Phong Nha – 18th August

Captain Caveman and Veronika went on the Phong Nha Farmstay weekly shopping trip on Wednesday 18th August, we had just 1 million vnd (£32) budget for all shopping this week but had hardly any meat left – it would be difficult but doable. I had toast with jam for breakfast and was feeling much better than I was last night, I checked the news and it was worrying that, without the vaccine, Corona related deaths in Vietnam were still high each day. Although, in the USA, where a lot of vaccines are available, it was awful to read that Corona deaths had got a lot worse, with more than 1,000 deaths in a day, check out the article here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/international/20210818/us-reports-more-than-1000-covid-deaths-in-single-day/62643.html
I did some writing, learned some Turkish and started watching a new series on Netflix, called Somebody Feed Phil, which is really good. The shoppers returned with full bags and Veronika had trouble getting the frozen stuff she had bought into her full freezer while Captain Caveman had managed to buy 2kg of frozen chicken breasts to put in our freezer. Upstairs Captain Caveman gave me the receipts, not knowing how much he had spent, so when I added it all up I was impressed to see he did it within budget, although there were still a few items we couldn’t get. We rechecked our budget to see if it would last until the next pay day and we would only have 800,000vnd (£25.60) for my last 2 weeks here. Even if I delayed leaving until after the next pay day it wouldn’t make any difference so Captain Caveman said we would manage, somehow.
For all you shopping list lovers here’s what Captain Caveman managed to get on the Dong Hoi shopping trip:

(Prices in Vietnamese Dong and £1 is about 31,300vnd)

Red Supermarket
3 red peppers 41,712
2 cans of grapefruit drink 64,000

VinMart small shop
250ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil 95,300

VinMart Supermarket
1 baguette 9,500
Washing up liquid refill pouch 19,000
3 onions 20,925
Lettuce 22,920
6 aubergines 31,870
2 dragon fruits 39,237
250g Westgold Butter 80,700
8 frozen chicken breasts 177,800

Organic Shop
4 beef fillets 219,000

Grand total spent 821,964vnd (£26.30) on shopping plus he had an espresso coffee at the Farmstay and another at QB Casa, after the shopping, which came to 110,000vnd (£3.52) – to me, a waste of money but he was still within the budget.

For lunch we had the homemade vegetable soup, my stomach was fine and I was back to feeling ok – at least I didn’t have Giardia or anything nasty. In the late afternoon I made popcorn, Captain Caveman cycled over to Phong Nha to see the cavers off, all 4 of them were travelling together, they had all got their negative PCR results and were leaving at 6pm for the overnight drive to Hanoi airport, their flight was tomorrow at 12.30pm, via Singapore and I was keen to know how it would go as I would have to do a similar journey in a few weeks – they would be my guinea pigs! Captain Caveman came back on Trigger, Watto’s motorbike, and then cooked us a carbonara with the bacon we got from Stu for dinner – it was amazing!

Phong Nha – 15th August

I was still in bed asleep on Sunday 15th August when Stu popped over to drop us the bacon and pulled pork off, Captain Caveman was already up and about in the kitchen making coffee and warming a croissant. He brought me up a cup of jasmine tea and then for breakfast I had a croissant, a banana and a mangosteen. I caught up on the news of various cities of Vietnam who were now facing longer lockdowns and stricter checkpoints to go in or out, locals had to provide documentation just to go to work and the hospitals in the major cities were at breaking point – makeshift ones were being built or disused buildings were being turned in to medical or quarantine facilities. I read about a terrible situation that occured with a sick man (not with Corona) who needed emergency care but didn’t get it (from 5 different hospitals) because they were dealing with more Corona cases, here’s the article:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210815/man-dies-at-home-after-being-rejected-by-five-healthcare-facilities-in-southern-vietnam/62591.html
When I went to get my towel for the pool it wasn’t there and Captain Caveman had decided to use mine, it was already wet through and round his waist. He already had one in the bathroom and one next to his bedside lamp – honestly! I went back in the bedroom with a face on and watched Sexy Beasts on Netflix which made me laugh. For lunch Captain Caveman tried to make amends for the using of all pool towels unnecessarily and went to make us some bruschetta. I’d already chopped the cucumber, tomato and onion for the salsa style topping but Captain Caveman had to toast the bread and add mango and olives to it – he forgot the olives.
In the afternoon I was hungry (as is usual) so we had a mid afternoon snack of tortilla with the last of the pickled onions. While Veronika went to the Farmstay for Sunday roast, I made us a cheap dinner at home; BBQ jackfruit with potato wedges, red cabbage and carrot which was also pretty healthy too.

Phong Nha – 13th August

On Friday 13th August Captain Caveman had gone to work and I was awake at the same time as him so I had buttered toast and a couple of bananas for breakfast but then was ill with a terrible stomach ache immediately after. In the news here in Vietnam, Saigon was extending the lockdown period until at least 31st August, possibly mid September, depending on which news you read. Here’s some info:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210813/vietnam-to-extend-movement-curbs-in-biggest-city-as-virus-toll-rises/62573.html
In Turkey one of the nearest big towns to where I would be, had quite a lot of cases and, despite a high rate of vaccination, Dalyan had some hotspots too. Melissa was in touch to say they had been loving being in Istanbul, where everything was so much more relaxed than in Vietnam, but they had decided to take on a house-sit next week not far from Kaş, about 2 hours drive from Dalyan.
I got the trusty rice cooker out once again and decided to make some soup. I used carrots, onion, garlic, mushrooms, vegetable stock, chicken stock and the ‘green beans’ to make a lovely soup of which I could refrigerate a couple of portions and freeze 2 more. I had a tester portion for lunch, it tasted good and made me feel better again. When I went out to tend to our small mushroom farm the staff had tied on some ribbon to hold it up with, which was really nice of them. Pizza night had moved from the Phong Nha Farmstay and was back at The Villas where it was their grand reopening. I’d checked to see if my passport was back and to arrange to pick it up there but was surprised to find it had already been given to Bich a couple of days ago. Veronika and I got a lift with Duyet in the jeep at 6pm and we drove to The Villas where Captain Caveman was sat enjoying Happy Hour and a Half with a few beers before going to the party at 7pm. He had found out that it was an anniversary of a death party which had been going on for most of the day. Veronika and I had a beer with Captain Caveman and then moved to sit at the bigger table, also outside. Trang, Andrew and Momma D arrived with the 2 year old boy and dog, Kevin. The bar had been moved and made it look a bit nicer inside but we were sat where the pool table was, right out the front.Veronika went walk about for a bit after she ordered a Greek salad, on special for 90,000vnd (£2.88), while I had been given the special pizza menu showing the ones that were available for only 100,000vnd (£3.20). I decided on the Momma D’s pizza which is really good and then, when the others ordered, they were told they could have any pizza on the whole menu for the reduced price, including my favourite one, the Showstopper – I wish I’d known! Kat, who I’d planned to meet, arrived just after 7pm, we discovered she was a hairdresser and Veronika was desperate for a haircut, Kat didn’t have her scissors so Momma D kindly stepped in and offered to bring Kevin’s new grooming set over to Kat at Jungle Boss tomorrow so that she could cut hair. Kat didn’t realise the pizzas were so big and ordered 2 (the showstopper and the smoked duck) for herself and we were laughing away, chatting about when we might leave Phong Nha and such. I had an extra slice of Kat’s pizza and she got the rest to take away. Captain Caveman decided not to cycle back home that night, but stay at the Glass House, he’d been hoping to have a drink with Watto before he left but Watto was still not too well. He did call me before bed, though, and had news of an interesting legal development which might just make things a bit more complicated for travelling to the airport from Phong Nha.

Phong Nha – 12th August

Captain Caveman had gone to work early on Thursday 12th August and I’d drifted back off to sleep. When I woke up I had a message from Duyet to say he had put my shopping on the kitchen table so I went down to look at what he’d managed to get.
I was completely astonished, he had managed everything but 2 things on the list, 1 of which had a replacement for something else instead, with a total spend of only 200,000vnd (£6.40) – I was impressed! The replacement was probably a language barrier as I had requested green beans but here, in Vietnam, the green beans are like a green split pea or lentil, they call them french beans for the long green beans we are familiar with. I had a banana and a croissant for my breakfast and caught up with the Corona news, a little later than usual. It was worrying to read that in Vietnam now, not just the old and vulnerable were dying of Corona and once people had been diagnosed they weren’t surviving too long either, more info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210812/policeman-dies-after-contracting-covid19-in-southern-vietnam/62541.html
Captain Caveman went to Funny Monkeys in his lunch break and had an avocado smoothie. I had mini hot dogs with bread and tomato sauce (we were out of mustard) and another banana for my lunch. I spent the afternoon writing/editing blogs and going in the pool. When Captain Caveman got home from work he informed me of another party invitation which he wasn’t sure of the reason, it was next door to the Glass House and he suggested he hire a motorbike to come get me after work and we could stay at the Glass House that night and come home in the morning – tomorrow night was pizza night and I didn’t have many left so I decided it would be better for me to go to that instead, as I’d already agreed to meet friends.
For dinner I reheated a jackfruit seed masaman curry from the freezer and steamed some rice to go with it, usually when I have chicken masaman I am ill so I was wondering if I would be this time but was pleased that I wasn’t and really enjoyed the very filling meal. I’d still not heard about my passport and decided I would message to ask tomorrow, if I still hadn’t had an update, we were now 2 or 3 days after I was told I’d get my passport back.

Phong Nha – 10th & 11th August

Disappointingly, on Tuesday 10th August, it was reported that another large amount of Corona cases in Vietnam were recorded yesterday, read more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210809/vietnam-reports-secondlargest-singleday-rise-of-local-coronavirus-infections/62501.html
It was also worrying to read about how the faking stuff had already started to drift in to the Corona arena with fake test results, it had only been a matter of time – here’s the story:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210810/police-break-up-ring-forging-covid19-test-results-in-northern-vietnam/62511.html
More concerning to my own personal situation was that Turkish Airlines had cancelled all their direct flights from Vietnam to Istanbul next month, which was a shame as I had my eye on booking business class (for the first time ever in my life) on any of 3 flights between 1st and 9th September for only £800! Now the Business class flights were more likely to be $1,500+ with Qatar, via Doha, or Singapore Airlines via Singapore so I’d have to remain in Cattle class which we had been told were not full anyway. There was some reports that the Government had announced that, for all foreigners who were in an area of lockdown whose visa was expiring, it would be waived due to the pandemic – bloody typical that we had just paid.
Captain Caveman had cycled to Phong Nha for a shave and a haircut so I’d already had 1 croissant for breakfast, when he returned I had another and he had one too, they are so good it’s unbelievable. In the afternoon it was really hot and I could feel Captain Caveman’s annoyance when work phoned him and said he needed to cycle back to Phong Nha, for the 2nd time today, because they required his vaccine certificate, which was to be replaced, for some reason. I’d already said we would meet an old friend and ex colleague who was in town with his girlfriend at 5.30pm for Happy Hour beers at the Phong Nha Farmstay so I got a lift with Duyet and Captain Caveman met us there later. I’ve not seen Buu for quite some time, his girlfriend and I share the same stresses of the tourist visa extensions every month. I’d had a beer by the time a sweaty Captain Caveman arrived and he had to get in the pool to cool down. We had a couple of beers but didn’t stay for shepherd’s pie, which Buu and Kat shared, as we were having spaghetti with chicken for our dinner tonight. Before we left Bich said she couldn’t do the weekly shopping trip tomorrow because she had work to do but we could ask Duyet to go to the market for us.

Captain Caveman was finally able to go on his Tu Lan take down trip to Hang Tien on Wednesday 11th August. It had been postponed until there was less water so that they could remove any equipment in the cave for the closing of the season. As I ate a croissant for breakfast I stumbled across an interesting post from an Australian about what was happening in Iceland where 69% of adults have been fully vaccinated, it’s worth a read if you have time:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=396895055125422&id=100044147934160
My morning was busy making BBQ jackfruit with garlic and onion in the rice cooker and lots of chopping while sat in front of a fan (harder than you think). I had some of the jackfruit for lunch with raw carrot and red cabbage and some toast and it was delicious, luckily, as I had made quite a lot of it. In the afternoon I tended to my small mushroom farm and the housekeeping and gardening ladies at Elements Collection watched and laughed when I told them how we had ended up with embryos instead of mushrooms to cook. One of the ladies even came to help me reseal the tops of them, asked how long they would take to grow and what we needed to do with them. I started watching another series on Netflix called Below Deck (Mediterranean) which I find hilarious even though it’s not meant to be amusing. We had been invited out that evening to An’s house in Phong Nha for a small party but as Captain Caveman was going straight there from work and I begrudged paying 300,000vnd (£9.60) for a taxi I couldn’t go. Instead I experimented with the oven and managed to make potato wedges which I had topped with some of the BBQ jackfruit for my dinner, it was really good too. So that Captain Caveman didn’t have to cycle home after drinking he decided to stay at the Glass House and I had a catch up with Duyet over my shopping list – I had written it in Vietnamese and went over to chat with him about amounts. To be honest I wasn’t expecting my Vietnamese or his English to have been good enough for this shop to work out but we would see when he went to Khung Ha market in the morning.

Phong Nha – 6th to 8th August

On Friday 6th August, while I ate buttered toast for breakfast and Captain Caveman rested on the bed, I saw that Vietnam had almost 400 deaths in a day yesterday and that we had a warning text from the authorities for us all to observe the rules and be careful. As Captain Caveman was still feeling a bit tired from the effects of his 2nd vaccine I decided to cook a chicken dish for lunch, with a sauce, the last of the cashew nuts and the steamed rice. He said he also felt a little bit unfocused and he couldn’t remember what he came downstairs for, Veronika and I do that a lot but it was unusual for Captain Caveman! After eating our food I was sat at the bedroom table when I heard a cracking noise near my right eye and ear. I put my hand up to try to feel what it was and my glasses fell off in to my hands, having broken at the part where the arm is joined to the frame – maybe I was turning in to Carrie!
It was finally Captain Caveman’s pay day so we sat down and did some budgeting together – it was going to be a tough month. He paid for my visa, a total of 2.3 million vnd (£73.60) and we had requested from the Phong Nha Farmstay receptionist our bill.
Pizza Night, which was at the Farmstay again, was a good one; we were joined by Stu and the kids and we had a good laugh. We also ordered a 3rd pizza to share and Captain Caveman had eaten 4 slices of it by the time I got back from the loo, I took 2 pieces home for the next day.

It was a very relaxed day on Saturday 7th August, and at 7am it was cloudy and less than 30°C (but not for long). Vietnam’s Corona deaths continued at a high rate and now the total deaths, since the pandemic had began, were over 3,000. The mortality rate was 1.53% which was worse than in Turkey and catching the UK up. Only 31.6% of the cases had recovered which was lower than we had been used to, so far. I had my leftover smoked duck pizza for breakfast and Captain Caveman cycled in to Phong Nha. When he returned he had fixed my onyx ring so that you couldn’t even see or feel the join and I was so pleased! Unfortunately the glasses didn’t hold at all and were completely broken. For lunch I ate a dragon fruit and an apple but then needed a snack later because I was still hungry so I ate the last of the gluten and dairy free brownie I had in the freezer, while Captain Caveman swam in the pool.
For dinner we had chicken with steamed rice, carrots, green beans and peanut salt but while I was stirring the chicken my onyx ring broke again and landed in the pan!

Our alarms went off at 6.45am on Sunday 8th August and I was still very sleepy. Bluey didn’t need her front tyre pumping up but her back one had gone down quite a bit so Captain Caveman obliged. I managed to cycle to the Farmstay in 9 minutes 4 seconds which was a minute faster than my last ride there. Captain Caveman ordered Eggs Benedict and I went for Pho Bo for our breakfast while we waited to say our farewell to the lovely Czech family, Lucie and her son, Martan. She was able to get her 2nd vaccine and so they were travelling back home to Hanoi with 2 other Phong Nha Farmstay guests. Because there were still no domestic flights or trains from the nearest town of Dong Hoi to Hanoi they were sharing a private car to travel the 500km North, this was also what the cavers would have to do and probably what I would need to do, when we left. After our delicious breakfast we cycled back in a hot headwind which I found difficult and it took me 10 minutes 3 seconds!
Captain Caveman mentioned that when he had picked up the mangosteens from Mina he had been given the mushrooms that I had ordered but I needed to check because I had accidentally ordered embryos. When I looked in the bag there were 2 fairly substantial mushroom embryos so that we could grow our own. Captain Caveman found it hilarious that I had now accidentally become a mushroom farmer of mushrooms I would probably never get to eat as I would have left! My friend Khanh Linh, Mina’s colleague, sent me the instructions in English on what to do and I set a plan of watering and watching them.
The housekeeping staff had been and done a little spruce up of the bedroom, made the bed and straightened the towels, they didn’t know they may also be helping grow mushrooms this time next week. Later Eric, the bee, stopped by for lunch and while Captain Caveman had a sandwich I made myself vegetable and egg fried rice. It was Watto’s birthday today and so there was a party at Bom’s River House for him. Captain Caveman went there but I didn’t, the return taxi fare is 300,000vnd (£9.60) which, to put it in perspective, is more than a crate of 24 beers, so he went by bicycle and planned to stay over at the Glass House. I made myself some veggie pasta for dinner and had a diet coke while watching a bit of Netflix.

Phong Nha – 3rd August

I was still awake when the loudspeaker went off around 5am on Tuesday 3rd August but I pretended to be asleep so that I didn’t have to speak to Captain Caveman, who kissed my head when he was leaving and went to Phong Nha. After a little bit of sleep I got up and had dragon fruit for breakfast while reading the news, which did little to cheer me up!
Vietnam was told to prepare for the worst as this 4th Corona wave and Delta variant got worse, info here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/opinion/1002350/we-should-prepare-for-the-worst-case-scenario-expert.html
Some initial reports in the Vietnamese news of a new variant of the Delta variant in South Korea, more here:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-detects-its-first-two-cases-delta-plus-covid-19-variant-2021-08-03/
Disturbingly the BBC published an article about what was happening in China – back to where it started:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58066744
Before lunch Captain Caveman video called me to show me my stuff in the Glass House that I might want bringing back so I could take it to Turkey. I said I felt like shit, picked out a few things and then went to get some water. When Captain Caveman returned he tried to apologise but I told him I didn’t think he meant it, he had brought some fruit home, which he left on the kitchen table and went to have a shower after cycling. When I opened the bag there were mangosteen and longans but they were covered in ants – was this a joke!?
I put the fruit in a sink full of water and went upstairs, thinking “Get me on a plane out of here, now!” Unfortunately, there were still no flights from Dong Hoi and so I was going nowhere but in to a bad mood. I warmed up my leftover curry and rice for lunch and enjoyed the butter chicken very much.
In other news Melissa and her family of 5 had made it out of Hanoi but not before letting me know that the Paragon hotel in Hanoi, had been forced to close by the authorities.This was the one I had planned on staying in, if I need to before my international flight so was a bit rubbish.
Something strange happened as I was cooking dinner. I was cooking bacon, cabbage, pumpkin and tortilla and, as I was stirring it, my onyx ring, on my right hand, cracked and fell off. Luckily I caught it just as it was falling in to the food – how strange! Just as we were getting ready for bed, Captain Caveman got a work email to tell him to go for his 2nd vaccine tomorrow and to be ready for 1pm departure with about 40 of his colleagues. Well, that cheered him right up and he was in the best mood now – what a relief he was getting it 2 days before his 12 week deadline. There was no mention yet of tomorrow’s weekly shopping trip but it would be my turn again and Captain Caveman gave me the last of his money. I set my alarm for 7.30am so I could be ready for a call or message to confirm the shopping trip pick up time.

Phong Nha – 2nd August

Monday 2nd August wasn’t the best of days, I had a slice of buttered toast and was ill straight away. I went to access my online banking and wasn’t able to because my bank card had expired and so I couldn’t even check if my new card had been sent to my UK address yet. This was not going to be ideal as this meant that I had no bank card to be able to use if I needed one to leave Vietnam with – great timing but I should have left here in April 2020 when all my cards were still in date.
Captain Caveman had gone to Phong Nha and I read a strange news article about something that had happened at a checkpoint in Vietnam, more info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210801/boy-killed-family-members-injured-in-road-crash-on-way-to-hometown-in-vietnam/62361.html
When Captain Caveman returned he had some updates from his morning at Oxalis; there was still no word on the 2nd vaccine situation (of which they only had until Friday to have it), while some of his colleagues were off back to the UK, Captain Caveman had confirmed he would be staying in Vietnam for the winter. He would be delivering training to the Oxalis guide team, 3 days per week, throughout the winter season. For lunch we had leftovers from yesterday; chicken, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, and green beans which was really tasty.
We had 600,000vnd (£19.20) to last until pay day on Friday so we arranged to go to Curry night at the Phong Nha Farmstay with Stu and Jack. We had 2 happy hour beers each and a curry each which was really good, with nan bread and steamed rice. I saved a little bit to take home and it was a great night, until we got home and Captain Caveman decided to cause an argument.
I was desperate for a pee when we got in so I went for one and while in the bathroom I grabbed some Antisan cream for my 4 or 5 mosquito bites, which I happened to complain about having and that was it! Captain Caveman hates it when he hears complaints and says that I do it all the time so now he was having an argument that I talk about toilets, mosquitos and ants too much and that he was sick of me mentioning them. I was pretty sick of him losing his temper at me and that when he does, it’s always at night, after a lovely evening out and also around the time when the visa extension issues arise (I was noting the correlation and putting it down to him either being upset I have to leave soon or cheesed off that I haven’t left yet). I know he does love to argue but I don’t, so I didn’t even bother, which made him more argumentative. While I was upset he fell asleep pretty much instantly and snored like a pig for most of the night. I had no sleep until the morning but I had made a list of all the things I can no longer mention in front of him and decided I’d wait until we were on a night out with all his friends or work colleagues and then mention each topic – loads!

Phong Nha – 1st August

It was a weird one on Sunday 1st August, it was rainy first thing and Captain Caveman didn’t need to go to Oxalis so we had a lazy morning. I had jam on toast and a mangosteen for breakfast and then saw an unexpected message about my visa extension. Immigration said that they could only do my visa extension if I had proof of a flight booked within the next 30 days. Once they had that they would then do the extension but it would be dated to my flight date. As there were no flights from Dong Hoi to Saigon or Hanoi at this time I didn’t want to be forced to book a flight that I may have to cancel as it may mean I wouldn’t get the refund in time to book a different flight or airline. Captain Caveman had found a flight from Saigon to Singapore on 9th September for £31 which I wouldn’t use, but could book it, as a last resort just to get the extension. I replied to say I would book a flight when I got my passport stamped and we would see what would happen with that but, as it was a Sunday, I got no further messages about it. I also decided not to worry about it and if they wouldn’t agree then I would look for a flight – it would perhaps be cheaper to pay an overstay fee for up to 10 days than the visa extension fee anyway.
We had a healthy salad for lunch and a couple of gin cocktails in the afternoon, I’d already prepped the vegetables for a Sunday dinner at home, pay day was not far off but we had barely any money left to go out so we had chosen to use what we had left for tomorrow night. We inadvertently decided to take a sourdough loaf off Veronika’s hands, which she gets from Dong Hoi and are pretty big, not realising it costs 200,000vnd (£6.40), when we came to pay for it later. We needed to make better choices on spending until I leave and agreed that once pay day arrived we would plan a budget together and stick to it.
We had a lovely homemade dinner of chicken, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and green beans that evening and it was even pretty healthy.

Top 10 ways I’m saving money

Being in Vietnam without access to my own money has meant we have had to cope with living on the one (at times reduced) wage. As a tourist in Vietnam I’m not allowed to work and so things haven’t been as easy as planned due to the Corona situation. I was meant to leave Vietnam in April 2020 so I wasn’t prepared for a prolonged stay, at all. When I get to Turkey I will be able to access my bank account there but, until I get more income I will need to be very careful. These are some of the things I’ve already tried to adopt to cut our cloth and be more frugal with the money we do have.

1. Take advantage of a bargain only when it suits what you need.
2. Stop buying new clothes or cosmetic products.
3. Drink mostly water as much as possible, all those soft drinks or juices can add up.
4. Make a daily, weekly and monthly budget and stick to it – make adjustments if unexpected costs occur.
5. Plan ahead with food shopping.
6. Don’t waste any food.
7. Limit the amount of stuff we buy which isn’t locally produced.
8. Cut out snacks and treats (good for the diet too).
9. Stop going anywhere you need to pay for a taxi to get there, unless essential or urgent.
10. Stop buying gifts for Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Weddings, Engagements, Baby showers, Anniversaries and other celebrations.

Phong Nha – 30th July

On Friday 30th July I had bread and cheese for breakfast again but this time had no reaction and I looked for the positives in the news today.
In Vietnam the amount of recoveries was looking promising as more patients in Saigon were discharged, more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210729/ho-chi-minh-city-has-discharged-over-25000-covid19-patients/62318.html
I got a bit of perspective reading this one, and if you thought working from home in the UK, during the pandemic was bad, read this for what it could be like for many workers in Vietnam:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/1000196/hundreds-of-covid-19-cases-detected-in-binh-duong-companies.html
Plans in Saigon to vaccinate 70% of its 9 million residents by end of August were ambitious but could be doable if they got on it, info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210730/vietnam-accelerates-vaccinations-in-covid19-epicentre/62328.html
As you had probably noticed it was getting to the end of the month which meant it was time to start preparing for the next visa extension request. I checked and was told that I could have 1 more month’s extension and to submit my passport after the weekend.
Captain Caveman had gone early to Phong Nha and was picking up a load of mangosteens from my Jungle Boss friend, Mina. When he came home we had a chicken salad for lunch and a couple of drinks by the pool before getting ready for our predictable Friday night out. We’d budgeted enough for us to have a treat for dinner and we went for Happy Hour and Pizza Night at the Farmstay. It’s only 50,000vnd (£1.55) for 2 rum and diet cokes or gin and tonics so we ended up having 4 of those each and Captain Caveman had realised you could order more than 1 pizza each! We ordered 3 between the 2 of us; a salami one each (his with extra chillies and garlic) then a ham and pineapple to share. It was delicious and the ham and pineapple was my new favourite (plus I took 2 slices home) and we had a great night out for 400,000vnd (£12.40).
Back home we got to give cuddles to Carrot, the puppy, who had been sleeping beneath Cuong’s hammock – he really is so cute.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman

Phong Nha – 29th July

I decided to test something out on Thursday 29th July for breakfast, given that I’ve been able to eat pizza once per week now, I had toast with a melted cheddar slice on it and, of course, I was ill – I just don’t get it!!! Captain Caveman had already gone to Phong Nha to catch up with what was going on at Oxalis. I read in the news that there had been a lag in Corona deaths in Vietnam, probably due to the large amount and there were another 350 deaths added on retrospectively, see the 2 reports below:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/999477/106-new-covid-19-deaths-announced.html
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/999828/233-more-covid-deaths-7594-new-infections-recorded.html
This meant that as of the previous day the death rate for Corona was at 0.5% already in Vietnam.
Once my stomach was a bit better I prepared some BBQ jackfruit which we had with chopped veg and salad for lunch. While we were serving up our lunch Veronika returned after having been razzing around the National Park on the back of a Harley Davidson with Ben, she was not impressed and said she was aching because it was so uncomfortable. In the evening Captain Caveman cooked some chicken with veg and steamed rice which we sprinkled with peanut salt. It was nearing the end of the month again and I’d managed to not worry about my visa extension for a couple of weeks but now we were back in the same situation as last month – would I get it extended or would I have to leave next week? Tomorrow I would ask the questions and see what happens!

Phong Nha & Dong Hoi – 28th July

I was awake early on Wednesday 28th July and not because it was my turn to go on the shopping trip today. I was worried about my friend who was still trying to get back to South Africa, he’d had an horrendous night and had ended up walking 5km to find water and food, which he didn’t because all shops are closed for the evening curfew in Saigon. Because this morning shops were open from 6am he found a 7-11 and got an egg and cheese sandwich which he said was disgusting but he loved it.
Captain Caveman went off to Phong Nha for work, he had given me the money for shopping, we had just over a week until pay day so things were pretty tight and I had my shopping list at the ready. We’d already had a message from Ben asking who was going and saying we would only be going to the organic shop and Co-op Mart so Veronika, after her traumatic experience last week, decided not to come along. I was told my pick up was at 8am and so I went outside ready for that, at 8.05am Duyet told me to get in the jeep to go to the Farmstay so I thought Bich may have told him to bring me there. As I was leaving Ben arrived to pick me up so I switched cars and off we went to pick up 2 customers at the Phong Nha Farmstay. At 8.45am Bich was ready to leave so off we all went to Dong Hoi and on the way she asked if we wanted to go anywhere specific and suggested Tuan Viet Gourmet so I said yes. My South African bound friend managed to get checked in for his flight to Singapore and was happy to be on his way at last. I got a few bits in the shop, including treating us to a bottle of wine for just under a tenner. Our next stop was the organic shop where I managed to get a couple of things from my list. Next, Bich dropped us at Co-op Mart and went to pick up something, I managed to get quite a bit from the list but there were no eggs or chicken and it was surprisingly empty so Veronika would have been fine. When we left the supermarket I mentioned to Bich I still hadn’t been able to get chicken or BBQ sauce so we stopped at Horeca and I got those plus some cheese. I had thought I’d get 2 lots of BBQ sauce but it wasn’t cheap so I put one back, while I waited for them to find me some frozen chicken breasts which they kept in the back of the small shop.

Here’s my list of the shopping I bought, prices in Vietnamese Dong. I bet you can see straight away the things I shouldn’t have been tempted to buy, which exceeded the tight budget rule;

Tuan Viet Supermarket
Green beans 14,500
Gluten free stock cubes 22,000
2 red peppers 26,220
6 Mangosteen 27,000
2 dragon fruit 30,360
1 packet of penne pasta 35,000
1 jar of green olives 45,000
1 bottle of red wine 310,000

Total 510,080vnd (£15.81)

Organic Shop
1 red cabbage 51,150
300g of beef 90,000

Total 141,150vnd (£4.38)

Co-op Mart
Broccoli 9,741
Carrots 11,085
2 packets of crisps 23,000
Pumpkin 27,422
Tomato puree sauce 28,400
Potatoes 36,527
2 Strongbow cider 36,600
2 packs of Mushrooms 64,000

Total 236,775vnd (£7.34)

Horeca
250g cheddar cheese slices 65,000
200g cream cheese 68,000
125g brie 90,000
2 bottles of BBQ sauce 150,000
2kg chicken breast 180,000

Total 553,000vnd (£17.14)

Is there anything you think I missed or shouldn’t have bought?

Bich had a request from one of the Farmstay guests to bring back some Banh Loc (which smelled of fish sauce so bad) and we made a new rule; whoever doesn’t go on the shopping trip has to order the smelliest food for the others to have to bring back on the 45 minute car journey!

When I got home Captain Caveman was a bit cheesed off because he had set off this morning to go on the Tu Lan take down trip but when he got to Oxalis it had been postponed until Friday but he hadn’t been told. Luckily Watto, who is going back to the UK next month, had given him a toaster – he was happy about that. So, my other half was in a mood, I was starving hungry and decided that a croissant with a slice of cheddar cheese on would be an amazing brunch – of course this made me terribly ill for about an hour.
I got a message from Tatas to say that her home isolation had ended 9 days early because her landlord had tested negative 3 times and she was already at work, in a meeting. Captain Caveman and I drank wine by the pool in the late afternoon, I snacked on crisps and longans and we discussed Captain Caveman’s plans for the off-season (September to December) this year. Vietnam has been promising that they were going to reduce the quarantine period for experts entering Vietnam to just 7 days followed by 14 days self isolation ‘at home’ but they still had not implemented it and as it stood it would be 14 days quarantine then 14 days self isolation. Given that Captain Caveman would need to be ready to work in November it didn’t leave much time for him to come to Turkey. He decided that it would be too risky to get stuck in either Turkey or Vietnamese quarantine and potentially not be able to work when needed so he would not leave Vietnam this year. We both agreed that while the pandemic was still continuing as it is, it would be sensible for him to stay in Phong Nha.
For dinner we used the leftover stew from yesterday and added the beef I bought today to have the same delicious meal we had last night. I noticed that at Horeca they had still charged me for 2 bottles of BBQ sauce so I messaged Bich to see if she could let them know so I could rectify it on the next shopping trip.

Phong Nha – 26th July

Monday 26th July was a very good day! I had the last of my gluten and dairy free pancakes (to be honest I was getting a bit fed up of pancakes for breakfast now) but we had run out of fruit so I put jam on.
The news in Vietnam read that we now had more than 100,000 cases and going on for 500 deaths since the pandemic began, read here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/997795/covid-19-case-tally-tops-100000.html
I read the following article which didn’t half give a bit of perspective – wouldn’t you just hate working in a factory in Saigon? Check this out:
https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/997569/hcm-city-factories-seek-to-remain-open-by-complying-with-covid-prevention-regime.html
There was also a curfew announced in Saigon which means supermarkets close at 5pm, I started to feel really sorry for our friends in Saigon:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20210726/saigon-supermarkets-to-close-by-5-00-pm-in-adaptation-to-new-covid19-restrictions/62263.html
Captain Caveman went to Phong Nha and I chopped peppers and onions ready for lunch. I still had a headache but was at a normal temperature and my stomach was also bad despite not having eaten anything that could have set me off. I’d managed to remove all of my photos and videos (up to the end of June this year) from my phone on to the SD card and was pleased to see I could now do a screenshot again – unfortunately my phone still said it was full and I had issues with loading photos on to my WordPress now!
When Captain Caveman returned he had some good news, he had been told by his work that we will both get our second vaccines, him within 2 weeks and me within 4 weeks. We had a healthy salad for lunch followed by a piece of carrot cake, which we had in the freezer still since the last time we had Sunday dinner at the Phong Nha Farmstay. It was fresh bread day so Captain Caveman went up to the Lake House to collect it, he came back with bread, croissants and a bottle of wine from Tham and Tony for his birthday, which was really nice and we said we would go there as soon as they could open again. We were meant to be cycling to the Phong Nha Farmstay the long way round but it was already dusk and I didn’t fancy being stuck on the French Road in the dark so we went the short way. We sat with Lucie and Martan (the lovely Czech family) and the 3 adults at the table all enjoyed a cider/beer and the curry special. Martan had a massive burger which looked pretty good and he had trouble eating it all. This week was the first Buttered Chicken meal at the Farmstay, with The Villas being closed, and it was definitely one of the best ones yet. The curry was not too spicy, plenty of it, the steamed rice perfect and the nan bread really good too. The Magner’s cider was on offer so me and Lucie took advantage of that and it was a lovely chilled evening. Unfortunately the cavers had to miss out on curry night because under the rules here we still weren’t to be going out out and the Farmstay could only serve their registered residents (which we were lucky to be). Being conscious of money we just had a couple of drinks with our curries and our meal for 2 came to around 500,000vnd (£15.50) and we were very full!

Phong Nha – 24th & 25th July

I’d not been feeling too well when I got in bed the previous night and had a headache at the back of my head on the left side. I woke up extremely early on the morning of Saturday 24th July extra sweaty, a worse headache and feeling hot or cold intermittently. There had been rain during the night, it was a bit cloudy and I had to force myself to eat my gluten and dairy free pancakes with banana and honey for breakfast, hoping I’d feel better. I took some paracetamol and ibuprofen and read the news, this time there was some good news. Apparently, Vietnam was going to mix first and second vaccine providers, so those of us vaccinated with Astra Zeneca, may get Pfizer as their 2nd vaccine, read more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210724/vietnam-to-prioritize-pfizer-as-followup-jab-for-people-who-received-first-dose-of-astrazeneca/62222.html
Reports came of chaos in Hanoi as the stricter social distancing measures were to commence, more info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210724/people-rush-in-out-of-hanoi-before-strict-social-distancing-implementation/62228.html
Captain Caveman stayed in bed all morning on his phone and eventually got out of bed at 12.30pm, made his own lunch and then sat on the balcony in the rain with a beer. I had a red dragon fruit and popcorn for my lunch and, feeling hot then cold most of the day, I watched a cooking show on Netflix and rested up.
For dinner Captain Caveman cooked chicken and veg while I got the job of peeling chopping and roasting potatoes, garlic, onion and pumpkin which took so much time to cook that we had dinner in two sittings. I still felt unwell so I went to bed early, during the night there was a massive storm and I was even a bit scared as the thunder and lightening sounded like they were hitting the roof.

On Sunday 25th July I still felt unwell and was awake really early taking some painkillers for my headache which still hadn’t gone and I also had a touch of indigestion. It was cloudy so there was no sunrise to see and Captain Caveman didn’t cycle in to work, with it being a Sunday. I had another nap to try to shake off the head and neck pains.
Captain Caveman made us bacon sandwiches for breakfast, we’d ran out of brown sauce so I had to have Vietnamese tomato sauce which is ultra sweet, and I had orange juice, jasmine tea and lots of cold water to keep hydrated too. I took over the oven and did a mass roasting of potatoes, shallots, pumpkin and onion ready to make our Sunday dinner. We do love the Phong Nha Farmstay dinner but 600,000vnd (£18.60) for the 2 of us is out of our price range at the moment. Instead we would prepare a healthier version at home, no wine and no cake for a start. I was a hot sweaty mess after being on roasting (literally) duty and so Captain Caveman made us lunch and in the afternoon I had 2 dairy free White Russians as I thought I’d started to feel better.
By the time it came to dinner time I was feeling much better, the headache had almost gone, I was a bit less sweaty and I managed to tuck in to a lovely dinner of chicken, potatoes, onion, pumpkin, carrot and broccoli with a dash of BBQ sauce on the side for dipping.