When Captain Caveman goes in to the cave I’m not usually one for being down about it, I always have a list of things to do to keep me entertained. On Thursday 30th June, though, I did feel a bit out of sorts and I wasn’t entirely sure why. It could have been that I had only 5 days left in Vietnam, potentially. It could have been that my family and friends in Dalyan were having a DBL (Deep Blue Leg-Ends) reunion today and I really wished I was able to be there. The day started super early, obviously, as Captain Caveman was awake about 5.30am and we were going to have ‘McMuffins’ for breakfast. Before 7am I was tucking in to a bacon and brown sauce muffin, Captain Caveman was devouring his bacon, fried egg and cheese (with mayonnaise) muffin. I said goodbye and decided I would go to pump up Bluey’s tyres. It was hot but a little cloudy so today just might be a good day to cycle to the Phong Nha Farmstay. I’d already said I would meet Veronika and Ross, Tatas was hoping to join us later too, as she had a day off. My Vietnamese was never brilliant but I’d noticed, since learning Turkish, that I had forgotten a lot of the Vietnamese I had learned so I ended up causing a bit of a misunderstanding with Duyet. Bluey’s tyres were completely flat and the small bike pump, which Captain Caveman had at home, was next to useless, mainly as the valve wouldn’t fit properly. I tried to tell Duyet this but I wasn’t sure if he understood and he gave me a lift in the jeep instead.
Veronika and Ross had already had breakfast so I didn’t bother ordering anything and we got reacquainted. They had spent the last 9 months back home in Australia and were staying at the Farmstay in the Jungalo Collection, on holiday for just 2 weeks. Stu and Jack came to join us and when I told them all my bike pump translation issue they were laughing at me for inadvertently propositioning Duyet. We decided that when I got back I should go check the bicycle first and if Bluey’s tyres were still flat, I should be concerned I’d said the wrong thing! Tatas arrived and we had a draught beer each while chatting to everyone, she concurred that I had probably given Duyet the wrong impression. After Stu and Jack left, the rest of us ordered lunch. Both Tatas and I had the Nem Lui which is one of my favourite Vietnamese pork dishes and it was very tasty. Tatas bought a bottle of wine and we managed a swim in the Farmstay pool. We’d got out and we were getting down the wine when there was a sudden downpour. There was only one thing for it, more wine! I spent 950,000vnd (£34.20) on food and (mostly) drink but it was a brilliant day, ending with a pint of draught beer. I got home late and forgot to check Bluey, but there were no surprises from Duyet so I think all was well. The coming weekend would be my last one in Phong Nha before I left for Singapore, I really hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I saw Captain Caveman for a while.
Wednesday 29th June was a better day, it was also very hot and most of the morning was spent in the pool. Captain Caveman was due out of Son Doong this afternoon and had another Oxalis briefing tonight, ready to go back in tomorrow morning. I forgot to eat for most of the day because at lunch time I had notification that my next e-Visa had been granted. This would allow me to fly in to Hanoi International airport on 5th July and leave again on the 4th August. I was excited and emailed it to Captain Caveman so that he could print it out when he got back to Oxalis later. When he did get back home he had no time to get in the pool because he was booking me a train ticket for me to go to DaNang next week. We also discussed that he was definitely working too much after he had agreed to do another tour, meaning he was doing 4 tours back to back. He loves his job that much that he was happy to do the extra tours and wants to work as much as possible but obviously I haven’t come all this way to not spend any time with him. I was a bit cheesed off that I also would be going out of Vietnam, into Singapore, and hopefully back in, while he was in the cave. This meant that if there were any problems he wouldn’t be contactable and he wouldn’t even know if I had got back in to Vietnam until 2 days after I was meant to be. While Captain Caveman went to his next briefing, I thought I was meeting Veronika and Ross but they had the grandchildren so we rescheduled for tomorrow. I had bacon, tortilla and pickled cabbage for dinner and in the evening I had a beauty treatment. I noticed I was looking tired so I put the eye mask ‘things’ on, which my sister had bought me for Christmas. They felt good and I could really see a difference afterwards.
My week started very quietly, on Monday 27th June, and I was trying my best to save money. We still didn’t really know how much my going in and out of the country would cost us but it was an amount we hadn’t budgeted for. I had teacake loaf and Frosties, with my Yorkshire tea, for breakfast then did some Turkish practice. I was still way behind on my lessons and thought I should check with Vanessa where she was with her’s this week. I had a late lunch of chicken, rice, sweetcorn, carrots and mushrooms which I steamed in the rice cooker, with a gluten free stock cube, and was super healthy. That evening I had a chicken sandwich and a couple of Strongbow ciders for dinner as I had decided to forego curry night this week. For dessert I had Red Leicester with the last of Kate’s fruitcake then I had an early night.
My day started a little after 4.30am on Tuesday 28th June. I had got up for a pee and decided to check my phone, which was on do not disturb mode. I don’t normally check my phone like that but I had a strange feeling. I’d heard some tragic news from a friend and work colleague yesterday which I think had been playing on my mind. A former colleague had died unexpectedly and some of my friends were still in the same team. It was hard not to think about everyone who would be affected and I’d not slept too well. I had a message from a friend, in England who was upset and so we messaged for a bit. I went back to sleep for a couple of hours but then it was too hot, today would turn out to be a warm one. I didn’t have any breakfast as I didn’t feel hungry but for lunch I had more chicken and veggie rice. In the afternoon I started helping someone in Dalyan. I was in the pool when I noticed a visitor, one I used to see a lot last year. It was Eric the bee, he was back and he stayed on the door to the pool for hours. After lots of swimming it was time for a pool beer at 6pm and I took some selfies of me doing that. My hair was curly from the humidity and the pool salt which made it look nice but meant I wouldn’t get a hairbrush through it. I also wore my red swimmers, which Captain Caveman doesn’t like, because I like them. I didn’t eat dinner until gone 9pm when I decided to have pesto pasta. When I opened the pesto it already had mould on it so I had to throw it away and find something else. We didn’t have any other sauces so I melted some Stilton cheese on to it, that was nice! The mosquitoes were rife tonight, a few were in the house so I wore a band which is meant to ward them off. I had noticed that Dengue fever was on the rise in Vietnam and I definitely didn’t want to catch that. At 10.30pm, which was 6.30pm Turkish time, Vanessa and I had a video call to discuss our Turkish lessons and homework. We were on the phone a while and it was good to chat and see a friendly face. It wasn’t quite the same as being in Okyanus with a glass of wine and a nice lunch but it was still good. I was meant to go to bed after we came off the phone but, instead, I stayed up until 2am doing my Turkish homework.
It was another early start on Sunday 26th June as Captain Caveman was off to Son Doong. He made breakfast and I was eating my bacon sandwich by 6.45am. He was excited because he was on tour with Tatas and they hadn’t been on the same one in ages, in fact neither of them could remember when the last one was. I did a few jobs from my To Do list including trying to make sure that Veronika had some sparkling wine in the fridge for when her and her husband, Ross, arrived. I wanted to move my clothes in to the spare room but we didn’t have any coat hangers so that was put on hold a bit longer. While I planned to spend the next few days at home in Phong Nha my sister and her family were on their way to Dalyan. I’d sent her some lists of where I found the best gluten free meals because she’s coeliac and I also recommended some boat trips and bars for them to try. My parents were really looking forward to their first visit and would be spending the first week with them. I was glad I’d come to visit Captain Caveman but I was really missing being in Dalyan with family and friends. I had passion fruit and pineapple then Frosties for lunch as I was too hot and couldn’t be bothered to have anything else. In the afternoon I lounged in the shade by the pool with my book, swam a lot and noticed my previously injured leg was back to normal now. As the sun went down, I had a beer in the pool and completely forgot about making any dinner. Around 9pm I had 2 slices of a new invention in Vietnam, the teacake loaf. Instead of a toasted teacake, which can easily burn in the toaster, this is a sliced loaf but with the fruit of a teacake in it – genius and absolutely cutting edge for this area.
Wednesday 22nd June turned out to be a bit of a rubbish day! I woke up to a reply from my visa contact to say she needed me to bring my passport to the Phong Nha Farmstay straight away because she would take it to Dong Hoi, earlier than planned. She could tell I was concerned so she asked me to leave my passport at the Phong Nha reception and she would pick it up on her way to Dong Hoi. I rushed to get ready and, after only a few hours sleep, I was tired. Bluey’s tyres were flat and Duyet wasn’t around for me to get a lift. I eventually got to the Farmstay with Duyet at just after midday and left my passport at the reception desk. I decided to have a bowl of Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) and got chatting to a friend on messenger who was thinking of coming to Vietnam to visit. I spoke to Bich, Ben and Howie for a bit, Bich seemed shocked when we heard that I couldn’t extend my visa because it’s a tourist e-Visa! This is the only legitimate tourist visa there is in Vietnam, currently, and has been the case since mid-March. I was fuming! This was probably the most expensive trip I’d taken and I was regretting us spending the money for me not to see much of Captain Caveman. I had to leave Vietnam by the 5th July! I went back home in the jeep feeling very deflated and disappointed, even though I knew this would happen. I had a swim and a sleep but had headaches for the rest of the day. I had a coke to try to help with my headache and dehydration but it didn’t work. I had Stilton and French baguette for dinner with a glass of red wine, still left from last night. I had 12 days left of my visa so I should probably make the most of my time in Vietnam while I was still here so tomorrow I planned to meet up with friends who were visiting Phong Nha. I would discuss with Captain Caveman a Plan B when he got back on Friday.
By 10am on Saturday 18th June, Captain Caveman had made a bit of room for my clothes in the wardrobe/shelving area. He’d also decided that he wanted to rent the both rooms in our villa because it made sense to have the whole place to ourselves. As there hadn’t been any tourists about, until very recently, there had been no need for Captain Caveman to have shared the communal kitchen, living area and swimming pool with anyone who rented the other double bedroom. If we rented the entire villa we would have more space, including ample room for my small amount of belongings, and a room for guests to stay, or me to do my writing in. We had a cooked breakfast, which I started but Captain Caveman took over cooking as he wanted to add black pudding and eggs to his. The sausages and bacon were from Stu and were really tasty, Captain Caveman’s plate was very full. We lolled about round the pool, I wore one of my new swimsuits, from a friend in Dalyan, which I really love. Captain Caveman wasn’t a fan of it and said it made me look old fashioned and older. My cut foot was now almost heeled and the skin had grown quite a lot where the cut had been – I was walking normally again. At 3.30pm Captain Caveman was getting ready to set off to Phong Nha as he had more errands to run before Bien’s wedding. I put a dress on but wore cycling shorts beneath it for riding on the back of the motorbike. We went to Funny Monkeys to collect peanut butter, Captain Caveman wears a full face helmet so it was no problem for him to drive straight in to a large overhanging tree with thorns and flowers on. I wasn’t best pleased to get scratched but he just argued the plant wasn’t spikey, I shoved a thorny branch in front of his face! We picked up the home made peanut butter and was on to our next stop. A small stall outside a local’s house where he’d tried to buy onions and eggs yesterday but could see no one at home to pay. Captain Caveman had took a photo of the items on the scales yesterday so he could pay today but they were closed. Our next stop was Oxalis Home, where I’d not been since before the pandemic. Captain Caveman had a soft drink and I had a beer. It was very busy with guests returning from tours.
We carried on to the wedding and were seated with a few other familiar faces. Chung and Uy were so pleased to see us and gave us beer with ice straight away. The wedding lasted all of 35 minutes before the mass exodus started and, as it was extremely hot, we were not too far behind. We managed a full 55 minutes though. On the way back, the grocery stall in the house was open again so I watched while Captain Caveman tried to explain he’d already taken items yesterday and had just come back to pay. He nearly got the items again and the husband was in trouble with his wife, possibly for leaving the stall unattended yesterday. I needed a pee, after all that beer, so we stopped off at Tree House cafe on our way to pick up some croissants. Captain Caveman had a coffee and I had a passion fruit smoothie, which was brilliant. Mao, who had been at the wedding too, was there and managed to scare off some backpackers with how drunk he was. Our next stop was the Lake House to pick up some pre-ordered croissants but they weren’t there yet. This lead to us having a bottle of white wine at a cost of 660,000vnd (£23.76), as the cheaper one wasn’t available, while we waited for them to come from Dong Hoi. We got to see Snowy, the dog, who loves Captain Caveman and finally got the croissants but didn’t pay at the time on account that the bill said there were 10 breadrolls instead of 6 croissants.
It was hard to believe that it had been 2 weeks since my last full day and night in Dalyan, the day of my amazing leaving party. On Thursday 16th June I tried to organise myself a bit better and, although I was still living out of my suitcase, I had got used to it. I should think myself lucky to live as well as I do and I decided to try to finish more of the Mike Tyson autobiography that I was still reading. It was too hot for breakfast so I didn’t bother with anything except for several glasses of water. By 11.30am it was 35°C inside the house and I had to try to cool myself down – it would turn in to a numerous shower and 2 changes of swimwear kind of a day. I had sweated less in a sauna on an expensive spa weekend and was now having to have a flannel for mopping my brow. I was pleased I’d bought new sunglasses in Çalış as I really needed them today. I even did a spot of actual sunbathing with factor 30 and 50 on. I had a cheese sandwich for lunch and by 3.30pm I had to adopt another way of keeping cooler, a beer in the pool. As the sun was going in I witnessed a fantastic sight; The cow next door had walked home early and wanted to get in for his dinner. The gate was closed so he stood there and moo’d for someone to let him in. The owner was out, as I’d seen him pop off on his motorbike, but the cow didn’t know this and continued to wait, next he stomped his hoof – I took a couple of videos of him as he was so cute. For dinner I had the rest of my roast dinner from Sunday with some extra steamed rice and it was pretty nice. Tomorrow, Captain Caveman would be out from Son Doong with 2 days off and I was really looking forward to that.
The cow wants to be let in the gate for dinnerThe cow gets more impatient at not being let in for dinner
I was woken up early by a storm, heavy rain and the electric going off and on, on Wednesday 15th June. I did what I could to keep cool, without a fan or AC and made a cup of Yorkshire tea. Tatas and I formed a new plan and Darren had realised he couldn’t join us as he was off to Dong Hoi. Instead of meeting at East Hill for BBQ chicken, we would have it delivered to Elements around 12.30pm, Tatas would come over until it was time to go to the briefing with Darren. It had been a while since I’d had East Hill chicken and it didn’t disappoint; 280,000vnd (£9.80) for a whole BBQ chicken, cucumber, sticky rice with peanut salt and a chilli based sauce, called cheo. We ate downstairs in the communal area because it was cooler but the electric did come back on. I opened a bottle of red wine, The Accomplice, which we had with our tasty lunch. We went up to the pool and had a swim, Tatas was up for taking photos and she became a model for a while. I had turned my back for a couple of minutes when I noticed Tatas had only put a glass of wine on the ridge of the infinity pool. My heart was in my mouth now, while I took photos, as I could see how easy it would be for her to fall off as she picked up the glass from beside the pool. I’m always telling Captain Caveman off for having glasses too near the pool too. After Tatas had gone to work, I was having a quiet night in and hoping for an early night. I didn’t get to bed until gone midnight and it was pretty hot still.
My first full day in Phong Nha on Friday 10th June was a little surprising. It was before 6am when Captain Caveman was up, packing and rustling about with the laundry bag and getting something that he needed sewing. I said goodbye to him as he went off to work on his first trip of several this month. Unfortunately, the time off I’d hoped he might have in June, was not as much as I had anticipated. I started to realise I would be spending a fair bit of time in Phong Nha without him, for the rest of this month. It was a cloudy day but still too hot for me to cycle the 10km in to town. I went to see Bluey but Captain Caveman had left the seat too high for me and I couldn’t free the leaver to change it. I put some of my stuff in the bathroom, where there was some space for me to use. I sent my passport to the Phong Nha Farmstay receptionist to register me as staying there, as the villa we are staying in is in their private villa portfolio, ideal for longer term stays where you want a home from home. It was nice to see the Elements Collection villa in the daylight again and it did look really lovely in the bright sunshine. For lunch I cooked half the defrosted pulled pork and put the rest back in the fridge for a second meal. I didn’t even get half way through my food before I had a bad reaction, it had chillies in it! I rested up, mostly in the bathroom or drinking water until I started to feel better. Later in the afternoon, I got my swimmers on and had a bit of a dip. The pool was as warm as bath water so I only did about 20 lengths before getting out for a lay on the sunbed in the shade. Just as I had resigned myself to having a very sedate weekend I was invited for a lift to a night out. Ben and Bich, the owners of the Phong Nha Farmstay, were back from their Australia visit and had relaunched the infamous all you can eat pizza night, from 6.30pm to 8pm this evening at The Villas restaurant! I was up for that and was looking forward to not having to eat 2 portions of spicy pulled pork in the same day. I sat outside while waiting for my lift with Bich, which gave me time to sit and admire the matured gardens, getting bit by mozzies at dusk. I watched the staff saturate the garden with a hose and wondered why all the Christmas decorations, including a 5ft tree, were still up.
When I arrived at The Villas restaurant I was so happy to see lots of people I hadn’t seen in ages, some since before the pandemic had started. Ben, Bich and the boys were excited to be back in Phong Nha and we were all delighted that international tourism was back in Vietnam. Stu was with his kids and a friend, who I had met once before. Next to them was a guy who said hello but I didn’t know him, I would get to meet him again. At a table up the steps was Hanh who sat with her son, some female friends and Drifter. I said hello to all of them but Kat and Dung were already waiting for me to go join them by the river. After welcoming hugs we ordered margarita cocktails (50% off on pizza night) and sat down. Dung used to be my boss when I worked at Jungle Boss and it was great to catch up after so long! I was pleased to see Kat, a really smart American girl with great hair, who I had become friends with during the pandemic. Her boyfriend, also a friend of mine, is a cave guide for Jungle Boss so she and I had automatically formed a cave widow appreciate group (aka CWAGs, formerly Cavers Wives and Girlfriends). We joined a table with Leo, who I am good friends with and worked with at JB, and his girlfriend Su, the new manager of the Sales team. All the staff were still there and it was good to see them again, they looked like they were happy to see Phong Nha welcoming back more people and were ready to see some busy weeks and months ahead, hopefully. We had a great laugh and I had about 8 pieces of pizza and 3 margaritas. It was only day 1 and, so far, I had spent 160,000vnd (£5.76) on the pizza and 225,000 (£8.10) on the cocktails. Bich was giving me a lift back so I had to leave my friends, which was a shame because I was just getting in to the swing of it. I was invited to the Jungle Boss event tomorrow night where they were having live music and a mobile bar in the town centre. I was home and in bed before 10pm, feeling very full and happy to have seen quite a lot of my Phong Nha friends tonight. I was so distracted that I forgot to take any photos of my own, I’d have to go again next week and try harder!
I think the words ‘hanging out of my own arse’ have never been truer than on Friday 3rd June, when I woke up to messages from Captain Caveman. He was suddenly excited to be seeing me and had sent me a blurred photo of a flight he had booked for when my visa expired, in case I needed to show it at check-in. I stayed in bed to transfer money to him for the electricity and water over the next few months. I’d had some really lovely messages from friends who’d been unable to come out last night, Sue managed to bring a tear to my eye with her kind words. Mark and Kate had invited me, Matt and my parents over to their place for a final farewell in the afternoon. I had a bit of a laugh at Matt, who may also have been hungover, when he posted on a group chat to say he would be going over to Mark and Kate’s for bacon sandwiches at 1pm. Mark had also replied on the group chat to ask me or Matt to bring bread and that it might be sausages as they were having trouble locating the bacon. My parents had the workmen in and so they couldn’t go, which hindered my plans slightly as I was meant to be cycling to Penny and Phil’s. The idea was I would ride Bluey2 to their’s, slightly before the others got the taxi to Mark & Kate’s. I could then drop Penny’s bike off and get in the taxi for the rest of the way. Instead, Matt would cycle over about 1pm, my Dad would wait in with the workmen and my Mom would come and help me pack. I would then cycle to Mark and Kate’s but drop the bike off on the way back before going out for my final meal. As my flight had been changed it turned out I could have gone to a Jubilee party after all. I checked the Jubilee group on Facebook so I could see what time to perhaps pop in but I’d been removed already. I’m not really in to the Royal family any way but maybe they’d found out how bad we had been on questions about the Queen at the Retro bar quiz and I had got an automatic ban – it might be better to leave it to the more patriotic. When Ma arrived her facial expressions were a treat as she couldn’t believe how far off being ready I was!
Luckily for her, I’m a list maker and I had a note of all the jobs still to do (before 1pm ideally): 1. Print out my Vietnamese visa (I don’t have a printer but Kate was going to do it) 2. Pack away all my belongings in to the various lockable cupboards 3. Store all the non-perishable kitchen items in the lockable cupboard 4. Sort out 2 loads of washing 5. Empty the kitchen cupboards of spare food 6. Empty the fridge and decide who to give what to 7. Empty the freezer and give everything I could to Mom 8. Bin anything that wasn’t going to last or be donated 9. Empty the bins 10. Do the washing up 11. Pack my suitcase 12. Pack my hand luggage 13. Charge my laptop and phone 14. Defrost the fridge freezer
My Mom suggested I should let Mark, Kate and Matt know I’d be late and that it would be better for Matt to get the bread. I messaged (not in the group) to say I would leave mine at 2pm and then Mom and I got on with it. It was the hottest day of the year so far and it didn’t help that yesterday one of the Aircon remotes had stopped working. We had done a couple of hours without AC but we were both a drippy mess by noon. Luckily, I didn’t need any lunch on account of me only just remembering that I had eaten cheese on toast and the half portion of beef wrap from Hotel Dalyance at 3.45am this morning – more luck than judgement, really. Ma was instrumental in helping with the pots, sorting out the piles of clothes, packing and sorting the fresh and frozen produce out with me. She also managed to fill a whole bin liner of stuff to throw away. My Mom left looking frazzled and a bit bewildered as to why I hadn’t done all this sooner. She had a bag of store cupboard stuff, some frozen stuff and some very nice home cooked meals to see her through the week. I also ended up with a large bag of stuff for Kate, as I knew she wouldn’t have me throw stuff away, including a jar of pickled red cabbage. All I needed to do now was hang the washing out and cycle over to Mark and Kate’s for another last farewell.
I arrived at Mark and Kate’s house at just after 2pm, a hot and sweaty mess. I had the bag of stuff, including a meat pie, brown and BBQ sauce, Lurpak butter, the curry paste which Kate had made me, but I’d not used it yet, and a few other bits and bobs. Mark sorted me out with a shandy while I squidged items in to the fridge and freezer. Matt was already sipping a shandy and had brought plenty of bread for the hot dogs. We had a couple more shandies, then Mark got cracking with the sausages. He even treated us to fried onions with them and we used up some of the BBQ sauce I brought. Kate offered us all fruitcake with butter and Red Leicester cheese on but I didn’t want to upset Mark, I declined but Mark and Matt enjoyed some. I had even packed some of Kate’s fruitcake, Red Leicester and Stilton cheeses to take with me to Vietnam. I decided to change in to my swimmers so that I could get in the pool, I noticed my pink towel on the terrace railing, which was odd. I hadn’t remembered putting it in their bag last night so that I didn’t have to carry it round. Then it was time for my farewell treat; Prosecco! It was the real stuff too and it was bloody lovely, in fact we ended up having 3 bottles between 3 of us, Matt just had the 1 glass. We took some photos and we almost forgot to print off the visa, as Kate was in charge but getting a bit merry. I realised I’d still not been in the pool but it was almost time to leave. I still had to drop Bluey2 off at Penny and Phil’s, get home and get ready for dinner with my parents. In my head I’d mistakenly anticipated having time for a nap at some point today but that wasn’t going to happen. Kate and Mark kindly offered to sort out the returning of Penny’s bike and suggested I get a taxi back to mine so that I wouldn’t be too late. Matt left earlier than me, I gave him a big hug and then had 1 more glass of Prosecco. When it came to saying goodbyes I was sad, I said I’d call them from time to time, Mark and Kate said they’d keep in touch too. I got to say bye to the cats who were already glad I was going because they had ‘my’ bed to themselves. Fikri dropped me off at my apartment and we confirmed my airport pick up would be Fikri personally later, at 01.45am to be precise. I’d only just finished packing when it was time to go out.
We were booked in at our favourite restaurant in Dalyan for my last meal here. My parents and I arrived at 7.30pm and had a lovely table on the mosque square side of the restaurant. I’d already decided I would have steak and I think it was a given that we would have a bottle of wine. We love Bistro Blue because of the great food, excellent service, but also because we like the owners and staff, plus it has a lovely ambience which makes you feel relaxed. My Dad had one of his favourite dishes, the liver and onions with bacon, served with mashed potatoes. Mom decided she would have steak with onions and chips while I ordered my favourite, the pepper steak. The wine flowed, the food was excellent and I even got some good photos for our last night together. Our evening at Bistro Blue would not have been complete without seeing Selahı get out his huge grinder and pepper Annie’s plate, which made my parents laugh more than it should have. It was a little strange that we had no idea when we would see each other again or even which country it would be in. I’m lucky that I have residency in Turkey until October 2023 but my parents and Captain Caveman are only permitted to stay for 90 days in an 180 day rolling period, which is somewhat restrictive. The residency rules in Turkey have since changed and only 6 months as a maximum is allowed now. After saying bye to Annie and Selahı we had a wander home and, as you can probably imagine, Ma was up for a nightcap. My taxi wasn’t coming until after midnight so we went to Tez bar where I enjoyed another glass of red wine, my parents were on the spirits! Roy, Melanie and Gareth happened to turn up and so I got to say bye to them before I went, still disappointed I hadn’t been able to say bye to Debbie (Darling) or Sue who’d have probably had me crying. On my short walk round the corner I was able to quickly say bye to Jamie too, as he was at Lukka bar. I tried to be brave when I said bye to my parents but I was quite tearful after they had gone. As Fikri arrived to pick me and my cases up, I don’t think it had quite sunk in that I was actually going back to Vietnam and Captain Caveman!
Wednesday 1st June was a very busy day and also another time to say my goodbyes to more friends. I had my Turkish class at Casablanca Hotel with our usual group, Vanessa was still in England. After the class I chatted with a couple of the ladies while Kate had her Turkish class. Kath arrived and joined us, I had a swim with my friend, also a fellow student in the same class, and then the 3 of us joined Kate and our teacher for a leaving beer/wine/lunch. I had a chicken wrap with homemade chips which is great value and very tasty. It was a lovely afternoon and my foot was getting better so that I could take the plaster off now.
In the afternoon Kate and I cycled to meet the pool gang at Rehab bar. On the way we called at Waterfall bar to say bye to Dick, I returned his bag and he gave me some Stilton which had been forgotten about. When we arrived at Rehab bar a fair percentage of the chaps were very drunk. The Long Island Iced Teas had been doing the rounds, Kate and I were greeted by a spare one each, which we didn’t particularly want, as we had already ordered a pint of draught lager from Tayfur. Adam went home with a ‘medal’ for being a champion pool player and John tried to leave by electric bicycle. Kate followed him home, concerned he may be too drunk and he was pretty wobbly. When Kate returned she helped me sort out the purchasing of my Priority Pass for airport lounges and we had to force the cocktails down to save anyone else drinking them!
It was quiz night again at Retro bar but Kate and Mark had decided to have a night in. I still joined my parents there, this time I’d managed to be better dressed and not drunk. Not having Kate on our team turned out to be unfortunate as there was a whole round about the Queen of England which we didn’t get any points for. We had a good night, I got to say bye to Nazim, Nusret and the Retro and Smyrna ‘family’ before I left, and we got Gonca a small birthday present from Maizie Moo. I got in about midnight and made myself cheese on toast with some of the Red Leicester cheese from Dick.
My parents and I had a very important appointment at 10.30am on Sunday 29th May. Nusret and Gonca had invited us to Retro bar and Smyrna hotel to have breakfast with them and Yaşar. It was a hot day and I noticed that Phong Nha, where I would be in a couple of weeks, was hotter by about 5°C. I’d already cycled to the bakery to buy some baklava to take with us as a small gift. We sat outside under a parasol as Yaşar and Gonca brought so much delicious food to the table. It was really kind of them to invite us, they were very generous with the food and their time. I found myself lacking in Turkish vocabulary somewhat and we had to rely on Yaşar to translate my basic Turkish or Google translate. The food was phenomenal and plentiful, my parents loved it too and we were made to feel like part of their family. I would miss them when I had to leave and we promised to keep in touch. We also got invited to another event for Gonca’s birthday in a few days.
Back home I had a whole chicken in the slow cooker which smelled lovely and was meant to be for dinner. I’d invited my parents over, they didn’t fancy chicken but would meet me later for a drink. We went to Tez bar for a couple and bumped in to Penny and Phil, which was nice as I’d not been out drinking with them for a while. I invited them to share my chicken dinner too but they had other ideas. I had another drink and then Penny, Phil and I got a taxi to their place where Penny and I got in the pool to cool down. Penny and Phil were the perfect hosts, we had a couple of gins and a curry. I had a rather tasty chicken korma and they had a delicious jalfrezi. It was so good but they wouldn’t tell me where they got it from as it was top secret. I had a great night and I was going to miss Penny and Phil, they are a really good laugh and have been really kind friends to me. In a few days Bluey2 would be making her way back to their place and I would have to say bye to her too.
On Friday 27th May I’d called Mark when I got in, at 4.30am, to check he hadn’t fallen in to a ditch on the way home and he’d been fine. Kate messaged me around 9am, asking if I had been out with Mark last night. He’d got in around 4.30am but was unable to tell her what happened as he had fallen asleep. I updated her on the goings on and, when I told her about my foot she was very helpful. She offered to bring painkillers and a dressing because today we were off out on a day trip, which Kate had organised. By the time I had showered and checked my cut toe I had received a message from Des which was simply a photo of him having a beer while waiting for his airport pick up with Fikri. I messaged Maddie to thank her again as she’d been worried about me going home alone and had offered to come over if I needed her to.
My parents came to call for me, as we were meeting at Kaan’s Tequila boat at 10.15am, but I could hardly walk. There was spots of blood on the apartment floor and my sandals were ruined. As I hobbled towards the boat I told my parents of last night’s shenanigans. It was going to be a long day, luckily I hadn’t drank much last night but I could only imagine how bad Mark must be feeling this morning! On board Kaan’s Tequila boat we grabbed a hot drink on our way to pick up Mark and Kate from their jetty, then off to a calm little bay for swimming. Kate sorted out my foot and dressing so that I could get in the water for a swim at Hole Island and Kath lent me her pink crocs so I could do the steps easier. Brenda (from Barnsley) gave me some paracetamol and within 20 minutes the pain had eased. There were a couple of hiccups before lunch; Kate cut her foot on some rocks and Kaan had assumed today’s guests preferred Efes Malt to normal and there wasn’t going to be enough for everyone. Kate decided to swim over to the neighbouring boat and do some beer swaps so that there would be more of what everyone wanted. Kaan made us a lovely BBQ lunch and we had a really tasty meal followed by quite a few vodkas for me, Adam, Mark, Kate and Kaan. There was plenty of swim stops, Mark and Kaan even treated the ladies to a ‘diet coke ad’ type shower together, which none of us can ever unsee. It was an honour to be in such winning company; not only had Kate brought her medal to show everyone but another guest had brought her swimming t-shirt for when she took part in the recent swimming event from Iztuzu beach. Mark chose to model both the shirt and the medal and we all got to touch them!
In the afternoon Kate banged on her playlist and we had a good old dance. Linda was the best dancer of the day as, not only was she a great mover, her stamina was worthy of a medal. Despite my recent injury, I managed to dance, my parents had a good boogie too and it was such a lovely bunch of people. On the way back in to Dalyan we dropped Mark and Kate off at their jetty and they were definitely staying in tonight. After another amazing boat trip a few of us went to Tez bar for another drink. I had invited Kaan to join us but he was too busy getting ready for Tequila bar tonight and his next boat trip tomorrow. I could see my parents may have been persuaded to be out out, as they chatted to Adam, Kath, Jill, Mark, and Linda but I was begging for mercy. All I needed was to stop walking/dancing on my cut foot and rest up a bit. I hobbled home, had a shower and a bacon sandwich while watching some TV, but was in bed by 11pm. I even managed to sleep through the loud Jazz Bar noise.
Now that I knew I was going to Vietnam to see Captain Caveman I was a bit concerned there were still things I needed to do and places I wanted to go before I left Dalyan. On Tuesday 24th May I started a list of those things, acutely aware I had less than a fortnight left. Ma & Pa had invited me to the beach today and I was looking forward to it. There are 2 ways to get to Iztuzu beach by public transport; boat which is currently 60 lira (£3) or bus which is 28 lira (£1.40) return. We got the bus as this takes you to the quieter end of the beach and I got a return ticket because it was too hot to walk the length of the beach to get to the boat end. I paid 90 lira for 3 sunbeds and a parasol which we unfortunately selected in the smoking section but didn’t realise. I’m not a massive beach lover as I hate sand but with smoke and fag ash blowing at me it was less pleasurable than it should’ve been. The sea was chilly but good enough for a deep paddle, refreshing. I’d took a picnic of a cheese and ham sandwich, water and a grapefruit drink but my parents had a sandwich at the beach cafe, for less than £1.50 each. I shared some of their chips and had a peach tea too. Back on the beach I continued to read my book, Mike Tyson’s autobiography, which is really good. I’ve stopped buying credit for my Turkish phone, which I rarely use, because it’s a waste of money. It also forces me to not have a phone when I’m away from home or somewhere with free wi-fi – it’s a good way to switch off more. When the wind got up and sand was blowing about we decided to leave, via the cafe for refreshments. My parents had a Magnum, I played it safe with a Calippo orange lolly but then we missed the bus and had to wait half an hour for the next one. I was booked in for Pilates at 6.30pm so didn’t want to miss that, first though, Mom suggested a cheeky drink at Tez bar where they had an Efes and I had a Summer IPA. I went home to get ready and left them at Tez while I went to my class. Back at the apartment the roses outside Amanda and Greg’s were really blooming, the pool was looking good and had been used. I did notice a tree branch from the neighbour’s was sticking out at a jaunty angle, directly in to the path to walk to the pool. After Bougainvillea-gate in September I decided it was not my business to involve myself in getting it removed, there were quite a few owners and renters in the apartments right now who could let the gardener know. My Dad suffers with his indigestion if he eats late so I was surprised when my parents were up for going out for dinner at 8pm. We went to Firat’s which is another one of their favourite places to eat. As an appetiser we were brought a rather large lavaş, or balloon bread, with some garlic butter. Mom ordered a fresh sea bream, I had a pide and Dad had a beef casserole with cheese that was hotter than the sun. We had a glass of wine each and I took some of my pide home as it was a massive portion. It was a really lovely day, spent with my parents, and almost the calm before the storm as the rest of the week was about to get a tad lively!
Thursday 12th May was spent doing very little except for looking after the cats and catching up on some much needed rest. I fed the cats and Casha came for lots of snuggles. Unfortunately, since being ‘sea sick’ yesterday I was still quite ill. I was convinced I might have food poisoning and decided to check the fridge to see if I may have eaten anything out of date. There had been a couple of scheduled power outages so there was a possibility that the food I had eaten had gone off. When I checked the top shelf there was half a packet of furry green cheese rolls and a half tin of furry white tomato paste. I spent a while clearing out the fridge, salvaging what I could but binning anything smelly or furry! I then needed a lay down because I felt even more sick! I had just a crisp sandwich for lunch but didn’t eat for the rest of the day and slept a lot.
I could easily have stayed in bed on Friday 13th May because I was still feeling a bit sickly. Des was on day 2 of house and cat sitting for Debbie (Darling) and Roy, while they were in Istanbul. By lunch time Vanessa and my parents were on their way over and we were off to visit Kingfisher restaurant for the first time. It’s a small cafe with turtles swimming in the surrounding river and is a short walk away from Mark and Kate’s. All 4 of us had the chicken and chips which was very tasty. After lunch we had a walk back to my temporary home where we had a bit of wine and sat chatting by the pool – Vanessa was the first to get in the pool. I managed to confuse Des and Sarah who had met up at Jiks for a drink, thinking I was going to, but I wasn’t. Vanessa and I had planned a girly night in with a takeaway from Sosyete and more wine. It was a lovely day but we weren’t up late as we wanted to have the next morning by the pool.
On Saturday 14th May I got up early to feed the cats, water the plants and tidy up from last night, while Vanessa had a bit longer in bed. We’d been sunbathing by the pool on loungers for a few hours, at Mark and Kate’s place, when Vanessa suggested a cold beverage would be a good idea. She made herself a shandy with so much lemonade, and only a smidgen of beer, then gave me the rest of the Efes beer. We’d had a few sips each when I noticed, and pointed it out to Vanessa, that it wasn’t even noon yet! Oh dear, we had accidentally found ourselves being morning drinkers!! We had a couple more, after noon, and then got ourselves ready to go meet the gang at Rehab bar for pool. I rode Marks electric bicycle and Vanessa rode Bluey2, which I intended to leave at Rehab. We got there fairly late and most people had already gone but that didn’t stop us having a good afternoon. Vanessa’s Matt was there and in good spirits, we brought him some fruitcake and he sent a message to Mark to wind him up that we were getting through his cake! While Matt and John watched football Cheryl, Andrea, Vanessa and I played a few rounds of Women only Killer. I, surprisingly won 2 games out of 3 and we actually had a right laugh too – some of my fresh juices turned in to vodka and orange! Des arrived so we had another drink. Vanessa, Matt and I decided to order food from Sosyete, which is next door to Rehab. The chicken soup that I had was really tasty and Vanessa’s liver shish looked great. I got back ‘home’ slightly later than usual to feed the cats but they didn’t seem to mind and I had a night of chilling out.
joloyolo 