Phong Nha – 22nd July

I remembered to take my measurements first thing on Friday 22nd July and they weren’t too bad;
Bust -2cm,
Waist +2cm,
Hips +1cm,
Right thigh +2cm,
Left thigh +0.5cm,
Right calf +1cm,
Left calf no change.
Both my leg measurements were the same and I now had to try to maintain that.
I had just 5 weeks left until my flight from Saigon to Istanbul and only 5 days until my plan to go in and out of Vietnam for the last time this year. For breakfast I had a buttered crumpet (this could be why I wasn’t getting any smaller) and finished off some Turkish lessons.
I had managed to book Captain Caveman and I seats on the bus from Phong Nha to Danang tomorrow at 7am. Captain Caveman would be pleased when I told him to pick the tickets up on his way home. There were far too many tourists making journeys and it had led to the trains selling out. I hate taking the sleeper buses but we had no choice, we had to be in Danang by Saturday night.
For lunch I had leftover BBQ chicken and rice followed by a pretty large White Russian by the pool – I needed to finish the milk off before our trip. Unfortunately this gave me a bad stomach, I’d already got a headache and was concerned I was getting sick.
When Captain Caveman returned from his cave tour he was again desperately trying to get a haircut and shave before the gala dinner tonight at Chay Lap. When I told him I wasn’t feeling too good he said to cancel the bus tickets, then he changed his mind twice.
It turned in to a bit of a fiasco and Captain Caveman was quite stressed but did end up getting a haircut, paying for my Laos transport then going straight to Chay Lap.
I had a dodgy stomach for the rest of the day and night so I had some crisps which I had been trying not to eat for weeks. I ate a small amount of plain rice and chicken for dinner but didn’t feel too great.
When Captain Caveman came home he still had to pack, repack his stuff for when we got back and sort out his laundry. He seemed a bit stressed and very tired but was pleased to be having a whole week off to come with me on my next visa run (well, kind of)! Captain Caveman had decided he would splash out and had booked a private car with driver to take us to Danang tomorrow and I hoped my stomach would be better.
At 9pm I had a video call with my parents so that I could wish them both luck for my Mom’s hip replacement operation tomorrow. She was in good spirits, this was the second one so she was prepared for what was to come. Dad had been briefed on his duties as chief carer and was also ready.

Phong Nha – 20th July

I had 2 pieces of leftover Showstopper pizza, from Monday evening, for breakfast on Wednesday 20th July. It is just as good as eating it at the time and I was glad to have another 2 pieces still in the fridge. My visa was still in processing but the equivalent of $25 had left my Turkish bank account. I was hopeful I would hear something soon and I’d confirmed my place on the visa run with Lynn Visa in 1 week’s time.
I had a bit of a swim and did some chores before eating the rest of the pizza for lunch with a can of Coke. By 3pm the rain was quite heavy and everything was getting a thorough soaking. I did quite a bit of Turkish as I was conscious that today was the Turkish class in Dalyan. Vanessa and I were still trying to keep up with them from afar and we had booked in a video call. At 5pm we had a good catch up and realised we were slightly behind with our homework but we definitely were doing ok, considering. We shared our efforts and it was nice to have a catch up too.
I had egg fried veggie rice for dinner and then did more Turkish lessons and homework. I submitted my homework to Sioned and would wait to see if I had got it right.

Phong Nha – 17th July

Sunday 17th July was a steady day as I made some preparations for Captain Caveman’s birthday tomorrow.
I had a bacon sandwich and shade-bathed round the pool for quite a while. I did a bit of Duolingo and even added Kate and Vanessa as friends on there. I thought it would be good to try to do more Turkish learning before I go back to Dalyan. Vanessa and I were trying our best to keep up so that we weren’t behind when we got back to restart our weekly Turkish lessons.
The weather in Phong Nha was cooler than the UK, apparently, so I couldn’t moan that it was 31°C at 6pm in the room with the AC on.
I had the last of the butter chicken and managed to work around a spider on the kitchen floor, on condition that it eat all the mosquitoes. I packed a bag for tomorrow as I was pleased to be able to spend 4 hours of Captain Caveman’s special birthday with him, after his briefing tomorrow night.

Phong Nha – 16th July

My measurements on Saturday 16th July were hardly surprising given that I’d had a 5 day holiday in Hanoi and eaten like a pig yesterday;
Bust +3cm,
Waist +3cm,
Hips +1cm,
Right thigh -3cm,
Left thigh -0.5cm,
Right calf no change
Left calf +1cm.
It had been 2 weeks since the last measuring and now my legs were back to having 1.5cm difference in thigh measurements and 1cm in calves – my bad leg still being the smallest after 27 months since the injury!
I had just 6 weeks left until my flight back to Istanbul so I thought I’d try to get a bit of a tan. I popped on my leopard print swimming costume and tried to take a few nice photos of me on my holidays. Unfortunately it was a bit tricky to get any decent ones and I gave up being in the sun after 12 sweaty minutes. I ate some fruit for my lunch and then applied for my next e-Visa. I still had two and a half weeks left on my current visa but, as I knew when my leaving date out of Vietnam would be, I may as well apply. I had to use my Turkish bank account and was a little nervous as it might not work in Vietnam. It sent me a message in Turkish and I understood it enough to be able to know I had to log in to my internet banking and put in a code. As it was a Saturday the money didn’t go out of my account, I had to wait until Monday to see if the payment would be accepted or rejected.
I had an early dinner of more butter chicken with steamed rice and then polished off the rest of the Chardonnay.
I got peckish before bed and had the crumpet I had got out of the freezer for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Phong Nha – 15th July

It was rather muggy, but sunny, on Friday 15th July as we ate a fry up for breakfast together. Captain Caveman was going back in to the cave so he would miss the final catch up with Veronika and Ross this lunchtime. By 8am I was swimming in the pool and then I got ready to go to the Phong Nha Farmstay. Duyet was not about so I had to wait for awhile for a pick up. I chatted to Sox, the squirrel, for a bit, he seemed to be getting more friendly, then Dung arrived. I never get tired of seeing the cows and today we disturbed a family of them so I took a cute video.
At the leaving lunch for Veronika and Ross there were Bich, Ben, the kids, Stu, Max, Jack, me and Saoirse. Most people ordered Aussie pie, chips and gravy but Ross had fresh spring rolls, Saoirse had bun cha and I had beef in bamboo. The Vietnamese meals always take longer to come out because they are cooked fresh but are definitely worth the wait and I really enjoyed my lunch.
By 2.30pm there was just Veronika, Ross, Saoirse and I left and we ordered a chocolate fondant cake, each! Well, it’s not every day you get to celebrate with such a nice family. Saoirse had a couple more days left before she left but Veronika and Ross would be in Saigon tonight, then Paris tomorrow. The chocolate fondant cake is amazing and very filling, they’d got chocolate ice-cream with it today but it often comes with vanilla. I had 2 beers, the beef dish and a dessert for 405,000vnd (£14.18) which now included tax and service charge. We said our goodbyes and arranged to meet up with Veronika in Turkey, later this year.
When I got home I was so full that I decided to have a little rest on the bed. I woke up after it had gone dark, I had taken a meal out of the freezer to defrost, luckily. At last it was the butter chicken from Baba’s Kitchen in Saigon and it was going to easily last for 2 decent portions. I had it with steamed rice and opened a bottle of Australian Chardonnay.
It was a lovely meal, with leftover curry and wine for tomorrow.
In the news the Corona virus numbers were high again in England and my friend, Vanessa, was just recovering from it since returning from Dalyan. Her and a lot of my friends and family were also struggling with the rare heatwave in the UK right now. I don’t see a lot of British media over here but it was evident from my Facebook feed who probably wouldn’t be much good in Vietnam during the summer.
As I got in bed I realised I hadn’t taken my measurements today but couldn’t be bothered to get back out of bed, I would do them tomorrow.

My cow video

Phong Nha – 13th July

Having been awake most of the night due to the storm, I woke up to nice weather on Wednesday 13th July.
Our mate, Stu, had invited me over to his place for lunch with Tatas today and I was looking forward to that. Because their house is a bit far for me to walk, and is slightly too far to cycle in hot sun, Stu arranged for me to get picked up. Jack, Stu’s son, came to collect me on his motorbike and I was a bit apprehensive at first. He’s very experienced in riding motorbikes solo, despite only being 16, but I wasn’t sure if he’d taken a (heavy) passenger like me before. I have my own crash helmet so I was ok and he went fairly slowly through the countryside lanes. Tatas didn’t know the way so she followed from my place, which meant I could have had a lift with her if I’d known.
Stu’s home is a fab 4 bedroom house with a large pool and open plan living/dining/kitchen area. It has plenty of space and great bathrooms – they even have sunken baths! It’s in the Cu Nam area which is higher up than where we are, in Khuong Ha, so is a safe place, even in flood season. Did I mention that it is currently up for sale and at a great price too? If anyone is in the market for a property near to Phong Nha and Dong Hoi they could get an amazing property at the Belafonte, as it’s nicknamed.
It was the first time that Tatas had been for a visit as she had been busy with work so it was good to see her on her day off. We were given beers with ice as we sat down at the huge kitchen table to catch up on what the boys had been up to.
We ordered East Hill chicken for lunch, which was fantastic, chatted a bit more and drank a few beers. Stu is not normally a drinker these days but he joined us for a couple of cold ones on this hot day. Tatas had forgotten her swimmers but that didn’t stop her jumping off of the plunge pool edge, in to the big swimming pool below, in denim shorts. I got in to the plunge pool to cool off as it was so hot and humid again. Tatas kindly took some photos of us in the pool as the clouds started to roll in a bit more. When she left, as she had a briefing that night, I had a lift back to mine with her. We had just got back in time when another storm came and we were fortunate to have left when we did. It had been a fun day out, with lots of laughs, and we hoped to meet up again when Captain Caveman and Tatas had days off at the same time.
For dinner I had pasta with Stilton cheese, I watched the rain and had yet another early night.

Pool photos by Tatas

Phong Nha – 3rd July

Sunday 3rd July was going to be my last day in Phong Nha for a little while. I was off to Singapore and back because of the visa situation and I wish I’d had more sleep last night! I had Frosties for breakfast and packed my rucksack, I only had hand luggage allowance so I had to be careful what I took. I knew I might be sleeping in the airport so a pillow and a travel towel were the essentials taking room up in my bag. I also had a book, which Ben had given me to read, Burmese Days by George Orwell. For lunchtime I made myself a strawberry soda, just chicken and gerkins to eat and planned for a big meal tonight. Captain Caveman was due out of the cave this afternoon so I got out of the freezer what I thought was butter chicken curry from Baba’s Kitchen in Saigon. We had transported it 1,100km so it had better be good!
When Captain Caveman got home we had White Russians by the pool, he booked me a return flight from Singapore to Hanoi, which I didn’t check thoroughly enough. I would fly back in to Hanoi and Captain Caveman would come to join me 3 days later, taking the overnight train after he got out of the cave. This meant that, if all went according to plan, I would have 15 hours in Singapore and Captain Caveman had given me some screenshots of where to stay, how to get there and some spare dollars for any difficulties or emergencies.
After Captain Caveman had left for his next Oxalis briefing, he called to ask me to get his bank card out of the safe as something was the matter with the booking he had made. I think it was a sign that I should have rechecked my ticket but I didn’t, as Captain Caveman is usually perfectly capable of sorting these things out. Instead, I got busy completing my online form to enter Singapore and saving all my vaccine proof which was still needed. Captain Caveman returned and he got busy booking accommodation in Hanoi, and our flights back to Dong Hoi for the 10th July. I went to cook the butter chicken only to find it was Captain Caveman’s masaman chicken curry without any vegetables in it. There was nothing we could do about that now and I needed to eat something before my trip so we proceeded. Obviously he had put far too much chilli in it for me so I had to have 70:30 rice to curry ratio and stock up on imodium. We opened wine and decided we would plough on through until my car pick up at 2am tomorrow morning even though Captain Caveman had to be on tour. We opened a nice bottle of red which we’d bought for a bargain 154,000vnd (£5.55) in Dong Hoi and I popped on my ‘travelling in’ clothes.

Phong Nha – 2nd July

My weekends are quiet when Captain Caveman is in the cave, Saturday 2nd July was a typical example of this. It was a lot cooler in the morning because there had been a blustery but short storm in the early hours of the morning.
I didn’t have breakfast as I was helping my family with some bookings and recommendations in Dalyan and then I had cheese on toasted baguette for lunch. The weather got warmer and I swam a lot while my family went to the Dalyan market.
I took advantage of having a second balcony and sat outside the spare room, reading and having a dark fruits cider in the afternoon. I took a few photos of the pool from the other side of the villa and just relaxed. I booked my taxi to Dong Hoi train station for 2am on the 4th July and I contacted Kat to arrange to meet up in Hanoi, assuming all worked out fine with my Plan B or C.
For dinner I went with a very healthy option of steamed chicken breast, mushrooms and rice and didn’t even have any more alcohol.

Phong Nha – 30th June

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.

Phong Nha – 29th June

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.

Phong Nha – 27th & 28th June

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.

Phong Nha – 26th June

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.

Phong Nha – 22nd June

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.

Phong Nha – 18th June

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.

Phong Nha – 16th June

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.