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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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!
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.
On Friday 23rd July I had orange juice, and banana and honey pancakes (gluten and dairy free) for breakfast while Captain Caveman had gone to Phong Nha. I read the news which was not looking so rosey today; Danang was back in lockdown, we have a lot less friends there now as most of them have already left Vietnam but it was disappointing as Danang has had a lot of lockdown weeks during the pandemic. More info here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/vietnamsda-nang-bans-outdoor-activities-nonessential-businesses-over-new-local-coronavirus-infections/62201.html It was worrying to read reports of a lot more deaths occuring, I believed due to the fact that very few people were vaccinated (especially the elderly and vulnerable), more here: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/995869/viet-nam-reports-more-36-new-deaths-related-to-covid-19.html I read a very interesting article about addicts at a rehab centre who had lots of positive cases all in the same building, which just shows how fast this 4th wave of virus is spreading, read it here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/saigon-assists-binh-duong-in-treating-nearly-500-coronavirusinfected-addicts-staff-at-rehab-center/62203.html The worst article I read today was horrendous and this is what worries me about travelling during a pandemic. A man with Corona got on a flight pretending to be his wife, who’s negative, and actually managed to get on the plane! Unbelievable, check this out: https://bbc.in/3zq1LeR When Captain Caveman returned he reported that there were no longer checkpoints in town but Phong Nha was even more of a ghost town than usual. In his entire journey of 18km he had not seen more than 10 people in total. The F1s that had been tested and had results so far were all negative for the first test so that was good news, they would have 2 more tests over the coming days.
I was a bit despondent as I had thought that, with The Villas being closed, we wouldn’t be having a pizza night but Captain Caveman had already checked and there most certainly was. We just had popcorn for lunch so that I’d have room for pizza night and I wasn’t really expecting much, given that it would be done with a different oven and staff at the Phong Nha Farmstay, who might not be used to the same style of pizza. Ben and Bich at the Farmstay had about 25 guests, mostly families who were staying longer term due to the Corona situation and restrictions in their home cities, so they were doing their absolute best to keep things running as normal as possible. We arrived at the Phong Nha Farmstay for Happy Hour, sat at the big table, I had a couple of the 2 for 1 rum and cokes, Captain Caveman had beers then we ordered our pizzas, he had a salami one with extra chillies on (so I couldn’t try his pizza) and I decided on ham and mushroom (a new pizza on this week’s menu). There was a big screen and the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was being shown which, at first, all the kids were interested in, it soon wore off though and they were definitely enjoying their pizzas more, as were the adults. Our pizzas were excellent and the service very slick so I was very impressed and happy. I was pleased that the pizza night was a success and it was a bargain at 275,000vnd (£8.50) for the two of us, even though I’d hoped to take a slice or 2 home (Captain Caveman snaffled the last of mine, obviously). Back home I felt very full but I didn’t have a dodgy tum so I was pleased about that – it seemed I was fine with gluten and cooked cheese now!
There were some changes afoot in Phong Nha and Dong Hoi on Wednesday 21st July, but first Captain Caveman and Veronika got picked up to join the Phong Nha Farmstay shopping trip at 8am, Duyet was driving the bus this week, while I had a Lake House croissant for my breakfast. The housekeeping staff thought we had all gone to Dong Hoi and so came to do a clean, surprised to find me in the room. I went outside, trying to find some breeze and drank some water. The new puppy was playing in the garden and came running over for some belly rubs and tickles. We have a new youth who has recently joined Duyet on the Elements team who cares for the pool, waters the garden and generally looks after the place. He came over so I asked him the puppy’s name – he’s called Cà rốt (which means carrot in English), the youth is called Cuong as I checked at the same time. I prepared some lunch using left over tortilla, bacon and cabbage to make an interesting meal and saved some for Captain Caveman. He had messaged to say that the supermarket in Dong Hoi was full and people had started to panic buy. An area near to the train station was taped off and no trains were stopping at Dong Hoi. Unfortunately during the tracking and tracing of people who were in direct contact with the 3 imported positive cases from Minh Hoa, Quang Binh, they had identified 2 people who had also tested positive. These were traced to be people in Dong Hoi; one a taxi driver and the other was a ‘drinking buddy’.
Video of Carrot, the puppy
Captain Caveman and Veronika returned from the shopping trip with very differing accounts of their outing. While nothing phases Captain Caveman, Veronika was still a little out of sorts due to the pushing and shoving at the supermarket. She had shopped, got to the counter and then abandoned her basket because it had just been too much for her. Luckily she had managed to get quite a bit of shopping in the Organic shop and wouldn’t be going hungry but it’s the first time I’ve seen her looking a bit frazzled after a shopping trip! Captain Caveman said it wasn’t as busy as a Morrison’s back in Sheffield on a normal Saturday and if he’d have known he would have got her shopping through for her. We are spoilt here because it’s so quiet generally that we don’t ever see a crowd.
Here is what Captain Caveman bought this week, keeping in mind our budget was still very tight and he went to 3 shops in total during a panic buy. As usual the prices are in Dong and it’s about 32,000vnd to £1.
Co-op Mart Shallots 7,592 1 can of Coca-Cola 8,500 Lettuce 8,506 Carrots 16,464 Tomatoes 17,561 1 can of Strongbow 18,500 Tissues 18,500 Bananas 20,550 Potatoes 21,212 2 dragon fruit 34,125 6 cans of tonic 45,600 2 packs of butter 62,000 1 jar pasta sauce 106,800 2 packs of bacon 129,600 3 cartons of orange juice 135,900
Red Supermarket 2 red peppers 49,205 2 cans grapefruit juice 64,000 Hot dogs 265,000
I had made one request to Captain Caveman to get me something to take to Shannon’s party that night. We were all taking a dish which they call Potluck in America and Canada and so I wanted to take something easy that everyone would like, I also asked him to get me some wine but he didn’t get any. Captain Caveman didn’t get as many bargains and couldn’t get eggs or chicken anywhere this week.
Our 3rd Phong Nha Ladies Night was arranged for 4pm at the Belafonte and I was about to take the worst potluck dish in the history of potluck parties! Captain Caveman had got me dragon fruit and baby bananas to take, his logic being everyone likes fruit. He assumed Shannon would have shot glasses and so I would also take a bottle of Hanoi vodka as my drink contribution – this was certainly one way to avoid being invited back again, or to any other future parties. Meanwhile Veronika had decided to take rice crackers, grapes and 3 homemade dips (hummus, olive tapenade and red pepper) which she was busy making at home. The Belafonte, where Shannon lives, is about 2.5km from the Farmstay (almost 5km from our place) and I wasn’t too sure how I was getting there. Veronika had decided that she would get a lift with Bich but they weren’t going until later as she was busy with guests. Originally I was going to go with Tatas but she had gone on a 2 day Tu Lan tour this morning, meaning that she couldn’t come to another one of our Ladies Nights. Captain Caveman suggested I cycle there because then I wouldn’t be stuck for being able to get home but I thought it might be a bit too far, plus I’d probably be able to get a lift home. Instead we came up with a better plan; Captain Caveman and I would cycle to the Farmstay for about 4pm and then I would leave Bluey, my bicycle, there and we would walk to Shannon’s house (Captain Caveman would push his bike) and I’d cadge a lift back. It would be about 30 minutes walk so we would be there before 5pm and it had been cloudy all day so felt a bit cooler. Captain Caveman would then cycle back home and have a quiet night in. I was looking forward to the party and this Ladies Night looked set to have 15 attendees plus a couple of local friends of Shannon’s who she had invited too. I sent a message in the Facebook event and group to let everyone know the party was still going ahead and that we were under the general Corona rule of no groups of more than 20 people so all was good to go, then I jumped in the shower to get ready for Shannon’s send off. Of course, this is Vietnam so by the time I had got out of the shower there was already some changes and at the time we didn’t realise how serious they could be.
I got out of the shower to several messages of cancellation, which is not unusual for Ladies Night, but the reasons were! The two people who were positive for Corona in Quang Binh (the taxi driver and the drinking man) had been in Phong Nha and so all the people in a section of town around the former Easy Tiger area were checked for F1 and F2 tracing, meaning quite a few people had to stay at home. Four of the girls who live in that area were unable to come due to their potential to be F2s and some were told they needed to stay home for the time being. Another couple of ladies had to stay at home (one in a different town) for the same reason and people in our sleepy town were genuinely worried that Corona had spread this far. What I didn’t know at the time was that the phone shop guy, at the corner of Phong Nha market, had been in direct contact with the positive taxi driver when he sold him and ice-cream and so he was F1 and had been taken away for quarantine and testing. As we were setting off to the Phong Nha Farmstay on our bicycles, armed with fruit, Saigon beers and rice wine, the sun decided to come out and it was incredibly hot again. It’s only 10 minutes of cycling but it was definitely over 35°C so I needed to stop for a refreshment before walking on to The Belafonte for Shannon’s party. We both had a Huda beer and then one of the guests came over to say she and her family were heading back to Hanoi by car tomorrow but wanted to introduce her friend to us. We sat chatting and ended up having another beer by which time Bich said I could get a lift with her and Veronika. When I finally got to the party it was already in full swing, we’d missed the fizz and everyone was in the pool, including Momma D, Deb, Trang, Shannon and a load of local kids. The party went much better than expected and despite the Vietnamese ladies laughing at my contribution and all the kids swarming around Veronika’s grapes like locusts there was a good spread with plenty of BBQ pork and spring rolls. I was drinking beer when Shannon insisted I go on to white wine then later when Tham arrived, with several bottles of wine and a bottle of Bailey’s, I went on to red. Shannon said for me to stay so I agreed, let Captain Caveman know and then we cranked up the music and got right on it!
As the last 3 standing Momma D and I agreed we needed to make sure Shannon had the best send off and not to get upset or it would make Shannon feel emotional so we were on a mission to make her night! By 2.30pm we were necking frozen Bellinis with extra rum, singing (and dancing) to Teenage Dirtbag at the top of our voices and generally celebrating we had made it to 2.30am – practically unheard of these days in Phong Nha. I vaguely remember going to sleep in a downstairs bedroom where the ceiling was a huge net and there was an actual thick duvet on the bed and I wondered why there were pegs on the curtains.
I’d been up in the night with indigestion and not having slept well so, when Captain Caveman went to Phong Nha on the morning of Tuesday 20th July, I stayed in bed a bit longer and had a nice lay in. When I got peckish I had one of the Lake House croissants for breakfast, it was bloody gorgeous and worth it that it made my tummy hurt a bit. Captain Caveman got back and had bought a jar of cashew nuts back from Funny Monkeys which I always prefer to the shop bought ones. While Captain Caveman had a shower I got him 2 croissants with butter and jam (he’s an animal) and he was so happy while eating them. We couldn’t resist, while the Lake House bread was still fresh, just having a peanut butter sandwich for lunch – the breadcakes were a little like a brioche bun but incredibly good. Information came from the Phong Nha Farmstay to say there would be a shopping trip tomorrow but there were some new rules; from now on only 1 person per household/villa/family was allowed to go. We decided that Captain Caveman would go for us as he holds the money, so he’s in charge. Our dinner that night wasn’t amazing as we just had a bit of a picnic meal with leftover jackfruit, Spanish omelette and pickles, but by the time we ate at 8.30pm I was kind of past it. Then the news we had all been worried about came; our province of Quang Binh had 3 Corona cases for the first time! They were young Vietnamese returners from Russia who had spent 21 days in compulsory quarantine on arrival in Saigon, Vietnam, and had all had several negative tests prior to being allowed to leave to continue a 7 day isolation at home. Unfortunately their home is in Minh Hoa (over an hour’s drive from us) so they had travelled north to get there, one part of that journey was from Saigon to Dong Hoi via bus. Contact tracing and tracking had commenced but it was difficult to know how this would pan out for our province and whether Dong Hoi and Phong Nha would be affected. Either way, we knew that Quang Binh would be very worried given that the province had been doing so well up until now, compared to almost everywhere else.
Captain Caveman managed to stay in bed asleep later than 6.30am on Monday 19th July, which was nice. For breakfast we just had toast and it must have been a tad cooler today as the pumpkin soup I took out of the freezer took a few hours to defrost. In the news there was a report which showed that the Corona situation was still a concern in South East Asia, more info here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210719/it-s-not-time-yet-for-vietnam-to-live-with-covid19-singaporean-expert/62141.html We spent some time in the swimming pool before and after lunch but my eczema on my face and ear was getting worse because of it. Captain Caveman went to the Lake House to collect our order of freshly baked bread and this time we were successful in getting 6 croissants – it was like Christmas! We got 2 sourdough loaves, 1 wholemeal loaf, 6 croissants and 2 (free) breadcakes for 390,000vnd (£12.90) – proper bread is expensive here, in Vietnam, but the chef at the Lake House is so good! While we were waiting for our pick up to The Villas I spotted the newest member of the Elements Collection team, then remembered getting back last night from the Phong Nha Farmstay and having cuddles with the new puppy. He came to greet us but hadn’t worked out that the hose pipe he was chasing had some leaks with water squirting out and he was a bit wet – he was such a cute little thing too. That evening we joined everyone for a trip to The Villas for curry night but on the bus were 2 new customers who didn’t wear a mask, even when Ben asked them to and offered to stop at the market to buy masks they didn’t – this was the first time I had witnessed people not wearing masks (something I would probably have to get used to once I left Vietnam). In the UK today it was the day they had eased the restrictions so that people could pretty much do as they pleased and it was almost 3 weeks since Turkey went back to ‘normal’, both of which made me nervous but not as nervous as the couple of no-mask strangers in front of us. Captain Caveman and I sat outside and, although Veronika put all her stuff down to sit with us, she was her usual social butterfly flitting about the tables, guests and kids. It was the busiest I’d seen The Villas in a while and so Lan, the manager, came to let us know that the butter chicken tonight would be at least 40 minutes and we said we didn’t mind and ordered another cold beer each. By the time we did get our meals it was almost 2 hours since we arrived but we weren’t too bothered that we had been kept waiting. The curry was certainly worth the wait, it tasted really good and came with nan bread and steamed rice, we were even offered more bread but we didn’t need any as it was a good sized portion for 185,000vnd (£5.74). Veronika didn’t get any food at all and when she finally asked Lan if she would be getting her curry she was told there was only 1 small bowl left but it was already allocated to a customer who had ordered the chicken curry without the chicken! When The Villas staff did the rounds to apologise and let us know there was a delay somehow Veronika had not heard or been seated when this happened and was unaware of the issue. A few minutes later a small bowl of buttered chicken appeared in front of a hungry Veronika and we can only presume the fussy customer then had to be told that Ben’s mom had eaten her order. The owners and staff were visibly concerned that they had not been up to their usual excellent standards but considering that almost every western expat or customer in Phong Nha was at the restaurant at the same time tonight, we still enjoyed our night. At the time none of us knew that it could be our last curry, or even our last meal, at The Villas for a while – things were about to get a little more restrictive.
On Friday 16th July I was up early and had pineapple pancakes and jasmine tea for breakfast while reading the news. A (New Zealand) woman had escaped from her isolation area in Nha Trang and the authorities were searching for her, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210716/new-zealander-escapes-from-isolated-area-in-vietnam-s-nha-trang/62110.html A Vietnamese friend in Saigon posted photos on her Facebook of what the conditions were like for those isolating in workplaces where there was Corona in the factories and so were unable to leave. I had some friends who were leaving soon or were locked down in Saigon and had questions about random stuff, so I helped them out. There was also a bit of a panic in Hoi An as there was supposedly 1 foreigner who had returned from HCMC with Corona and so today they were going to test all foreigners in Hoi An for the virus. For lunch I had a bit of a strange concoction which happened to turn out really well, I was using up some fruit and veg too. I had a Momma D’s sausage roll, warmed in the oven, with white and red cabbage, carrot and gherkins and I really enjoyed it. I had pomelo and pineapple for afters and then made plans to collect my passport.
It was 1 week since my visa had expired, I’d had it confirmed verbally that it was extended until 9th August but had not actually seen it to see if it had that date, or even an ‘XC’ was written on it. I’d purposely not let the visa/passport issue stress me out this month and figured if it came down to it I’d just book the next available flight and go to Turkey. I was keen to go to the newly improved pizza night at The Villas that night so I got a lift with Duyet to the Phong Nha Farmstay in the jeep and arrived about 5.15pm. My passport was there and I was pleased to see it had the stamp I needed to stay for another month. I decided to have a celebratory beer, in fact I had 2, mistakenly thinking beers were 2 for 1 on happy hour. I ended up taking one with me because the shuttle bus to The Villas arrived on time. Lan, the manager at The Villas, came over to fill me in on the new rules of pizza night; instead of getting random slices that you either accept or decline when offered and until you’ve had enough, you could select your own pizza. It was still 100,000vnd (£3.20) for any pizza from the new list but didn’t include a beer or soft drink this time. So, the deal was less of a bargain for someone who could eat more than 8 slices and liked a beer but was better for someone who is more particular on the toppings they like and doesn’t usually have a beer. I preferred this new way and I finally decided I would have the Classic pizza and 1 beer which made my total spend 130,000vnd (£4.16) and I managed to eat almost all of it by the time Veronika came to sit down and ordered a smoked duck salad. It was a busy night and Ben was on duty sorting out the kids who were inside all having Margherita pizza and behaving very well. As there was just me in my ‘group’ I wasn’t able to fully take advantage of the great pizza prices, if there was a few of us we could have ordered a selection and shared so I would try that the next time perhaps. It would also be better for some of my Vietnamese friends who can only manage a couple of slices each of pizza and could share. Even though I didn’t this time, I thought it was a good idea to be able to add extra toppings for 10,000vnd (£0.31) and think I’d also give that a go in future.
I had an exciting day on Wednesday 14th July; while Captain Caveman had gone to Son Doong for another 4 days I was booked on the Phong Nha Farmstay’s weekly shopping trip at 8.30am. I had a very small budget to work with this week so I had to be really careful if I wanted to be able to go out for some meals as well as cooking at home. Bich picked up Veronika and I from Elements Collection and already in the car were 2 other passengers. One was a customer who was very nice and friendly and so we had a good chat while we drove to Dong Hoi, I was particularly interested in her home country of Bhutan and why her and her family were moving to Ethiopia. Our first stop was the Organic Shop where I was absolutely delighted to find they had popcorn kernels, unfortunately they were expensive but I decided to get them anyway and popped back the brown rice biscuits I was going to buy. I really wanted to buy the juicy looking cherries but, even though they had come down in price, they were still 400,000vnd (£12.80) per kilo – instead I sensibly bought some carrots. Our next shop was the VinMart supermarket where the girl on the reduced veg and fruit weighing machine counter had started to recognise me and pointed out the pumpkin which I got as well as a selection of other cheap produce. I didn’t manage to get everything on the shopping list but I still got quite a few things before putting our stuff in the car then joining Bich at QB Casa cafe.
For those of you who do like a good shopping list and a nosey here’s what I bought and the cost in dong:
VinMart Supermarket 1 pack of pumpkin 2,778 1 pack of pumpkin 2,999 1 pack of white cabbage 5,472 1 can of soda water 6,500 1 baguette 9,500 1 pack of broccoli 15,232 1 can of coconut milk 16,000 2 cans of diet coke 19,000 2 packs of pineapple 23,000 Washing up liquid 23,000 1 jar of tomato pasta sauce 27,000 500g of penne pasta 30,000
Total spent 180,481vnd (£5.76)
It wasn’t a thorough shopping trip but interestingly I didn’t buy any item that was over £1 in VinMart, do you think you could do that in your local supermarket and get most things for the week? What did I miss?
After shopping, Veronika, who likes a coffee in a morning, had taken herself off to the Vinpearl Hotel reception for a cappuccino, when she saw we were all in QB Casa she came over and ordered another cappuccino and found not only was it cheaper but it was better! Bich had ordered steak and chips for her breakfast so I decided to have the same, and I also ordered a fresh coconut. I was thoroughly impressed with my meal, the service was good even though the staff are a bit shy and not too confident speaking English, but that didn’t matter to me. I paid 200,000vnd (£6.40) for steak, chips, a warm baguette and veg, a fresh coconut, water and included a tip, I was very full and left there thinking I would definitely go again.
When we got in I popped my shopping away and realised I still had a small amount of almond milk left so I made myself a dairy free white russian to have with some gluten and dairy free chocolate brownie. My eczema on my face was still bad so I avoided putting my face in the water as much as possible while swimming and didn’t stay in too long. I watched some Netflix and made some popcorn, I had some of the old kernels left and when I popped the new and old together it was clear to see the organic shop was much better quality so I didn’t feel so bad for spending too much on it – it still works out better than crisps. After dinner, of a chicken sandwich, I found a cockroach in the bathroom and was a bit anxious about trying to get it as they are usually indestructible (this one was massive and extremely fast) but I sprayed it with Mosfly before bed and hoped it would be dead when I got up.
On Saturday 10th July I had 2 gluten free, dairy free pancakes with banana and honey for breakfast and read the daily Corona stats. Unfortunately in Vietnam there had been 2 more deaths, one of them didn’t have long between diagnosis and dying, which was concerning. More info here: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/989833/two-more-covid-related-deaths-reported-in-viet-nam.html There was an updated list of categories for people receiving the vaccine in Vietnam and I would have been at the very bottom had it not been for Oxalis and Captain Caveman. Unfortunately the vaccine progress was still slow here and therefore cases were going to keep coming and deaths were inevitable, especially for those with underlying health issues already. For lunch I had the left over buffet from last night’s party and in the afternoon I decided to tackle the rather expensive pomelo for a snack and realised it would last me for days. Around 5pm, I was swimming in the pool when Veronika asked if I’d like to share some wine with her, it was very hot weather again, after some storms in the night, so of course I agreed. She even got some crackers from Momma D’s out and an avocado for nibbles. Veronika kept topping up my glass and by the time it came for me to reheat my jackfruit seed curry for dinner I was rather merry. The curry with steamed rice was absolutely delicious and very filling but, as is usual with masaman curry, it made me ill as soon as I’d eaten it.
I started what was about to be a mammoth task on Sunday 11th July; transferring all my photos and videos from the laptop to one of the SD cards. I had a slice of buttered toast and a slice of toast with jam for breakfast (with no issues) and read the news. Because the number of daily cases was getting bigger each day they were proposing even tighter measures in Saigon, more info here: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/989958/hcm-city-sets-up-mobile-teams-for-covid-19-testing-at-home-tightens-travel-from-nearby-provinces.html Reports of bringing in a quick PCR tests at Hanoi airport meant this could be better for when I leave so I wouldn’t have to travel or wait long for my result to enable me to fly to Turkey, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210711/hanoi-airport-offers-covid19-testing-service-to-passengers/62001.html For lunch I ate some pomelo and was expecting Tatas to come over for a swim in the afternoon. She arrived later than I expected which meant I had totally cleared everything of mine from the laptop and it was starting to function again, I could now view photos and videos, so started looking at old memory sticks. Tatas and I sat on the balcony with a cold beer but she hadn’t brought her swimmers. I had a bit of a swim and we arranged to go to the Happy Hour and Farmstay Sunday dinner with Veronika at 5.30pm ish. The Elements Collection staff brought us a plate each of warm jackfruit and peanut salt. I love it and was keen to tuck in to ours with another beer.
After pool time (for me) and showers for both of us all 3 of us got a lift with Duyet to the Phong Nha Farmstay. Tatas and Veronika were on the gin and tonics and I had rum and diet cokes (2 for 1 as we love a bargain) and we ordered our roast dinners. We met the first person I have ever met from Bhutan, a lovely customer from Tatas’ last Son Doong tour. Tatas had my pasta, I had her crackling, pumpkin and Yorkshire pudding and the food was excellent – I do enjoy a roast dinner almost as much as wine. Tatas decided to try a Pina Colada which she was now getting in to. She insisted on buying a bottle of red wine for us to share and we also got a glass of wine included and a carrot cake each – we took the carrot cake home as we were too full after such a substantial portion!
joloyolo 