time for a pool beer at 6pm and I took some selfies of me doing that. My hair was curly from the humidity and the pool salt which made it look nice but meant I wouldn’t get a hairbrush through it. I also wore my red swimmers, which Captain Caveman doesn’t like, because I like them. I didn’t eat dinner until gone 9pm when I decided to have pesto pasta. When I opened the pesto it already had mould on it so I had to throw it away and find something else. We didn’t have any other sauces so I melted some Stilton cheese on to it, that was nice! The mosquitoes were rife tonight, a few were in the house so I wore a band which is meant to ward them off. I had noticed that Dengue fever was on the rise in Vietnam and I definitely didn’t want to catch that. At 10.30pm, which was 6.30pm Turkish time, Vanessa and I had a video call to discuss our Turkish lessons and homework. We were on the phone a while and it was good to chat and see a friendly face. It wasn’t quite the same as being in Okyanus with a glass of wine and a nice lunch but it was still good. I was meant to go to bed after we came off the phone but, instead, I stayed up until 2am doing my Turkish homework.
Captain Caveman had booked a car to take us on a shopping trip on Saturday 25th June. It wasn’t my idea of something good to do with a day off but Captain Caveman does enjoy shopping much more than I do. We were in the car and I was about to discuss my declined visa extension situation when Captain Caveman noticed a missed call from his boss. It’s not uncommon for this to happen on a day off early in the morning, so I wasn’t surprised. Captain Caveman was asked if he could be ready to go to do day 2 of a Hang Va tour, to cover for the Vietnamese tour guide who was on his way out. I thought we would have to turn the car around and go back but Captain Caveman pointed out that he couldn’t do it. This was the first time I’d ever witnessed Captain Caveman say no to one of his bosses asking him to do extra but, of course, I was pleased. In Dong Hoi we got the driver to drop us off at Mr Bull’s for breakfast where we ordered Bo Ne, I had mine without eggs. It was delicious but I sensed Captain Caveman’s mind was still on the Hang Va issue. The operations manager, called him to say it had been sorted but they had sent in Tatas to cover, so now could Captain Caveman cover for Tatas on her pre-briefing duties. He agreed as they were both on the same Son Doong tour tomorrow. This meant he had to be at work an hour earlier this evening, at Son Doong Bungalows. I was definitely getting an idea of how busy Captain Caveman had been these last few months and I knew he was going to be very disappointed that I wasn’t able to get a visa extension without having to leave Vietnam.
Our first shop on the shopping trip was the Co-op Mart, the biggest of the supermarkets in Dong Hoi, and it was busy. We spent a lot of money, I had forgotten to bring the shopping list but I think we remembered most things between us. The next place was VinMart, which is now called WinMart, and has new products in. I was so excited that they had small rice cookers for less than £20 so we bought one to take back to Turkey. Next stop was for tampons, also tricky to find in Vietnam, which they sell in the Medicare shop but were 174,000vnd (£6.26) for 2 boxes. Our last stop was the wine shop where Captain Caveman came back to the car with a box containing 3 bottles of white wine and 2 bottles of Bombay Sapphire gin for a bargain total of £50. We were meant to be spending some time in Dong Hoi and had planned to go to Tree Hugger for lunch and White Russian cocktails. Captain Caveman wasn’t in the mood now and suggested we just go straight back home.
It’s been a while since Ive done a big shop so here’s what we spent in the 2 supermarkets. £1 = 27,768 Vietnamese Dong (VDH)
Co-op Mart supermarket: 1 can of ginger ale 9,500 Baby wipes 12,300 2 onions 15,774 Bamboo Cotton buds 20,500 3 carrots 21,886 1 packet of pasta 22,500 Washing up liquid 22,500 1 packet of Grape haribos 25,200 Sugar free Milk 27,200 Passion fruit 30,751 4 cans of tonic 31,200 2 red peppers 32,347 3 mangos 39,063 Frozen sweetcorn 43,600 Mushrooms 50,500 2 chicken breasts 50,580 1 Tupperware 53,000 1 Tupperware 59,000 1 pomelo 59,988 Frozen strawberries 63,800 Tin foil 69,900 1 bottle of olive oil 130,000 3 cartons of orange juice 132,900 2 bottles of red wine 306,000
I was surprised at how cheap the bottles of Strongbow were as in Dalyan it was getting difficult to get even Turkish cider for less than £3 per bottle.
On the way back to Elements we came up with a Plan B and C for me and we decided I would apply for another e-Visa. I already had a flight booked from DaNang to Singapore, used as proof of leaving Vietnam after 1 month, so it made sense to take that. If another 30 day e-Visa was granted I would come back to Vietnam the next day and carry on as we were. If I didn’t get another visa then I would still come back in on the free 15 day visa exemption, get my stuff and go back to Turkey, or England perhaps. While I applied for my e-Visa, Captain Caveman unpacked the shopping and put it away. I got confirmation of my visa application, paid $25, and was told I would have notification by Wednesday. In the afternoon we didn’t really have much leisure time as we were busy with ‘Operation get me back in to Vietnam’ and Captain Caveman had to unpack, pack and prepare for work. I was lucky that Captain Caveman is so organised and calm in a crisis because I had been ready to have a mini meltdown. For dinner I had a bit of a concoction; yesterday I’d made tortilla but the frying pan was a bit iffy and it had stuck so it was more of a ‘deconstructed Spanish omelette’, I’d only made it to use up the potatoes, onions and eggs and had ended up with 2 in the fridge. I fried some of it up like a posh hash brown with some bacon and pickled white cabbage. It definitely wouldn’t win any awards for how it looked but it tasted great. For afters, I had fresh pineapple and passion fruit which was so good. I also noticed that the WinMart had charged us for 2 lots of pineapple but we only had one. When Captain Caveman returned from his briefing, having had to deal with a late joiner and more issues than he’s used to because that would’ve been Tatas’ job, he brought booze! His last group were disappointed that he was unable to do the gala dinner with them and had saved him some of their bottle of whisky – he said they were a really nice bunch of people. He kindly shared it with me and we listened to Kate’s Ultimate Boat Trip Playlist which she had shared on Facebook. There were some brilliant songs on there and it was about 24 hours long, I wondered if we could do a boat trip to celebrate when we returned to Dalyan and do the entire playlist.
The highlight of my day on Friday 24th June was Captain Caveman being able to come out for pizza night once again. I put a dress on and had asked Lan, The Villas manager, to reserve a big table for us tonight. I’d messaged to ask if we could also have a lift with the Phong Nha Farmstay transport. Ben said the transport would be late so we agreed to ask Duyet to take us up to the Farmstay so we could be having a happy hour beer there, before going to The Villas. When we tried to get Duyet it turned out he was already on another job and so I had to get changed out of my nice dress (the one I wore for Des’s leaving do) and put jeans, a t-shirt and volleys on so I could go on the back of the motorbike with Captain Caveman. It was a bit of an inconvenience and I had a slight face on as I had wanted to go out in a nice outfit for a change. Captain Caveman only had 24 hours free until he had to be back at work and I needed to get his attention somehow. When we got to the Farmstay we got happy hour beers and I was trying to tell him about the visa extension being denied. Of course I didn’t get to do that as he got talking to a Farmstay customer about caves and Son Doong. We were late for pizza night but Lucie and her family waited for us. They had not even started to eat without us, which was so polite. Also joining us were Giang and Aaron (freshly back from England), Luc (on a quick trip from Malaysia), Mark and Darren. This was the first time I’d seen Darren, Captain Caveman’s colleague, for a few years, he didn’t know about pizza night so he was about as excited as us and couldn’t believe his luck. As we didn’t have to drive back we were knocking back the half priced margaritas like someone was going to steal them. It was such a great night, the 10 of us had a lot of fun and I was really pleased to have got to see everyone again. Unfortunately, we had to leave about 9.30pm to get our lift back but we were grateful for staying later than usual! Our total bill came to 900,000vnd (£32.40) for the 2 of us, not bad as we don’t both go out together too often. Back home, Captain Caveman and I decided to have one more drink before bed as he wasn’t working until 6pm tomorrow – and what a day we had planned!
Lucie, her mom and her son were in Phong Nha until Sunday so I had hoped to meet them for lunch. On Thursday 23rd June they had arranged to take a trip to the Pub with Cold Beer, which I’d recommended for trying the BBQ chicken. The place has a pool too but it is a bit tricky to get to without a motorbike or car. Lucie messaged late morning to say to meet there at noon but it was too hot and far, for me to cycle to. I was conscious of spending any money too because I may have to go back to Turkey or do a visa run. I decided spending money on a car, plus lunch and drinks, would not be justifiable given my situation right now. It was super hot and we had a fridge and freezer full of stuff so I was happy to stay home. I went to lay on the sunbed by the pool and got a bit of a surprise; my new friend Kermit, jumped out at me and we made each other jump. A storm had been predicted, it didn’t look like rain to me, but maybe a frog on the 1st floor is a sign the water levels were going to be high. In the Vietnamese news there were photos of floods in Hanoi, which were pretty bad. I still wasn’t in the best of moods given my visa extension situation but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I decided to organise some good things to look forward to, I invited a few people to pizza night at The Villas tomorrow, friends I’d not seen in ages. It had been almost 3 weeks since I spoke to my parents in Dalyan as it had never been a convenient time for them to have a video chat. We are only 4 hours ahead of Turkey but it still isn’t ideal and they were busy enjoying what was left of their holiday. It was great to talk to them, even if my news wasn’t too positive today, and they cheered me up. I missed them and Dalyan but we joked that if my Plan B or Plan C failed, there was always the Plan D – go back to Dalyan. If it wasn’t for Captain Caveman I would have changed my flight and gone back – I knew he was going to be peeved when he got out of the cave tomorrow and heard about my predicament. My dinner was spaghetti bolognese and I had a Snickers for dessert, I’m not a massive fan of chocolate but I was starting to crave sweet things more than usual.
Wednesday 22nd June turned out to be a bit of a rubbish day! I woke up to a reply from my visa contact to say she needed me to bring my passport to the Phong Nha Farmstay straight away because she would take it to Dong Hoi, earlier than planned. She could tell I was concerned so she asked me to leave my passport at the Phong Nha reception and she would pick it up on her way to Dong Hoi. I rushed to get ready and, after only a few hours sleep, I was tired. Bluey’s tyres were flat and Duyet wasn’t around for me to get a lift. I eventually got to the Farmstay with Duyet at just after midday and left my passport at the reception desk. I decided to have a bowl of Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) and got chatting to a friend on messenger who was thinking of coming to Vietnam to visit. I spoke to Bich, Ben and Howie for a bit, Bich seemed shocked when we heard that I couldn’t extend my visa because it’s a tourist e-Visa! This is the only legitimate tourist visa there is in Vietnam, currently, and has been the case since mid-March. I was fuming! This was probably the most expensive trip I’d taken and I was regretting us spending the money for me not to see much of Captain Caveman. I had to leave Vietnam by the 5th July! I went back home in the jeep feeling very deflated and disappointed, even though I knew this would happen. I had a swim and a sleep but had headaches for the rest of the day. I had a coke to try to help with my headache and dehydration but it didn’t work. I had Stilton and French baguette for dinner with a glass of red wine, still left from last night. I had 12 days left of my visa so I should probably make the most of my time in Vietnam while I was still here so tomorrow I planned to meet up with friends who were visiting Phong Nha. I would discuss with Captain Caveman a Plan B when he got back on Friday.
I was woken up early by a storm, heavy rain and the electric going off and on, on Wednesday 15th June. I did what I could to keep cool, without a fan or AC and made a cup of Yorkshire tea. Tatas and I formed a new plan and Darren had realised he couldn’t join us as he was off to Dong Hoi. Instead of meeting at East Hill for BBQ chicken, we would have it delivered to Elements around 12.30pm, Tatas would come over until it was time to go to the briefing with Darren. It had been a while since I’d had East Hill chicken and it didn’t disappoint; 280,000vnd (£9.80) for a whole BBQ chicken, cucumber, sticky rice with peanut salt and a chilli based sauce, called cheo. We ate downstairs in the communal area because it was cooler but the electric did come back on. I opened a bottle of red wine, The Accomplice, which we had with our tasty lunch. We went up to the pool and had a swim, Tatas was up for taking photos and she became a model for a while. I had turned my back for a couple of minutes when I noticed Tatas had only put a glass of wine on the ridge of the infinity pool. My heart was in my mouth now, while I took photos, as I could see how easy it would be for her to fall off as she picked up the glass from beside the pool. I’m always telling Captain Caveman off for having glasses too near the pool too. After Tatas had gone to work, I was having a quiet night in and hoping for an early night. I didn’t get to bed until gone midnight and it was pretty hot still.
Monday 13th June was another fun day and I was looking forward to Captain Caveman getting back later. I was still struggling with the heat and, despite me having the AC on 24°C, the temperature in the room was over 30°C at 10am. The cleaning staff were surprised, but happy, to see me back at Elements. They came to give the place a spruce up and bring more towels for the bathroom and pool. I spent a lot of time swimming because my trapped nerve in my left glute was hurting and I didn’t have lunch until 2.30pm. I finished off the rest of the bolognese with spaghetti and probably shouldn’t have eaten so much because I had plans for tonight. Captain Caveman was back home about 4pm but then had to be at his briefing for the next tour at 6pm. He had bought some new jeans for motorbiking while I’d been away and he looked really good in them. While he rode back off to Phong Nha I waited for my lift. Bich and Ben had decided to restart the Monday curry night at The Villas which was nice, as they used to do a lovely butter chicken. Bich came over and had a friend in the car with her who wanted to look round our villa so we did that first. We were still at The Villas before 6pm and I was going to sit in the AC room but Bich’s friend was making a call to his wife in Australia. He’d already spoken to her in the car on the way but he continued to speak to her for a long time, while I sat at the bar with a Pina Colada (50% off on a Monday) and free popcorn. Stu, the kids and a friend from Dong Hoi were meant to be joining the curry night but only Stu made it, by which time we no longer waited for the guy to finish his video call with his wife. The butter chicken came with steamed rice and garlic naan bread and was a generous portion. The curry was delicious but I couldn’t finish it all so I got a doggy bag just as Captain Caveman came to join us. Stu pre-ordered enough for the guys back home plus took half of his home too. Captain Caveman had already eaten at his Oxalis briefing and we had another event to get to. One of the lads who he works with, Núi, was getting married tomorrow so tonight was the stag party, to which we were both invited. If Captain Caveman hadn’t been driving, and working tomorrow, we’d have been able to give the ball a right kick. Instead, I had to take a few beers for the team with the lads. We didn’t stay long but it was good to see a few friendly faces and it was a shame we would miss the wedding.
I found Sunday 12th June to be a more positive day. I decided to make some plans to go out, while Captain Caveman was on day 3 of his 4 day tour. Tomorrow, Captain Caveman would come out in the afternoon, have a shower, put the washing in and repack to go back in the cave. He would attend the briefing of the next group instead of the gala dinner of the existing group and be back in Son Doong the day after, for another 4 days. This was disappointing for me but I focused on him having 2 days off on the 18th of this month, so only 6 days to wait until we could do something together, perhaps. I didn’t bother with any breakfast but I did have a lovely lunch. I’d taken another mystery jar out of the freezer to find that Captain Caveman had made Bolognese with pork mince and bacon. There was further disruption to my exercise schedule this week as the dead bird was still in the pool. By this time I had seen Duyet who had sent another man to remove the dead bird from the pool. He couldn’t find the bird even when I was pointing to it while wrapped in my towel, having just got out of the shower. I decided to ask Duyet for a lift to the Phong Nha Farmstay, for my first time this year, where I hoped they still had a bar and a happy hour. While I was waiting to get in the jeep I noticed we had a new pet. Unfortunately, Carrot the dog was no longer with us so it looked like we now had a squirrel. In a cage. The word for squirrel in Vietnamese is sóc so I promptly named it Sox. There was water and banana for it to eat but it was quite shy and looked a bit scared of me. The drive up to the Farmstay brought back memories as I saw the farmers planting or tending to the rice paddies along the way. When I arrived and logged in to the free WiFi (I still didn’t have a SIM card yet) I noticed Kat had been trying to call me. She only uses Instagram but I didn’t have notifications turned on for it. Kat and Buu had decided to come join me at the Farmstay for happy hour and a Sunday Roast. I couldn’t believe my luck when I discovered that there was draft beer and the Sunday dinner had been restarted too. As I was at the bar I noticed there were some pretty good ‘not on the menu’ specials, including the notorious Sam Mackenzie Veggie pie, apparently available every day. The staff were still getting used to having international customers again but there were a few of us about, including a lady I remembered seeing just as the pandemic hit Vietnam. As I had been desperate to eat pork again I ordered my roast dinner with just pork and no lamb, Kat and Buu shared a meal and ordered a Spaghetti Bolognese too. I had the red wine which came with the deal too. It was good to see Kat and Buu again who had remained in Vietnam throughout the pandemic. We chatted with Bich too, who had some funny stories from her recent Australia trip. There was a new book on display at the Phong Nha Farmstay which Veronika and her friend, Sue, had written about the local area of Cu Nam. It was a available for a minimum 100,000vnd (£3.60) donation towards the village museum. I donated 200,000vnd for a copy of it and popped it in my bag to read by the pool one day. Kat and I shared my chocolate fondant cake as it’s very rich and she hadn’t tried it before. She shared her carrot cake with Buu and offered me some but by this time I was too full. The set price of 300,000vnd (£10.80) was the same as last year but I did notice the portions, although a generous portion, weren’t quite as big as the last time I had one. I ended up with lamb and pork despite my ordering specifically without lamb because the staff forgot, there was no crackling and the Yorkshire pudding was small – I suspected the oven was opened during the cooking process. I enjoyed my dinner and I even took half home to pop in the freezer. After saying our goodbyes and agreeing to meet up for wine drinking at a girls night for us cave widows we all went home. I got a lift back with Duyet after having an extra beer because the happy hour had not included draft beer but I’d had 1 draft and 1 bottle, so now I needed 1 more bottle. Even though the draught beer was so much nicer it was 45,000vnd (£1.62) for a half so I would have to limit them. My total spend for today had been 600,000vnd (£21.60) which was kind of a bit over our usual budget, but did include a book, 4 alcoholic drinks, a dinner and a pudding.
My first full day in Phong Nha on Friday 10th June was a little surprising. It was before 6am when Captain Caveman was up, packing and rustling about with the laundry bag and getting something that he needed sewing. I said goodbye to him as he went off to work on his first trip of several this month. Unfortunately, the time off I’d hoped he might have in June, was not as much as I had anticipated. I started to realise I would be spending a fair bit of time in Phong Nha without him, for the rest of this month. It was a cloudy day but still too hot for me to cycle the 10km in to town. I went to see Bluey but Captain Caveman had left the seat too high for me and I couldn’t free the leaver to change it. I put some of my stuff in the bathroom, where there was some space for me to use. I sent my passport to the Phong Nha Farmstay receptionist to register me as staying there, as the villa we are staying in is in their private villa portfolio, ideal for longer term stays where you want a home from home. It was nice to see the Elements Collection villa in the daylight again and it did look really lovely in the bright sunshine. For lunch I cooked half the defrosted pulled pork and put the rest back in the fridge for a second meal. I didn’t even get half way through my food before I had a bad reaction, it had chillies in it! I rested up, mostly in the bathroom or drinking water until I started to feel better. Later in the afternoon, I got my swimmers on and had a bit of a dip. The pool was as warm as bath water so I only did about 20 lengths before getting out for a lay on the sunbed in the shade. Just as I had resigned myself to having a very sedate weekend I was invited for a lift to a night out. Ben and Bich, the owners of the Phong Nha Farmstay, were back from their Australia visit and had relaunched the infamous all you can eat pizza night, from 6.30pm to 8pm this evening at The Villas restaurant! I was up for that and was looking forward to not having to eat 2 portions of spicy pulled pork in the same day. I sat outside while waiting for my lift with Bich, which gave me time to sit and admire the matured gardens, getting bit by mozzies at dusk. I watched the staff saturate the garden with a hose and wondered why all the Christmas decorations, including a 5ft tree, were still up.
When I arrived at The Villas restaurant I was so happy to see lots of people I hadn’t seen in ages, some since before the pandemic had started. Ben, Bich and the boys were excited to be back in Phong Nha and we were all delighted that international tourism was back in Vietnam. Stu was with his kids and a friend, who I had met once before. Next to them was a guy who said hello but I didn’t know him, I would get to meet him again. At a table up the steps was Hanh who sat with her son, some female friends and Drifter. I said hello to all of them but Kat and Dung were already waiting for me to go join them by the river. After welcoming hugs we ordered margarita cocktails (50% off on pizza night) and sat down. Dung used to be my boss when I worked at Jungle Boss and it was great to catch up after so long! I was pleased to see Kat, a really smart American girl with great hair, who I had become friends with during the pandemic. Her boyfriend, also a friend of mine, is a cave guide for Jungle Boss so she and I had automatically formed a cave widow appreciate group (aka CWAGs, formerly Cavers Wives and Girlfriends). We joined a table with Leo, who I am good friends with and worked with at JB, and his girlfriend Su, the new manager of the Sales team. All the staff were still there and it was good to see them again, they looked like they were happy to see Phong Nha welcoming back more people and were ready to see some busy weeks and months ahead, hopefully. We had a great laugh and I had about 8 pieces of pizza and 3 margaritas. It was only day 1 and, so far, I had spent 160,000vnd (£5.76) on the pizza and 225,000 (£8.10) on the cocktails. Bich was giving me a lift back so I had to leave my friends, which was a shame because I was just getting in to the swing of it. I was invited to the Jungle Boss event tomorrow night where they were having live music and a mobile bar in the town centre. I was home and in bed before 10pm, feeling very full and happy to have seen quite a lot of my Phong Nha friends tonight. I was so distracted that I forgot to take any photos of my own, I’d have to go again next week and try harder!
I didn’t wake up until 7am on Tuesday 7th June, although it was still 3am on my Turkish watch. I was missing having 2 pillows and having to get used to a hard bed again. Captain Caveman was already up and about in the kitchen making himself peanut butter wraps because he was hungry. For lunch we went to the same place as for breakfast yesterday, as Captain Caveman was complaining that I couldn’t walk far, or quickly enough. I thought my foot was ok but I just wasn’t used to walking at his pace so it was starting to hurt a bit. I was back to walking several metres behind my man again and it felt weird. While Captain Caveman ordered a Caesar salad and a smoothie I ordered chicken fried rice and a draft Platinum beer. When Captain Caveman’s salad arrived it had poached eggs on which I commented was unusual. Our first argument happened because now Captain Caveman was insisting that there is always eggs in a Caeser salad. I agreed that eggs were in the dressing but I had never seen cooked/poached eggs in one, but of course he had to argue the point until I really couldn’t care less if it did or not. I could see I was going to have my work cut out for me as I’d temporarily forgotten how much Captain Caveman likes to argue and be a know-it-all. I still maintain he is wrong but I just said ‘lovely’ then drank my beer and ate my chicken fried rice without speaking. My food was ok, it didn’t have much flavour to it, but the beer was good so I had another one. We were sat in the shade, with a fan on, it was only 30°C but I was melting – the humidity was a bugger!
By 4.30pm we were on our way to meet Keith from Grimsby, who lives in Saigon. I’d asked Captain Caveman to think of a bar which had AC as I didn’t want to drink in this heat and become sick with dehydration. When we arrived at Bia Craft, which I already knew would be an outdoor place, we picked a table near to a fan in an attempt to keep me cool. It was still unbearable but of course we were here now so I may as well get a beer. I chose a beer made with rice in the attempt that I wouldn’t consume too much gluten and have a bad stomach. It tasted ok but when Keith arrived he let us in on one of his top tips that there is another beer which is a lot cheaper if you buy the bigger size. We all had one of those and ordered food. I had already decided I was having a rack of pork ribs with chips, Keith ordered a burger and Captain Caveman ordered a sausage but was giving Keith his chips as he’s not a fan of them. My ribs were so good and we had several more of the better value beers.
Next, Captain Caveman had arranged to meet his friend, Hung, at a Bia Hoi place not too far away so we invited Keith to join us. When we got there Hung was already on his way and had several Bia Hoi containers at the ready and snack food. There was duck and beef jerky, later he ordered frog. I was too full to eat anything more so I just stuck to the beer. It was a great evening and I enjoyed catching up with Hung and Keith from Grimsby as it has been a long time since I’d seen them, due to the pandemic. Keith was the first to leave as it was a school night, but luckily he didn’t live far from the Bia Hoi bar. By 9.45pm I was ready to say bye to Hung and go back to the apartment, I was so full of beer and still jet lagged. I could tell Captain Caveman wanted to stay out so I said he could and I would go back by myself. It was decided we would both leave as I don’t yet have a working Vietnamese phone or access to the Grab app. Back home Captain Caveman got the washing out and was annoyed at me that I had not secured the Stilton cheese in a Tupperware for transporting all this way, so some of my clothes still smelled of cheese. I thought he’d be excited to try some of Kate’s fruitcake because he does like fruitcake, but he didn’t want any. As soon as we got in to bed Captain Caveman was snoring very loudly so it took me a while to get to sleep. At least tomorrow we had no plans to be up early, as far as I was aware of!
Wednesday 25th May turned in to one of those days! I was already missing Vanessa, who had gone back to England on Saturday, the day we all had the jolly out with the Muğla Chamber of Commerce and Business. I knew I was going to miss her at Turkish class, and for drinks with the pool gang later that afternoon. I used leftover Yorkshire pudding mixture to make pancakes for breakfast before going to Turkish class, which I ended up late for. Today we started learning more about family in Turkish which is similar to Vietnamese in the hierarchy and complexity of who’s who. While we were having our Turkish class, Kate arrived early and was able to make use of the lovely swimming pool at Casablanca hotel, I’d forgotten my swimmers. After her lesson we ordered food and this time I went for the cheeseburger which Vanessa had recommended from last week. Kate ordered a spaghetti bolognese which didn’t come with cheese but the waiter brought some when asked. We had a beer to wash down our very tasty lunch and then we went over to Retro bar to join the pool gang. It was very busy at Retro today, lots of the women were already sat outside so we joined some of Kate’s friends. My friend, Annie, who I met on a Dalyan boat trip, had just arrived in town so she came to join us for a beer too. When Nazim closed Retro bar’s pool table, so that he could get the place ready for the Wednesday night quiz, some of the pool guys were disappointed that they weren’t able to continue playing. Matt got everyone together and suggested they go to Sinan’s bar, which had a pool table and was nearby, a few of the fellas were quite drunk and it was almost 5pm. Most of the people I was with, left, and either went home or to Sinan’s. Kate had gone home to feed the cats but was coming back to join us. Annie and I went to Sinan’s as it’s on the way back to her hotel. It was only my second time of being in Sinan’s because in the past I’ve usually found it a popular place for smokers so have always avoided it. It was friendly and seemed nice, a merry Matt was just happy to be playing pool again. By the time Kate arrived at 7.15pm, we were sozzled but some of us were booked in to do the quiz at Retro bar. I still had my shorts and strappy top on but not enough time to change so I had to cycle down to Retro, with Mark and Kate, looking underdressed.
While Annie had to get back to her hotel to get ready for dinner, Mark, Kate and I cycled back to Retro bar and joined my parents in readiness for the quiz. I said hello to Nazim, Andrea, Nusret, Gonca, Murat, Deniz and then went to see Dick and his team to wish him well for the quiz tonight. Mark and I were pretty drunk so sharing a bottle of red wine was probably a bit silly, but seemed more cost effective as we got a good one at a decent price from Nazim. From what I remember, the quiz went well, we didn’t win but we had a good laugh. There was a massive storm where it rained really hard, I had the sense to move Bluey2 to a sheltered area when Kate moved their bikes. We paid our bills then things got a tad messy as we all decided to go to Sofra bar and we invited Nusret and Gonca with us too. At Sofra we drank draft beer and I danced with my parents and Nusret. I tried to ruin a karaoke singers song and don’t even know what the song was. I took lots of photos and after Nusret, Gonca, Kate and my parents had all left, by 12.45am, Mark and I ordered another pint each. We got chatting to a young fella and Mark got his skipper’s ticket out, presumably to show he could drive a boat. I think I got in very late and I was certainly still awake when the call to prayer went off – Thursday was going to be a struggle and a half!
Now that I knew I was going to Vietnam to see Captain Caveman I was a bit concerned there were still things I needed to do and places I wanted to go before I left Dalyan. On Tuesday 24th May I started a list of those things, acutely aware I had less than a fortnight left. Ma & Pa had invited me to the beach today and I was looking forward to it. There are 2 ways to get to Iztuzu beach by public transport; boat which is currently 60 lira (£3) or bus which is 28 lira (£1.40) return. We got the bus as this takes you to the quieter end of the beach and I got a return ticket because it was too hot to walk the length of the beach to get to the boat end. I paid 90 lira for 3 sunbeds and a parasol which we unfortunately selected in the smoking section but didn’t realise. I’m not a massive beach lover as I hate sand but with smoke and fag ash blowing at me it was less pleasurable than it should’ve been. The sea was chilly but good enough for a deep paddle, refreshing. I’d took a picnic of a cheese and ham sandwich, water and a grapefruit drink but my parents had a sandwich at the beach cafe, for less than £1.50 each. I shared some of their chips and had a peach tea too. Back on the beach I continued to read my book, Mike Tyson’s autobiography, which is really good. I’ve stopped buying credit for my Turkish phone, which I rarely use, because it’s a waste of money. It also forces me to not have a phone when I’m away from home or somewhere with free wi-fi – it’s a good way to switch off more. When the wind got up and sand was blowing about we decided to leave, via the cafe for refreshments. My parents had a Magnum, I played it safe with a Calippo orange lolly but then we missed the bus and had to wait half an hour for the next one. I was booked in for Pilates at 6.30pm so didn’t want to miss that, first though, Mom suggested a cheeky drink at Tez bar where they had an Efes and I had a Summer IPA. I went home to get ready and left them at Tez while I went to my class. Back at the apartment the roses outside Amanda and Greg’s were really blooming, the pool was looking good and had been used. I did notice a tree branch from the neighbour’s was sticking out at a jaunty angle, directly in to the path to walk to the pool. After Bougainvillea-gate in September I decided it was not my business to involve myself in getting it removed, there were quite a few owners and renters in the apartments right now who could let the gardener know. My Dad suffers with his indigestion if he eats late so I was surprised when my parents were up for going out for dinner at 8pm. We went to Firat’s which is another one of their favourite places to eat. As an appetiser we were brought a rather large lavaş, or balloon bread, with some garlic butter. Mom ordered a fresh sea bream, I had a pide and Dad had a beef casserole with cheese that was hotter than the sun. We had a glass of wine each and I took some of my pide home as it was a massive portion. It was a really lovely day, spent with my parents, and almost the calm before the storm as the rest of the week was about to get a tad lively!
The temperatures in Dalyan were heating up and, because all sides of the apartment were now blocked by buildings, there was very little draft through when I opened all windows and doors. On Monday 23rd May I was determined to take it easy as I was hoping to be refreshed and lose a bit of weight before going back to Vietnam. Captain Caveman had been working so much I was sure he would have lost weight and I didn’t want to look too fat at the side of him! I went shopping for a few essentials and made my sausage casserole in the slow cooker. I ate simit with cheese spread and plum jam for lunch and was a bit sad that I probably wouldn’t get to finish the jams I had left in the fridge – maybe I could give them to Dad as he loves a good jam. There was good news too, my Vietnamese visa had been approved and I could enter Vietnam at the airport in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on the 5th June. It was valid until the 5th July so Captain Caveman booked me a flight from Danang to Singapore on the 4th July, for if I needed it. My original plan had been to accompany Des to Istanbul when his 30 days in Turkey was up, but that hadn’t worked out. Instead I got on with organising a leaving drinks for him, later this week. Before 5pm I had my Yorkshire pudding tin in the oven and decided to open the bottle of mulberry wine I had. It was a bit sweet for me but I managed a glass of it with my sausage casserole and yorkshires. After dinner, I finally got the TV fixed, which was good news. I was considering taking the Firestick to Vietnam so we could still watch the Grand Prix but I thought better of it. I had a bit of Kate’s fruit cake with butter before bed and I washed it down with a gin and pink grapefruit! It was nice to spend the day at home for a change.
Sunday 22nd May should have been a day to stay home and rest up, and it did start out that way! I got up late, despite not having had much sleep due to the music of the Jazz bar, and then the early call to prayer. For breakfast I made myself beans on toast with 2 of Dick’s sausages. I cooked a whole pack so that I could make a sausage casserole tomorrow too. I was a bit annoyed that my TV, which had not been showing any programme listing information, was still not right so I had to play Russian roulette with what might be on what channels. I wanted to record the Grand Prix but couldn’t work out when it would be on. Instead I listened to music and was pleased I’d made it to the sofa today. For lunch I had a cheese sandwich with the Red Leicester from Dick and the spare breadcake from Ula that was still in my bag. I realised we had possibly been neglecting Des, who had been busy working and catching up with his new Dalyan friends. We agreed to meet at Backyard No.9 and I invited some of the gang so that he wasn’t bored with just me. My parents and I were the first there, Sarah was going to join us and Des arrived just as we had ordered our drinks. Mark and Kate were already out with a few others at Rehab bar so said they wouldn’t be coming. When Sarah arrived she had brought me a pair of sunglasses which she was recycling. They were slightly broken but I cleaned them on a serviette and popped them on to try them out for size. I love the pizzas at Backyard No.9; three out of the five of us ordered one. Mom had tuna and onion pizza, I had the Dalyan pizza with feta, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and peppers, Sarah had one with parma ham and rocket, while Dad had a cheeseburger with chips and Des chose a pasty type dish. It isn’t the cheapest place but the ingredients are quality and fresh. Ülkü and her team are really nice and friendly plus the outside space is very tastefully set up. It was a lovely meal and we enjoyed the wine too. After we had eaten, Mark and Kate were on their way home and popped in for a drink and a chat. They had to get back to feed the cats so only had one beer – they can’t be party animals every night!! We also went home reasonably early and I promised myself a couple of rest days from tomorrow. I was still waiting to hear if I had been granted a visa for Vietnam yet and hoped that tomorrow would bring good news.
What a day Saturday 21st May was!!! The Muğla Chamber of Commerce and Business had invited lots of us on a free day out to show us some of the local area and join in on a cultural day trip out. There were quite a few of us leaving Dalyan from the turtle roundabout at 10am and there were several buses and coaches ready to take us. Victoria Louise Scott and Alp Aslan had been instrumental in organising us and it looked to be an interesting day out. I was lucky enough to have a bus buddy, Linda, sit beside me, my parents were across the aisle and Mark & Kate behind me. Lots of familiar faces and friends were there too as we took a short drive to our first stop in Gokova. We spent about an hour exploring Idyma Antik Kenti, the ancient city of Idyma, where there was restoration work and amazing views from the ruins of a castle. Some of the group were more adventurous than others and spent time walking through the site. I’d worn sandals and didn’t want to risk slipping now that my leg was almost back to normal so I took it steady. The guide was very informative and there was tea or coffee provided in a shaded seating spot as well as toilets (both squat and western style). It was easy to spot our hosts Victoria Louise Scott (VLS) and Alp as they had outfits on that stood out. The sun was out, it wasn’t too hot to be sight-seeing and everyone seemed to be finding it interesting so far. We got back on our respective buses and we were off to a famous town in the Muğla area.
Our next stop was a place that my parents and I had been to more than once but we were still looking forward to it. The Azmak Turu (meaning Azmak creek) in Akyaka flows from Gokova and so a free boat trip was organised for everyone before lunch. We saw lots of beautiful scenery and wildlife, even some turtles. I took a few photos of the river and the people on our boat then relaxed and enjoyed the ride. We saw Adam and Kath who were there on a separate trip and they were coming in on a boat as we were leaving. I had a feeling we might be running a bit off schedule as we were meant to be at another place of interest for 1pm. We were lazing down the river at 12.40pm but we were still all enjoying the free day out.
From Akyaka we went back on our buses to Thera Antik Kenti in Ula where we were the first tourists to see some important excavations. Very recently some ancient coins had been discovered and we were also able to see the team of archeologists at work at this ancient site. When we arrived the road was not fit for the big bus we were on so we all had to get off and on to a rickety old dolmuş to take us ‘1km’. There wasn’t enough seats for everyone so I thought my parents were getting a lift in a car with the tour guide. Unfortunately, they were expected to get on with us and there was only standing room. My Mom is awaiting a hip operation and my Dad has bad knees but I could only choose 1 person to switch my seat with. Mom squeezed herself in to my seat behind a metal sign at the front of the bus and I stood at the back with Dad. The doors didn’t shut, my Dad’s eyesight is poor and I was worried he would fall out. The journey was certainly longer than 1km and was incredibly bumpy and windy – I was having trouble holding on and keeping upright. By the time we arrived we were definitely running late and everyone was hungry. There was lunch provided and we got in the queue for a spinach and cheese pancake and an ayran (yoghurt drink). I had to be careful as both of these things can affect my stomach so I gave my Dad the ayran and just had the one pancake, my Mom had 2! We had a short but good speech from the mayor and then we went to find out more about the ancient site and have a look around it. We volunteered Mark to go to have a look beyond the path, with a police escort and when he came back we joked how funny it would have been to have brought some old coins and pretended to have found more. By this time it was noticeable that we were miles from anywhere with alcohol – a cold beer or a glass of wine would have gone down well. It was getting hot now and we were ready for our next sightseeing stop, after the rickety bus back to the big bus of course. This time we made sure that my parents and I had a seat but unfortunately this meant Chris and a few others had to stand up. I put my facemask on because of the amount of dust but they are no longer needed on buses in Turkey. We were meant to have been at our next stop a while ago, we didn’t eat lunch until 2.10pm and we were just back at the big bus at 3pm – about an hour over the scheduled itinerary.
Our next stop was only 15 minutes away and still in Ula, at a lovely wedding venue with a lake and a zip wire. Mark and Kate were off the bus before us and as I got to the door of the bar area Mark asked which wine I’d prefer. By this time we were all quite ready for an alcoholic beverage so I said I’d have any, not realising Mark was joking! There was a Turkish wedding taking place but there was no alcohol and there were a few disappointed faces. Someone asked the guide if there was any chance of a cold beer and suddenly the queue for the zip line turned in to the cold beer queue, as a crate was brought out. People grabbed seats where they could and had a chilled out time while watching others go on the zip line. My mom had to go off in search of a glass for my Dad as he won’t drink out of a bottle, he didn’t look too impressed that she could only find a water glass. The place was lovely but I only had time for 1 beer before it was back to the bus for our next part of the tour – it was proving to be the cheapest day I’d had for a while, as we only had to pay for our drinks. The Muğla Chamber of Commerce and Business really were giving us a very full day and there was much more excitement to come.
Our next delight was to visit the old village of Ula and join in on a procession through the main street to lead to the village square. Once there, we were ushered in to a shaded seating area to watch some folk dancing, amongst other specially arranged entertainment. I will be honest, I’m not a lover of organised fun and I could also see my Dad’s interest was starting to wane somewhat by this stage. The male folk dancers were pretty good and not dissimilar to Morris dancers in the UK, without the bells on. The female folk dancers looked less enthusiastic and gave the impression they would rather be getting back to cook dinner. There were free Turkish teas and ice creams going round but for some reason only Mom got an ice-cream out of the 3 of us. Some random savoury treats came round and we all got one but I gave mine, which was on the spicy side, to Little Corduroy. By 5pm we were watching with intent as volunteers from the crowd were asked to bite an apple on a string without using their hands. Next, there was a competition to see who could get a coin out of a dish of yoghurt with their mouth. By the time musical chairs was being played my Dad had decided he’d had too much fun for one day and my parents took themselves off for a walk. Amazingly, Kate and a Turkish man were the last to dance round the one chair and, when the music stopped, the man pulled the chair from under her for himself to win. Being in the teaching profession this neither surprised nor phased Kate and she accepted defeat gracefully to the cheating man, who happened to be one of the big wigs in Ula. His cheekiness was not ignored and Kate was awarded the winners medal – I never thought I’d be friends with a real-life musical chairs champion! There was a Turkish version of master chef next, where VLS made us chuckle by doing her impression of Greg Wallace (from MasterChef), trying to eat as much of each dish as possible.
As the day’s schedule continued to run over time, my parents had returned to sit on a bench behind me. I spotted one of our group, in fact a man who likes a drink now and then, stood behind an ambulance but in front of a building and decided it might be wise to see what he was up to. A few of us had struck gold; he was outside a pub, obscured by the ambulance, and they sold beer and wine. We didn’t intend not to go back but we just really fancied a nice glass of wine so Lily Fish ordered wine for us ladies while I popped back to our Dalyan audience members, including my parents, to let them know where we were. Before too long the rest of our friends had joined us and the pub staff were like deers caught in headlights as we all tried to order first and second beverages. As Kate and Mark tried to leave to join us, Kate got asked to present another winner with their award so was delayed. This was fortuitous for us in the pub, as when she left, the dinner buffet had already opened so she brought us all some bread. Without further ado Chris was off to the nearest shop to buy crisps and, to top off our day of culture, we all had crisp sandwiches and another beverage. We took over the beer garden and had a lovely time, even Alp and VLS arrived later, probably to check we were behaving. When Mom and I went to replenish stocks of bread we felt a little guilty as there were so many local people queuing to eat the free buffet dinner, so we just got a small amount of bread to keep us going. After another crisp sandwich, one more beverage for the road and a good old laugh about our amazing day out, it was time to get back on the buses. I don’t recall if we saw the educational film about Ula but it was just after 8pm when we set off back towards Dalyan.
I may have nodded off slightly on the way back from Ula to Dalyan. When we got off the bus, my bus buddy, Linda, headed straight to the bakery who had stayed open for her to collect her lost purse and she was very grateful to get it, and the contents, back safely. I had a spare breadcake in my bag and we had decided we were going to have a drink in Sofra bar. My parents, Linda and I tootled off to the bar where it was already heaving and we had to wait for Şükrü and Davut to sort us out a table. Mark and Kate were worn out, well that musical chairs medal must have been heavy, so they went home. By 11.15pm Alp was doing ‘Tequila’ on the karaoke and rocking the place. Linda didn’t stay out, on account of her having to get back home and we only had a couple before realising we were tired. It had been an incredible day, something for everyone to enjoy and it had cost us only the price of our drinks. We were very grateful to all of the people involved in the organising; Alp, VLS and the Muğla Chamber of Commerce and Business.
Photo credit – from various attendees of the day trip including Alp Aslan and Victoria Louise Scott
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