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.
I woke up to a photo and a message from Captain Caveman on Wednesday 11th May. He was off back in the cave but had sent me a snap of the pool at Elements in Phong Nha. This time next month I hoped to be swimming in that pool. I fed the cats but there was no Casha snuggles this morning and I got ready for another exciting day out.
Angela, Nick and Maddie had organised a boat trip out to sea with Princess Ekincik. My parents got on in town while I got picked up at Mark and Kate’s jetty. The owners, Ismail and Ivona, are really nice people and the boat is lovely. There was tea, coffee and homemade sweet treats for us to have as we sailed down the river. It was a bit choppy and there was a storm forecast so I made sure I looked out to the horizon for most of the journey so that I wouldn’t be sea sick. We had an amazing lunch onboard, there was swimming and we had a couple of drinks too. By 5pm the wind was getting up and the journey back had been very choppy, resulting in me being sick. I wasn’t coping with the sea well and, as the boat sides were zipped down to keep us dry, I found the cigarette smoke made me feel worse and I started coughing. When the homemade chocolate brownies with fruit came round I couldn’t even manage that so I got mine to take away. I had been invited to my first Turkish wedding, Ivona and Işmail would hold their celebrations on the 31st May, in Çandır.
By 6pm I was back at Mark & Kate’s where I found JC snoozing on a beanbag, by the pool. Feeding time was at 7pm and I managed to get Bubble and Squeak to eat outside with JC, without Bubble scoffing her sisters’ food. At 7.30pm I got a taxi to Retro bar where we were booked in for the fun quiz. This time I joined my parents, plus Penny and Phil. Deniz was there and had decided to accept the bar job which was great news. Ann was joined by her 4 friends, on the table next to us, they were doing very well on the quiz and it got quite competitive, with lots of banter. At the end of the night I went to buy several packets of salt and vinegar crisps, now that I knew they existed. Penny and Phil agreed to share my taxi back but invited Maggie and Phil to jump in too. I have no idea how the 4 of them got in the back of the taxi! Back home the cats were waiting for me and we had a few tickles before bed.
A while ago I had decided that we would have a belated birthday celebration for my Mom on Sunday 24th April. Kate had suggested Kaan and so I had organised the trip with him on his boat, called Tequila. In the morning Mark, Kate and I had a few things to do before my parents got to the boat so we booked Fikri’s taxi to take us. I dropped Mark and Kate off at the boat where they went to put up the bunting, I then went to pick up the birthday cake from Louize. I asked Fikri to take the cake to Kate while I went across to see a friend off. She was going back home to England today and had bought my Mom a bottle of champagne for her birthday boat trip which was really lovely of her. I got to the boat after everyone else and we set sail for the lake. On board was Vanessa, John & Andrea, Jamie & Drew, Ann, Maddie, Angela & Nick, Nanny Kay, Viv & Paul, Mark & Kate, Ma & Pa and me. By noon Vanessa, Kate and I were swimming in the lake and the BBQ lunch was set for 1.30pm, we all had a few drinks too and it was a lovely sunny day. We changed location to Little Dalyan, which is a sheltered spot at the back of the beach where we had more swimming and my leg was getting much stronger! After a lovely lunch we presented Mom with the cake and we all had a bit of it. Mom was surprised and we even made her cry, I think she was touched to get some cards and presents from people too. In the afternoon she opened the champers and we all had a little glass or two to celebrate a bit more before going back to Dalyan.
Mom, Dad and I called in to Lukka for just a drink then decided to eat dinner. Dad ordered a cheese burger, Mom a chicken curry, and I had the sweet and sour chicken which was the best I’d had in Dalyan. It was 185 lira for my sweet and sour chicken which came with rice, chips and lots of vegetables but somehow I managed to eat almost all of it. That night I was so glad to get to sleep back in my own bed and was looking forward to an early night, even though I ended up watching the Grand Prix.
Kate had arranged a boat trip on Monday 18th April with Mehmet Özalp. Mark, Kate, their 2 friends and I got picked up from the jetty after Mehmet had already picked the others up in Dalyan. We had a hot drink and met both familiar and new faces as we sailed out to sea on what was a warm, but fairly cloudy, morning. The sea was not as choppy as recent trips had been and I was getting used to not getting seasick by looking at the horizon. By noon the sun was out, we were anchored up so Vanessa, Kate and I got in the sea. It was chilly but bearable and fine once we were in. I quite enjoyed swimming and was finding my bad leg was working much better than it had been. when I got out of the sea I noticed one of my bracelets had worn out and was broken. I was rather upset by this as it had been a gift from friends Hoa and Phil, in Sapa, who I had not been able to see for a while now – unfortunately it had to go in the bin. Mehmet provided a delicious lunch which even included prawns and there was enough for seconds for those who wanted it. We changed location and we had more swimming after lunch and more wine. After a glorious day I got off at the jetty with Mark, Kate, their 2 friends and a bag of crabs! That night we had a chilled evening and I was glad of a relatively early night.
We had another lovely day planned on Friday 8th April. Vanessa and Matt had arranged a boat trip with their family and asked if I would like to join them. Because my friends were visiting I had added all 4 of us on and it would be a Sheffield boat trip with Turgay. I didn’t bother with breakfast but the cats had all been fed and Casha was having morning snuggles by 8am. Vanessa and family had arranged to pick up Louisa and family on the way, but I would get picked up from Mark and Kate’s jetty. I couldn’t find my sunglasses so I borrowed a pair of Kate’s (after checking it was ok to do so). All the cats were out for the day for the last time as Mark and Kate would be returning later, and I went to wait for Turgay’s boat. I managed to get some video and photos of the boat arriving before I got on board to greet everyone. It was a sunny day and I hoped the sea would be warm enough for a swim. Not only did we go to Ekincik Bay and the beach but, later in the afternoon, we went to the mud baths where we all got in the thermal swimming pool. Jason let me have a go at twirling his stick which he can do all sorts of tricks with and it took me back to my youth, when I was in the majorettes. The boat trip was a great success, the food was lovely and everyone enjoyed themselves. There’s always someone who has to overdo things and, of course, that would be me.
When we got back I fed the cats but Casha didn’t come to eat her food. I popped the dish in the microwave so that the others didn’t eat it. I waited for Mark and Kate to arrive, they had landed but were not home by the time Louisa, Linda and Alex were in Lukka, ready for the music bingo night. When they got home I was already quite sloshed, Mark had been drinking on the plane but Kate categorically stated that she did not want to go out. With their massive amount of luggage strewn all over the house, we got a taxi and went to Lukka bar. I completely forgot to eat, Louisa and her family had already had their meals, Turgay was there and the bingo had started. The music bingo was a good laugh and Linda even won a prize from Maizie Moo. We preceded to drink too much and, instead of me going home, Kate insisted I go back to their’s for more drinking. She did try to invite Louisa too but she was having none of it.
Friday 25th February has got to have been one of my favourite days this year, so far! I was up very early so that I could speak to Captain Caveman and get the sausage casserole in the slow cooker before my day trip. I did my weekly weigh-in and wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I’d be. I had lost just 0.5kg and my leg measurements had increased a little bit. Zumba was definitely helping with my legs and today I would arrange with Penny when I could pick up my new bicycle. I went to the bank and the shop before coming back to pack a bag with the drinks, plus some popcorn and biscuits – I took my own Earl Grey tea bags too. I saw that Kitler, the cat who looks like Hitler, had returned to the Fire Opal complex and was following me about begging for attention. In the news there was a mention of bootleg booze in our province of Muğla, more here: https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/investigations/antiaircraft-bullet-seized-in-bootleg-alcohol-op-in-turkeys-mugla Just before I left for my day trip I got a message from Captain Caveman to say he couldn’t video call as he was out with Tatas at my favourite Phong Nha eatery, East Hill. They were already on lunch time and having BBQ chicken with sticky rice – my favourite! He sent me photos and told me that Tatas was joining him on a holiday to Hanoi next week. Then I had to go to get on the boat and I wouldn’t have WiFi so I would speak to him tomorrow perhaps. As I walked to the boat I met with Penny and Phil who were fussing some street dogs along the way and had their stash of booze with them. As we got to the boat outside Okyanus, they were resurfacing the terrace there and concreting it. It was windy and sunny but looking like we had picked a good day for the boat trip.
At 11am we were ready to start our boat trip. Penny and Phil had brought pastries and croissants for everyone’s breakfast, I just had a cup of Earl Grey tea because I didn’t want to risk a bad stomach and ruin the day. Ann had arrived and brought sparkling wine for her tipple, unfortunately Debbie (Darling) had already rocked the boat by deciding she wasn’t coming and a couple of others were unable to make it. After picking up Mark on the way we went out to sea, the water was fairly choppy and the sun was shining as we headed for Ekincik Bay. We were the only boat out that we saw and the water looked so clear and inviting. Ann and I didn’t have an alcoholic drink until after midday (we were pacing ourselves) and I started on the white wine. We sat at the front of the boat in the sun, chatting and drinking, while Turgay cooked up a delicious lunch. I’d taken a bottle of red wine which I’d be given by my aunty and uncle in England. It was a lovely Primitivo which Mark and I shared with our meal. The food was fantastic, as always, but after eating Turgay was keen to have a swim. He said he’d been swimming a few days ago and that the water temperature was cold but not too cold to swim. No one had brought their swimmers except for Turgay so he jumped in off the top of the boat. I managed to get up the ladder on to the top of the boat for the first time since my leg injury and was pleased with that. In the 5 months I’ve been here I’ve not yet been in the sea because of the cyst on my shoulder and my leg so I was keen to get in. I had suitable enough underwear on to pass for a bikini (if anything it covered more than my bikini did) so I decided to go for it. I should have realised, when only Turgay thought this was a good idea, that it was going to be freezing! I went down the steps and my legs were cold but once I was half way in I just had to go for it – there was definitely an expletive! If I had to guess I would say the water temperature was around 16°C and my legs were pretty numb. It was definitely fresh and I was pleased to find I could do the steps a lot better than I had been able to before. Ann, who looked like she was feeling the cold for me, wrapped me in the towels and I made my way to the front of the boat where there was sun and a wine waiting for me.
Before sunset I was back in my leggings as we headed to the beach to get ready to watch the sun go down. I wanted to walk on the beach to take photos and have a paddle so I dragged Ann and Mark with me. While Mark and I headed straight for the sea, Ann took herself off along the beach to sit on a wooden post and admire the view. The sea was actually quite warm and we paddled and drank our drinks while watching the sunset. We went back to the boat and topped up with more drinks as we returned to Dalyan.
It was almost 7pm when we returned to Dalyan. We discovered when we docked that we still had almost a bottle of wine left between us so we stayed on the boat to finish it off. We drank, danced and sang until gone 8pm then made our way off the boat. Ann was being sensible and decided to go straight home, Penny and Phil got a taxi home, Mark was intent on going to Sofra bar and I decided I needed a shower and bed! I remembered to turn off my sausage casserole in the slow cooker which was looking rather well cooked. I’d forgotten it was Friday night bingo at Lukka bar so I decided to go to that with Mark and Turgay. There was dancing and I threw myself in to that with Mehmet, Annie and Sara. As far as I recall we left there about 1am and I had the bright idea that a sausage casserole supper would be a good idea!
We had an amazing day on Monday 8th November; my parents, Vanessa and I met at mine and walked to our meeting point for a boat trip with Captain Boris. Today we were joining Basrı and Rebecca with their guests Nanny Kay, Viv and Paul for a trip to Köyceğiz as Monday is their market day. Also on board were the owners of the Caretta Caretta restaurant in the square which was closed now so they were going to be helping out on the boat, which was great. To be honest I didn’t need to go to the market but I love a boat trip and Captain Boris is one of the best boat trips for food and service so I was in!
I didn’t check the Corona heat map which is an app that tells you how risky an area is but I later found out it had some red (high risk) areas where the market is – great! My Dad needed a pair of socks so, luckily for him, he had Mom, me and Vanessa all ‘helping’ him choose some. Then the parents went off and we said we would find them for a drink later after a look around the market and shops. I bought 3 things and spent just 100 lira (£7.50); a cheap ring to replace the one from Marble Mountain, 6 wine glasses and a pair of trousers for lounging in. We were masked up the whole time, even when we bumped in to Sabine and Ray, Dalyan friends who were at one of the restaurants at the water’s edge. We couldn’t find my parents so we had a glass of wine each at a place not far from the boat and then went back to show off the purchases.
We set back off once we were all back on the boat and went to a stunning place on the lake for our plentiful lunch. The food was so tasty and there was so much choice as well as a good selection of wines, I even went on to a blush which was surprisingly good. There was lots of time for swimming in the lake, taking in the amazing views, sharing stories with each other and drinking a little wine – Nanny Kay tried pomegranate wine! We also sent messages to Jamie to gloat that we (his friends) were all together having fun without him, we were also looking forward to seeing him again for more boat trips in the new year.
After the beautiful boat trip, I went to Jiks for one with Vanessa and my parents and I put my purchases on a chair behind me. Obviously, I forgot them and had to go and collect them later when I realised and then I decided to go to Pizza 48 to let them know about the missing chicken nuggets the last time we ordered from there. I accidentally got chatting to a couple who lived not far from Birmingham, they were eating at one of the tables outside and the lady was drinking a glass of red wine. I had not known we could’ve had wine there so I decided to have one, plus a takeaway pizza and we had a nice chat while it cooked. Back home I ate half of the pizza, watched something on Netflix and then went to bed not realising how much of a shocker tomorrow was going to be!
I had a day trip planned on Thursday 4th November with Vanessa, Matt and my parents so I had my probiotic drink and then some cornflakes with milk for breakfast. I made sure I had some chicken stroganoff at the ready for when I got back from today’s boat trip out to sea with Yusuf from Amy’s Bar. Yusuf was busy renovating a 6 bedroom villa which he would rent out from next year but he still had time for boat trips while the weather was nice. We all met near Tez bar just before 10am, we were the first on to Yusuf’s boat where Yusuf, Hakan and Murat were preparing for the day ahead. A Turkish mom and her son joined, followed by a well-dressed Polish couple, so 9 customers in total. As we set off down the river and towards the beach there was Turkish tea and homemade cake for everyone, I was conscious that the cake might not suit my stomach so I didn’t have any but I did have 2 cups of Turkish tea. Before we could get to the sea we had to navigate the shallow sandbanks where lots of boats get stuck every day so we were all asked to go to the very front of the boat and sit on the floor. That was easier said than done for quite a few of us and once down I wondered if I would be able to get back up. Hakan is a good boat captain so he got us through without too much fuss and we were on our way along the coastline towards Devil’s Bay. Vanessa and I noticed that there were border patrol boats at sea and these were because of the trouble between Greece and Turkey with migrants trying to get to Europe via Turkey, this was the first time we had seen these and there were quite a few massive boats on the horizon. When we got to our spot at the little Devil’s Bay it was time for swimming. Everyone but me and the Polish couple went in, they were disappointed as they didn’t know the itinerary for the day and thought they were just going on a river trip for an hour or two, so didn’t bring swimwear. I still couldn’t get my healed wound wet so I decided to take photos and then test the beer out, it certainly passed the test for coldness! There was a gorgeous BBQ lunch and we all had a drink before heading back towards Dalyan, where we almost got stuck on a sandbank on the way past the beach. I was sunbathing on the front of the boat and chatting to Vanessa thinking we were finished for the day but then we went to Çandır lake for another stop, we were definitely getting our money’s worth on this trip.
When we got back to land Dad was sad that the day had ended and wanted to be out out, even though we had said we weren’t going out tonight, I’d got a stroganoff to eat and mom was doing tea for them at home tonight. I called at Şok supermarket for some essentials;
1 plastic bag 0.25 (I had forgotten my bag) Bread 2.00 3 carrots 2.38 1 packet of crisps 4.50 1 pack of ‘lady’ items 14.50 4 probiotic drinks 17.00 1 box of mini magnums 27.50
Total spent 68.58 (£5)
I’d just took my bra off and got comfy when I got a message from Mom to say that Dad had left his swimming shorts tied to the back of the boat, she didn’t want to give Dad an excuse to go back out for more drinking so asked me if I would be able to get them back for him. I messaged Yusuf and Hakan but there was no reply as they were probably settling down for dinner with their families. After eating an ice-cream after dinner, I had a stomach ache and then was ill, this was a good test as I needed to eat more of what I might be allergic to before my testing, although it could be due to the 2 beers I had drank on the boat.
