Phong Nha – 30th August

It was a pretty stressful day on Monday 30th August, day 5 of lockdown. Captain Caveman had forgotten to put his phone on silent the night before so it was pinging even before the loudspeaker man had got to work and I was a little crotchety at the phone going off between 5 and 5.30am. I went back to sleep and woke up when my phone went off at 7.45am, my alarm to check if I’d got to go for my 2nd vaccine today – still nothing! Captain Caveman went downstairs and came back to tell me that a bag of grapes and 2 mangos had been left on the table downstairs but he wasn’t sure where they came from. Veronika told Captain Caveman she already had mango and that we could have them so he put them in our fridge, Veronika put the grapes in her fridge, after Captain Caveman had snaffled a couple of them. I had a banana and a third of a mango for breakfast, our fruit supply was getting low so we had to be conservative with what we did have. I read in the news about a city in the south of Vietnam where, as markets were closed, they had come up with a good alternative, see below:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210830/vietnam-s-nha-trang-brings-coronavirussafe-grocery-stalls-to-roadside/62842.html
Today was 1 week until I would need to be having my PCR test so I contacted Bich to see if she could help me book an appointment for 6th September in the afternoon, in Dong Hoi. When she called me back she said that the CDC (who do the testing and provide the official stamped certificate to fly) were too busy out in the field, testing potential cases and they couldn’t do it. Bich also was going to organise us a food delivery from Dong Hoi so she needed a list sending as soon as we could and asked us to get Veronika to do one too. We did a list, just the basics plus a box of beers and I asked for the maximum number of each item so that she could just get whatever was available, it was Bich who sent us the grapes and mangos. As a precaution I decided to ask what the situation would be regarding my visa, which will expire on the 9th, if I can’t leave because of the PCR test or lockdown, I needed to be prepared. I got a very helpful response (but they were shocked that I still hadn’t booked a flight, yet) and I was informed I could get permission to go to Dong Hoi for the PCR test using a form, which I would need to complete and go to the People’s Committee with to give me permission to go to Dong Hoi. Helpful, but not much use if I can’t get an appointment for a PCR test in the first place! I was told they would investigate further and let me know and asked why I hadn’t booked the flight yet – I pointed out that it was a good job I hadn’t booked the one for this week as I was still not able to get the test and if I cancelled I would lose a lot of money, which I didn’t have.
We had more tortilla and salad for lunch and information came from various sources, including Bich and an Oxalis manager, that the lockdown would probably be extended.
When a beer delivery arrived in the afternoon we were so glad and popped a few in the freezer to chill them quicker, Veronika said that, having spoken to Bich, they were trying to arrange her permission to move to the phong Nha Farmstay, to be with her family so she had decided to start packing up her stuff. I offered our help, since she was meant to be moving out on the 6th anyway, but she said she was only taking the essentials for now and that she wasn’t sure how long it would take to get the permission from the head guy. Captain Caveman and I were in the pool with our beers while Veronika frantically emptied her cupboards and fridge in the kitchen, she came upstairs with a glass and a bottle of water to sit on the balcony but she got a call from Bich straight away; permission was granted, Duyet was packing all her stuff in to the jeep and Bich and Ben were already at the blockade waiting for Veronika! She legged it off with a quick ‘see you, later’ and was off to drive her motorbike to the Farmstay – she had finally got her escape she wanted! We, on the other hand, stayed in the pool until dark occasionally getting another beer. That night I made a chicken, green bean and yellow pepper egg fried rice which tasted great – Captain Caveman said it was one of my best yet! We got a message later from Veronika to say that her exit had been quite an ordeal; all her stuff had to be carried across no man’s land with the guys on the blockade yelling and waving their arms in a very excited manner. Ben and Bich had to carry it in several trips and they told Veronka to disappear as her presence seemed to be upsetting the blockade guards.
So, day 5 of #STFAH turned out to be a bit of a bad day and we definitely weren’t prepared for Veronika’s removal of her oven at short notice – roast potatoes for tomorrow had gone out of the window!

Phong Nha – 29th August

I woke up on Sunday 29th August at 7am but stayed in bed, it was day 4 of our 7 day lockdown, more than half way already. I went to tend to my mushrooms and was getting a bit impatient as they were showing no signs of life, it was 3 weeks since we accidentally bought the embryos and 2 weeks since we had hung them up so at least another week of waiting was afoot. While we still had fresh bread left we had that for breakfast with Baba Ganoush on one half and peanut butter on the other then we had a piece of tortilla, some dragon fruit and a bit of mango, Captain Caveman with coffee and me with jasmine tea.
I caught up on the Corona news, which wasn’t going particularly well in Vietnam and I read this interesting article on the use of drones in Danang to check people are staying at home:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210829/da-nang-district-begins-trial-use-of-drones-to-monitor-residents-during-covid19-pandemic/62838.html
I had a message from Hien, the owner of Elements Collection, saying she wouldn’t be able to see me before I go because of being in lockdown and she hoped to see me again soon. She did mention that she thought I wouldn’t be able to leave at this time and I would have to wait until after the lockdown ends, but what if it didn’t? Saigon had been locked down for months and people were able to leave there without too much fuss. Captain Caveman still had some wine that he was saving and we had thought about drinking it on the balcony one afternoon so that we could take a photo and send it to the person who gave it to him as a gift. Unfortunately it looked like rain so we sat in doors for lunch of tortilla and salsa style salad. I was now having to eat things I didn’t particularly like usually (egg, tomato, cucumber and mustard in the dressing) but it went down well and I wouldn’t go hungry. We had more of the brownie for dessert – it would turn out to be the longest lasting pudding dish I had ever made!
That evening we sat watching the rain, Captain Caveman wishing he had not taken a lovely bottle of whisky over to the Glass House with the intention of sharing it with Watto. We now had a 12 or 15 year old Laphroaig that we couldn’t get to, just stuck there, unopened! For dinner we made a nice steamed chicken and rice dish (in the reliable rice cooker) with aubergine, onion, peppers, tomato and garlic (one of my favourites) and then hoped for a good day tomorrow.
As we saw things right now this lockdown/no work/limited food situation, that we are on day 4 of 7 now, will have 3 outcomes:
1. They will end it and we can continue to go back to life/work/shopping and me leaving without any hassle.
2. They will extend it for at least another week, may be longer, with the rules as they are now.
3. They will extend it but possibly put in even more strict measures like delivering food by authorities and no leaving the house for even going to a pharmacy.
No matter which option happened I was still intending to leave.

Phong Nha – 28th August

Of course the loudspeaker woke us up at 5.30am again on Saturday 28th August but I pulled the sheet over my ear and went back to sleep until 7am. We were on day 3 of lockdown and everyone should be doing the #STFAH thing so why wake everyone up so early? – let people sleep in! I was apprehensive as to how Duyet might have got on at the market and we didn’t receive a message like usual, to say he’d left it on the kitchen table, so I wasn’t optimistic. When I finally went downstairs at 8.30am it was genuinely like the feeling of Christmas day as a kid! There were baguettes, eggs, red cabbage, peppers, green beans, tomatoes, celery and white carrots! I was so grateful to see a fair amount of veg and bread that I hurried upstairs to tell Captain Caveman and I was in such a great mood! We were going to eat like royalty today and we gave our celery to Veronika as I know she uses it in her soups. While Captain Caveman rustled up some more of Stu’s pulled pork for a breakfast baguette with white cabbage I was outside, playing with Carrot, the pup, and watering my mushrooms – he always comes for a little tummy rub and tickles when I’m spraying the water. We hadn’t seen Eric the bee for a while but a nice green beetle came to stay for a sunbathe on our living room door, not as friendly as Eric.
We ate a little too well and by lunch I was having a peanut butter lettuce and cucumber sandwich (not my favourite but we are in desperate times here), then we had the brownie disaster for dessert, which had started to grow on us. At the realisation that we can’t actually do anything for now about me leaving we resigned ourselves to just waiting a few more days to see how things turned out. A beer in the pool was had, Veronika sat on her balcony and said she had requested some food from the Farmstay, Bich had found out about her trying to cross the blockade and wasn’t pleased. As I was swimming I noticed Duyet with a cooler bag (celery poking out of the top) and what looked like a takeaway; Bich had sent a curry for Veronika’s dinner plus more vegetables because she had run out. This was a good thing as it meant she had paved the way for the future, maybe we could order some alcohol or food when we run out. Captain Caveman and I had the most amazing lockdown meal yet; hotdogs in soft, fresh, baguette, topped with fried onions, the rest of Stu’s pulled pork and smothered in BBQ sauce! Captain Caveman laughed at me when I’d made mine and then uttered the word ‘filthy’ at this gorgeous creation, until he topped his with chopped tomatoes too and then tasted it! Sod the diet, this was the perfect end to our 3rd day of lockdown.

Phong Nha – 27th August

On Friday 27th August, at 5.30am the loudspeaker was really going for it this morning with a man speaking for an hour first and then a woman for over half an hour, we hadn’t got a clue what they were saying and it was still darkish outside. We’d been promised a week’s worth of storms and cooler weather for our 7 days of lockdown and #STFAH, typical when we have a pool to be in and some shadebathing to do. I didn’t go back to sleep as we were both checking our phones for updates on the Corona crisis and whether any cases were actually near to us – there were certainly plenty of rumours that there was, but no evidence to support it. The housekeeping staff were here by 8am and we all congregated in the kitchen where I found Duyet’s delivery. Thankfully, he was able to get us bananas, dragon fruit, bread and 2kg of rice, but there were no vegetables being brought to sell at the market because of the lockdown. He’d done well and I was still pleased he had managed to get us what he had, we were very lucky, I was glad that I had doubled my bread amount at the last minute to 4 baguettes instead of 2. Veronika was surprised as she didn’t think the market would be open at all and she said she may have to ask him to get her some things, as she was running low on food, she was also making a pot of soup! We had bacon sandwiches and used Stu’s bacon sparingly now that we were only in day 2 of lockdown but had bread.

Even though we were in lockdown and my leaving Vietnam plans were being a bit scuppered we continued trying to sort stuff out. Captain Caveman communicated with Vinh, his colleague who got the other 4 cavers to Hanoi airport only 9 days ago, I communicated with Bich and Danny, the driver. We spent most of the day ‘on it’ only to end up with the following outcomes:
The driver couldn’t go any earlier than 6th September, Bich said it was a no go to be able to get my PCR test as all the people doing them were busy and Vinh also said we must wait until the end of lockdown. Saigon had been in lockdown for almost 3 months so we didn’t accept those answers and pushed on to try alternative ways!! Independence Day was coming up so it also meant that some people wouldn’t be working from 2nd to 5th September so I was conscious that any paperwork we needed should be sought before then.
For lunch we had hot dog sausages with ketchup but we didn’t use the baguettes because we needed to be careful with the bread we had – make it last. We had bananas for a snack and I had 2 frivolous beers in the pool while Veronika pulled up a chair on her balcony and told us how she had tried to escape, again! She had taken her motorbike 1km towards the Farmstay, where the blockade is and was told “No!” (again) and then had to come back.
We broke off the planning my escape for one of the best dinners ever; Stu’s pulled pork with white cabbage in our remaining baguettes – pure bliss!!!
All in all, a tiring and unproductive day but if I couldn’t leave any earlier I now had a provisional booking with Danny the driver from Hanoi, who would pick me up on 7th September, I’d spend the night in Hanoi airport, get the lunchtime flight the next day, do 8 hours in Singapore transit, fly to Istanbul and arrive in Dalyan on the 9th! The day my visa expires and my 2nd vaccine should have been due by.
Before bed I saw a friend on Facebook had posted that the Phong Nha market would be closed tomorrow but that our market, in Khuong Ha, was open. Duyet confirmed he would be able to try his luck at getting the vegetables he couldn’t get today so I resent him a list with more ‘essentials’ added, I even tried my luck for green beans and more bread and Captain Caveman popped over with the money for him – we would see tomorrow when we woke up what the situation was.

Phong Nha – 26th August

Thursday 26th August was a shocker of a day, one I won’t forget in a hurry. We woke up at 6.15am to find out that we had gone in to lockdown at 6am this morning. All of the city of Dong Hoi and the district of Bo Trach (where we are) had been placed under Directive 16, for 7 days, which was the strictest we have had since the pandemic began. When people had found out it had gone nuts in Dong Hoi with everyone panic buying and crowding at the market. Veronika had been told to stay home but Captain Caveman, who had been advised of no training the night before, set off to Phong Nha – he had stuff in the wash that needed sorting at the Glass House and we didn’t have much in the way of provisions. He only stopped at the shop to get some veg and eggs where the seller tried to persuade him to buy more eggs but he had no idea what was about to unfold. Veronika, despite being told to stay home, decided to try to take her motorbike to the Phong Nha Farmstay but got turned back at a blockade on the country road between our village in Khuong Ha and their village in Cu Nam – she said the guards were shouting “No!” at her. So, in short, Day 1 of zero notice lockdown wasn’t boding well for my fellow housemates’ ability to #STFAH so far – of course, had I lived alone, I’d probably not have even noticed there was a blockade. I didn’t check any other news and we forgot to have breakfast in all the excitement but Captain Caveman rustled up a lunch of bacon (from Stu), cabbage and potatoes and it tasted remarkable. Day 1 of this 7 day lockdown meant that any arrangements we had, in pen or pencil, were being moved out of this week’s diary again. I was looking forward to my last pizza night tomorrow so that was postponed to the week after, not knowing if it would happen or if I’d have left already. But the biggest pain in the bum was sorting the flights out, which luckily we hadn’t booked yet; Danny, my driver to Hanoi, called me as soon as he realised we were in Directive 16 to say that he could still take me and not to worry, he would just have to meet me at a border on the Highway. We had a beer and some popcorn in the afternoon and were looking forward to left over beef stew for dinner which we had simmering in the rice cooker. One thing was for certain, Veronika certainly had enough soup to last her the week so she needn’t worry about going hungry. Captain Caveman and I were a bit worried that we might not have enough food to last us the 7 days so we prepared a list for Duyet to buy at the local market; fruit, veg, eggs, bread and rice. He wasn’t sure if the market was open but he would check in the morning to see if he could get us any provisions.

Phong Nha – 25th August

There was no mention of the usual weekly shopping trip on Wednesday 25th August and I was no longer expecting one, I would ask Duyet if we needed more fruit and vegetables. Captain Caveman was on his last day of his 3 day trip to Hang Ba and I’d slept better last night. I still woke up very early with the loudspeaker but then fell back to sleep until an amazing 10.30am – the latest I’d been in bed until for ages! I had pomelo for breakfast and read up on the news where I saw an interesting article which would certainly never be written about the western world that I’m used to. I’d not choose a place like this for a camping trip, let alone as an ideal place to quarantine, especially as there was a risk of storms or even landslides. Here’s the article:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210824/in-vietnam-authorities-build-mountainside-bamboo-lodges-for-covid19-quarantine/62745.html
Unfortunately there were 3 more Corona cases in our province of Quang Binh; apparently 2 in Cuba hospital (Dong Hoi) and 1 in a district I wasn’t aware of. News on Facebook came that there were lockdowns of streets and certain areas of Dong Hoi, including near the Sun Spa hotel.
I took a previously made masaman curry out of the freezer for dinner with Captain Caveman as he was due back home tonight. Around lunch time it rained heavily for 30 minutes and I had another make-do healthy lunch of steamed aubergine, cabbage and rice – it tasted better than I imagined.
When Captain Caveman got home he was the most tired I’ve seen him after a caving trip and he could hardly speak or function. He was also pretty hungry and ate all of his extra large portion of chicken masaman with steamed rice, finished off mine, then laid down to rest. We heard a rumour that there was a positive Corona case in Cu Nam, the next village to us but the source could not confirm or get any more details. Although Captain Caveman and I had decided that tonight we would book my flight, he was just far too knackered so we agreed that tomorrow we would book the flight which left Hanoi on Tuesday 31st August. We went to sleep happy to have finally made a decision and ready to go ahead with the escape plan, nothing was going to stop us now – or was it!?

Phong Nha – 24th August

I don’t always sleep well when Captain Caveman is away and on Tuesday 24th August I woke up at 4.30am, I’m not really sure why but I couldn’t get back to sleep so I did some Turkish lessons. By 5am I was checking the Corona situation in Turkey and noticed that where friends were staying, in Kaş, there was a virus hotspot while Dalyan, near our apartment had a couple more cases – this was slightly concerning. By 8am, just as I fancied going back to sleep, the housekeeping staff were here to clean our room so I went downstairs for breakfast. I was going to have my leftover curry but I decided to save it for lunch and just have dragon fruit. Veronika had gone up to the Farmstay to teach Howie and so I had an aubergine roasting mission, so that we could have Baba Ganoush later in the week. I spent a long time doing this sweaty task because I had to use the frying pan as a tray as we were out of tinfoil almost. I’d been checking my phone all the time in case I got a message or a call to go for the vaccine but there was still nothing, I was really hoping that Ben was wrong and that they still had some vaccines left, or a new delivery had arrived.
For lunch I popped on a new batch of rice and had it with last night’s curry and reheated nan bread – even better the second day! I snacked on pomelo by the pool and had an early dinner of leftover chicken and veg spaghetti which didn’t look too appetising when I opened it but actually tasted great. I decided that I would finally try a bit of the disastrous deconstructed gluten and dairy free brownie as a dessert. It was certainly not something I would choose in a restaurant but it would do! It made me think that my Dad would probably love it as he is a fan of all the ingredients, especially the condensed milk! As I slept in the big comfy bed Captain Caveman was under a tarp, in a hammock, sheltering from the rain in Hang Ba.

Phong Nha – 23rd August

Captain Caveman was back off into the wilderness for 3 days on Monday 23rd August. He was excited to be going to one of the new Oxalis cave tours, Hang Ba, and was glad to be doing something work and cave related. I did a few of my usual daily chores and had fruit for breakfast, including some of the pomelo from Funny Monkeys and a bit of dragon fruit. I also wrestled to get out the brownie concoction, that we had now got frozen to the frying pan, so I could put it in a tuppaware box – it still fell apart so it was now a deconstructed brownie.
In the news in Vietnam it was mainly about the even stricter lockdown in Ho Chi Minh City, from today the military were in Saigon to enforce the ‘everyone stay where they are’ lockdown, here’s the info:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210823/military-troops-deployed-to-assist-in-ho-chi-minh-citys-fight-against-covid19/62724.html
There were some reassuring reports of China having no new cases for the first time in a while, if this lasts it would be a promising sign, more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/international/20210823/china-reports-no-new-local-covid19-cases-for-first-time-since-july/62725.html
In Turkey there would be new rules coming in for use of transport across the country (http://sabahdai.ly/_w57) which I thought was a good thing but might also affect me if it takes me much longer to get a 2nd jab, either here or in Turkey.
For lunch I had leftovers from Saturday night – chicken, rice and vegetables and as we were on such a tight budget we were wasting nothing, I’d even got last night’s unfinished dinner in the fridge for another meal. Veronika all rested and had enjoyed staying at The Villas for the weekend, she was going back there tonight though for curry night and I decided I would go to curry night too, it could be my last one, and I let Ben know I needed a pick up. I messaged Colin to ask him a couple of details about his journey from Vietnam to the UK and he called me for a chat. His main piece of advice was that we are more likely to catch Corona in the UK than Vietnam, I was shocked when he told me that no airport staff at Manchester airport were wearing masks, nor did they check any paperwork except for his passport, and everything seemed completely as normal – he was a bit cheesed off that his taxi driver was an anti-vaxer who thought the pandemic was just a conspiracy! Colin said the transit area at Singapore airport was boring and not really much available unless you had a bank card to order food or drink, so to take stuff with me, they did have comfy seats, though. He tried to tell me not to listen to anyone who said that our Vietnamese vaccine certificate would be accepted in the UK and that they didn’t need to isolate at home, because that wasn’t true. He had booked his tests and the other 3 hadn’t but then Singapore Airlines were trying to refuse check-in to everyone but Colin – he was forgetting that I wasn’t going back to the UK first, so this didn’t apply to me.
There were a few reasons I wouldn’t be going back to England from Vietnam and those were:
1. I have no English bank card or money, having not been there for 3 years.
2. I no longer have a home in the UK to self isolate at.
3. Some people have asked why I can’t isolate at a family or friend’s house, but I am likely to be not fully vaccinated and although I would be with people who are, they can still catch the virus from me, or give it to me. I didn’t want to put my parents at risk.
4. The cost – it’s cheaper to go to Turkey first.
5. Everything I own that isn’t in Vietnam with me, is in Turkey.

Photos of military taken from Facebook, Hang Ba photos by Captain Caveman

Duyet drove Veronika and I to The Villas for curry night on Monday 23rd August. Ben and his kids were already there, with the family who were still staying at the Farmstay, and were on the river. Ben was driving a speedboat up and down while towing a surf board which the kids were taking it in turns to have a go on – they were loving it! I went inside and asked for some water for my stomach medicine, I didn’t want to ruin my night with stomach issues so I had decided to take Gastropulgite before my meal. I also ordered a beer and while I was drinking it I thought I’d have a look at the drinks menu, even though I know it well. I’m glad that I did because all the prices had gone up!! A can of Huda beer was now 40,000vnd (£1.28), so that was probably my last beer at The Villas and I even had ice in it to make it go further. Veronika and I both ordered the curry and I made myself save half of my nan bread and half of the curry for tomorrow, even though I could easily have polished it off. That way paying 225,000vnd (£7.20) for my night out and an extra meal was justified from the rather tight budget. Ben had a good idea to have his bowl of curry covered with the nan bread and baked in the oven (what he called a Guiness pie) and it looked great. Veronika and I sat chatting and we were talking about how practical Captain Caveman can be, her example made us both laugh; when she had told Captain Caveman she was moving out of Elements next month, he had asked her if she would be taking her hot plate with her! This piece of kitchen apparatus had been so useful during the flood season but the microwave did have all the functions so he would get by, maybe I would leave him the BBQ hotplate destined for Turkey.
On the drive home with Ben, he mentioned that Quang Binh had run short of vaccines and so it was unlikely I would be able to get my 2nd dose, either before I leave or before my 12 week anniversary of the 1st one was up. If this was true I was very disappointed, but not at all surprised.

Phong Nha – 22nd August

I read the news while eating dragon fruit and a small slice of peanut butter on toast for breakfast on Sunday 22nd August.
A Vietnamese woman had been caught selling vaccination appointments to people in Saigon, people are desperate so were paying to get them when they will be given them for free, more info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210822/woman-nabbed-for-selling-covid19-vaccination-slots-in-ho-chi-minh-city/62713.html
My finger, the one I burnt on the oven door a couple of days ago, was now sporting a blister, my phone wouldn’t recognise the fingerprint unlock function and it was really quite sore. I’d tried putting a plaster on but we only had the really basic ones which as soon as they got wet, were useless. I ended up having to cover it in Sudocrem and put a bandage on it.
Captain Caveman had arranged for us to go over to Stu’s house, The Belafonte, to have lunch with him and the boys. We packed our swimmers and Captain Caveman bought some beers to take round to drink. We left the Elements Collection at around 11.15am on Trigger, the motorbike, which I was so grateful of due to it being so hot and we were in for a pleasant afternoon. Stu had prepared some chicken and salad which we had with fresh baguettes – it was delicious and I managed 2, Captain Caveman had 3 when Stu insisted he had another sandwich and politeness didn’t stop him. We only had a couple of beers as it can effect my tummy and Captain Caveman was driving so we spent quite a bit of time in the swimming pool. It was my first time in the big pool which is quite deep and has no steps to get out so I was concerned I might be in there a while. I think we were in the pool almost 2 hours just chatting shit and enjoying swimming in a bigger, deeper pool. When it came to get out I managed it with just a bit of help from Captain Caveman and was absolutely fine. Unfortunately my stomach was still a bit temperamental and so we said our farewells and headed back home for a siesta. Later that day we decided to seriously look at my leaving plans, after all I legally only had 18 days left in Vietnam. We came up with this itinerary, initially for in a week’s time:

Monday 8am PCR test, pick up results at 2pm. Leave at 7pm and drive to Hanoi,
Tuesday arrive at Hanoi airport at 5am,
Check-in 9.30am,
Fly at 12.30pm via Singapore with 8.5 hrs in transit at the airport,
then fly on to Istanbul,
then fly to Dalaman,
Car pick up to Dalyan.

It would be possible to do it earlier than I needed to leave but we both agreed sooner would be better now that we had decided. The good thing about booking this flight was if it cancelled there was another one at 18.50 the same day or 12.30 the next day so less room for problems (hopefully). Captain Caveman said he would book it when he got back from his 3 day work trip on Wednesday, as by then we were both expecting I would have had my 2nd vaccine.
I was feeling fine again by dinner time so Captain Caveman made us a spaghetti dish to finish off a lovely weekend.

Phong Nha – 21st August

For me there is not much differentiation between a Saturday and a weekday, here in Phong Nha, so Saturday 21st August was an easy going day. Having started the day not waking up until 8.30am and then sharing left over pizza with Captain Caveman I had a dodgy stomach! I read the news and looked at friends’ Facebook reactions to the city lockdowns. People we knew in Saigon posted of the army being deployed for military assistance with the ‘no one moves’ lockdown. Food will be brought to people, from Monday, and there will be no going out at all. However, not all areas in Vietnam are locked down, read more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210821/vietnams-nha-trang-lifts-ban-on-outdoor-exercise-for-residents-in-virusfree-areas/62685.html
I did some more learning languages on Duolingo and was trying to learn more Turkish ready for being there soon. I also tried to improve the brownie by adding some heated condensed milk with vanilla in, then we put it in the freezer to set.
While Captain Caveman had a nice salad for lunch, with all the stuff I couldn’t eat, I stuck to a very simple plate of lettuce, onion, red peppers, olives and some vinaigrette dressing, boring but it didn’t make me ill. We had time in the pool and I had dragon fruit as a snack but was envious of Captain Caveman’s peanut butter on toast, that he wasn’t allowed to eat in the pool!
We got invited out for lunch tomorrow so I needed to make sure my stomach was back to being able to function so for dinner we had one of my favourite meals I’ve had in a while; steamed chicken, rice, sweetcorn, red peppers, aubergines and onions. I felt much better and even had gin and pink grapefruit by the pool in the moonlight.

Phong Nha – 20th August

The loudspeaker was early and extremely loud on Friday 20th August, Captain Caveman went to work and then called me to say there was a group of porters going for their 2nd vaccine and to be on standby so I got ready – nothing came of it, so still no vaccine! I had toast with cheese spread on for breakfast and read the news, as usual. I had to read this article just because of the headline – unbelievably kind in the circumstances:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210820/ho-chi-minh-city-provides-accommodation-vaccination-for-needy-foreigners/62681.html
It was reported that an even harsher lockdown in Saigon would start, from Monday as Corona deaths there are rising rapidly:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210820/vietnam-s-biggest-city-issues-stayhome-order-as-covid19-deaths-soar/62686.html
Meanwhile in Turkey, people who are fully vaccinated with Sinovac, but had not yet had a booster, were ending up in ICU with the Delta variant, here’s more info:
https://www.duvarenglish.com/number-of-turkish-patients-fully-vaccinated-with-sinovac-increasing-in-icus-news-58533
The housekeeping staff were in doing our rooms while Veronika was out at the Farmstay and so I took the opportunity to find things that needed using up to make some brownies. We had some dried bananas, which Captain Caveman had bought ages ago and they did not look appealing at all, plus the cocoa powder I didn’t like as drinking chocolate. I found a recipe that used those 2 ingredients plus some peanut butter and mixed them altogether then put them in the oven in trays for 15 minutes. I managed to catch my finger on the glass of the oven, burned it worse than I realised and didn’t run it under cold water, I just carried on as normal. The gluten and dairy free brownies looked good but the consistency wasn’t great, hopefully they would do as a snack. I did loads of washing up, watered the mushrooms and then I had a make-do lunch of steamed rice and sweetcorn with peanut salt because I knew we were having a feast tonight. After lunch I had a swim and then fell asleep on the sun lounger. It was pizza night at the The Villas tonight so Captain Caveman just got back home from work in time to get a lift with Ben at 6pm to The Villas, Veronika had already ridden her motorbike in because she had decided to have a night at The Villas for a bit of a ‘holiday’.
We arrived and joined Veronika, who was sat peacefully by the river, but not for long as Jack, Max and Stu arrived and joined us, shortly followed by a new returning visitor to the town and Tatas. This week it was made clear that all pizzas from the whole menu were only 100,000vnd so I went for the Showstopper (prosciutto, blue cheese, fig jam and spring onion). Tatas went off piste and ordered a half and half pizza, Hawaiian and Classic which was a good idea. Jack happened to order Smoked Salmon pizza and was sat opposite me, they didn’t tell him they had no salmon but instead just brought him Smoked Duck (obviously because the name had the word smoked in both). Veronika had successfully managed to order and get the new dish of smoked duck and mushroom pasta which did look good. We had a really great night and we were sensible to not order 3 pizzas this time, in fact I brought a Tupperware box and took half of mine home, including a slice of Jack’s duck pizza, just to help him out.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman’s photo of the views

Phong Nha – 19th August

We were fast asleep when the 4 cavers arrived safely at Hanoi airport at 4am on Thursday 19th August. It was in the Vietnam news about the ‘no sharing a car to the airport unless from same home or workplace’, see below:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210819/ho-chi-minh-city-helps-intl-air-passengers-make-trips-to-airport/62672.html
Captain Caveman was awake at 6am and made himself a bacon, mushroom and egg sandwich for breakfast before taking Trigger, the motorbike, to work for his 8am training session. I came down to a kitchen sink of Captain Caveman’s pots and, by the time I’d washed and dried everything, I couldn’t be bothered with breakfast so I just had a few pieces of dragon fruit.
By 10am I was regretting turning down a bacon sandwich from Captain Caveman early this morning, so I had a 2nd breakfast of a bacon and mushroom baguette (no butter or sauce) and a piece of carrot. I’d already chopped all the veg, prepared the stock (using Captain Caveman’s special recipe) and seared a couple of the beef fillets. I love using the rice cooker as a slow cooker and off I went back to the Aircon in the bedroom. At lunchtime I made myself an iced chocolate drink, which was a waste of calories because it wasn’t good, finished off the tortilla and had a couple of pieces of dragon fruit. It took a bit of willpower not to start eating the beef stew which smelled so lovely. Duyet found me a spray bottle for me to use on my mushrooms and the laborious task of spraying them several times a day began, a bit sad that I wouldn’t get to eat them as I’d have left!
Captain Caveman got home from work about 5.30pm and had spoken to Ben on the phone. He’d been able to speak to the owners of Elements Collection to see if they would consider allowing Captain Caveman to stay here after Veronika and I leave next month. They had all agreed which meant everyone was happy and I was relieved that Captain Caveman would have somewhere nice to stay, especially during the flood season. That evening we dined like royalty, we shared the bottle of wine that Tony had given Captain Caveman for his birthday (we have had it in the house almost a month and I’ve not drank it)! The beef stew was absolutely lovely and we had half of it left to pop in the freezer for another time.

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 – 17th August

I awoke fairly early on Tuesday 17th August but I didn’t bother with any breakfast while I checked the news. It was rather annoying that the UK still had Turkey on their Red list which meant going from Turkey to England required paid quarantine in a hotel and the cost was substantial (money I didn’t have). For some reason I was under the impression that the UK was already over 70% fully vaccinated but I was wrong, it was 60%. Vietnam couldn’t even compare for vaccination rates hence why there was consistently over 300 Corona deaths per day now. Captain Caveman came home fairly early and had enjoyed the party last night a bit too much. For lunch we had BBQ jackfruit with lettuce, cabbage, carrot, onion and garlic with a bit of bread and we arranged a taxi for tonight’s exciting night out. Ho Khanh was throwing a party for Colin and Watto leaving, at his place with all the Oxalis porters and cavers. I was invited so we booked Duyet for 5.30pm at a bargain cost of 300,000vnd (£9.60) return fare. Before we went I decided it would be a good idea for us to have a bit of tortilla as a snack, the porters are known for their drinking skills so I didn’t want to let the side down. I had my hair down and even wore a dress but by the time we got to the Glass House, which is opposite Ho Khanh’s, the party venue, I had felt a little unwell – I was convinced it was the egg. Luckily these days I’m much quicker at getting up the stairs so I went up to our room on the 2nd floor to use the bathroom there, then took some Gastropulgite medication. I felt better and we went over to the party just as it was getting set up; the cans of warm beer were being put in to buckets of icy water, hot chips and Vietnamese food were already divided on to a few tables, the cavers and Momma D were all sat at a table which we joined. Momma D was drinking alcoholic lemonade and kindly gave me one, her dog, Kevin, was trying not to get eaten by the resident Vietnamese dog, who was pretty aggressive towards other dogs. The Vietnamese insisted on splitting us westerners up so Colin, Captain Caveman and I were on a table with mostly porters and Hieu, a guide, while Watto, Howard, Deb and Momma D were sat by the river. The food was good, plenty of it, but unfortunately I had a taste of something spicy and it was a bit hot, after that I was quite unwell and I decided to go back to the Glass House to have a bit more privacy, toilet paper and the luxury of some soap. It felt like I had food poisoning and I was so hot it was unbelievable, I wasn’t sure I would make it back to the party and I was just forcing myself to go back, for the last half an hour, before Duyet came to pick us up, when Captain Caveman returned and said the party was already finished. He went to get me some rehydration tablets and some Giardia medication just in case I had got what the others’ had suffered. Luckily, I managed to get back to Elements without further incident and just felt really tired. Captain Caveman told me that a colleague had been informed he would get his 2nd vaccine by the 20th August so I hoped I would be on the same list to get mine, we were optimistic I would. He’d also been in touch with Bich who had confirmed there would be a shopping trip tomorrow, I decided Captain Caveman should go incase I still had stomach issues and then spent the next hour before sleep being roasting hot or freezing cold, I also felt a bit sick but had only had 2 drinks all night and not too much food.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman and various Oxalis team members

Phong Nha – 16th August

On the morning of Monday 16th August Captain Caveman had gone to work early and I came downstairs to get some breakfast. I grabbed a croissant and cut up some dragon fruit for my breakfast and went to read the news. There was some good news this morning; the UK government announced there was no isolation needed when coming in to the UK if you are double jabbed. But, unfortunately, it didn’t yet apply to me because it didn’t include if you had your jabs in Vietnam. It was good news for my family and friends who might be wanting to visit me in Turkey later this year, though, as they would be able to return to the UK without quarantine or isolation (once it was off the Red list). You can read the info here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/self-isolation-removed-for-double-jabbed-close-contacts-from-16-august
In Vietnam and Turkey there were reports of starting to vaccinate children and in Turkey I even knew people who were getting their 4th vaccine soon, mainly so they could get 2 Pfizer boosters to travel to see family in the UK, as Sinovac wasn’t recognised or had already worn off. While I was waiting (hoping) for a call about my 2nd vaccination I did quite a bit of Turkish on Duolingo and writing blog posts. For lunch I had leftovers of tortilla, salsa and bread, I’d not heard about the vaccine and so I went in the pool. I didn’t hear from Captain Caveman at all and he went straight from work to Colin and Watto’s leaving party, which Oxalis were throwing for them. Veronika went to Curry night at The Villas with Stu and I wish I had too, but to be honest we couldn’t afford to splash out and it wasn’t within our budget for this week. Instead I made popcorn, watched some Netflix and had a relaxing evening. I even ate fruit, cheese and bread for dinner and wasn’t ill. That night I had the bed to myself as Captain Caveman stayed at the Glass House, he had thought he might get a lift to Dong Hoi the next day to do a bit of shopping but I still hadn’t heard if this was the plan or not. As I was falling asleep I got an email from Easyjet, my Manchester to Turkey flight had been cancelled. This was expected but it did mean I no longer had a flight to or from the UK for my friend’s wedding. If I still had to do the 10 days isolation on arrival in the UK I needed to be there by the 7th September and Turkey had to be off the UK’s Red list for me to go there at all – it was going to be tight!