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.
There was quite a bit of rain on Monday 11th July. Captain Caveman had left for his Son Doong trip and this time he was doing 3 tours in a row, working for the next 12 days. He’d given me some spending money so that I could go for a drink with Veronika or Tatas if the opportunity arose. I had cornflakes for breakfast and caught up on some admin tasks. I’d attempted to get out another mystery freezer meal for dinner and made myself a cheese sandwich for lunch. It wasn’t quite the Monday I’d been used to but I did indulge in a vodka, lime and soda with my evening meal. It turned out to be a satay sauce which I had with chicken, vegetables and steamed rice. After the hectic Hanoi trip it was nice to have a day of not doing too much, just staying at Elements again.
More bad weather was predicted and storms were due on Tuesday 12th July. I saw on Facebook that the newly finished villa next to where we stay in Dalyan was up for holiday rental and it looked very nice. I had a buttered crumpet for breakfast which Captain Caveman had brought back from Hanoi. My lunch was leftover satay chicken with rice and I did some Turkish lessons in the afternoon. Veronika had invited me over to share some fizz so I got a lift up to the Phong Nha Farmstay with Dung, a new driver. Veronika and Ross were staying in one of the Jungalo private pool villas so I went over to their place. We had a lovely glass or two of sparkling white wine, before walking to the Farmstay poolside bar for dinner. Veronika ordered a Shepherd’s pie (the Tuesday special), I had the chicken and cashew nuts which was really tasty. I’d eaten mine by the time Ross got his food and was sat talking to Bich under a fan. It got incredibly warm as her cook showed her the prawns she had bought. Ten minutes later we had a downpour of rain so we opened another bottle of fizz, the Lindeman’s which is a firm favourite. Bich was telling me they have changed the pricing at the Farmstay now, with immediate effect everything would be subject to 8% tax and 5% service charge. They were also reviewing the prices of items on the menu which had not seen an increase in some time. It reminded me of Turkey in that prices were increasing to allow for the new tourist season. When I got my bill it came to 1,000,000vnd (£35 for dinner and mainly wine) which wasn’t bad when you compared it to Western prices. I tried to wait for the rain to stop to leave but in the end we just had to go for it. I was easily home and in bed by 10pm but I didn’t sleep much, as the thunder and lightening was right overhead and kept me awake.
Our stay in Hanoi was almost over but on Sunday 10th July we had one last friend to see. Lien used to be our Vietnamese teacher and we arranged to meet her at Oriberry cafe. I’d mentioned we should probably get something for breakfast first but Captain Caveman said we could eat later. It was nice to see Lien and she looked really well as we chatted about work related topics. Captain Caveman ordered himself a chicken and pesto salad sandwich but I really didn’t want to eat lunch at 10am and they didn’t have breakfast items.
On our way back to check out we bought a croissant for me from the supermarket. We had a car booked for the airport at 11.15am and we were off. Hanoi airport was very busy and the self check-in counters were broken so Captain Caveman had a bit of a to do. He went to complain at the staff member behind the new ticket sales counter. We were likely to miss our flight because the check-in queues were horrendous so she helped us by pushing us in to the front and getting us our tickets printed. The airport was noisy and stressful, we didn’t even get an alcoholic beverage. The flight was on time and, before we had even took off, Captain Caveman was working, the holiday was over! When we landed it was Captain Caveman’s job to meet and greet his customers which he did. When we went to get in the organised transport there were 2 cars which we were allocated the one with the Vietnamese customers in, while the English speakers were in the other car. They dropped me off, with both bags, at Elements and Captain Caveman went straight to Phong Nha to drop off customers then to his briefing for the tour tomorrow.
Shannon, was in town and we’d organised a soirée at the Phong Nha Farmstay. I snaffled down a toasted teacake and passion fruit snack, then got ready. I met up with Shannon, Veronika, Ross, Trang and Andrew for some dinner and a drink. I had a couple of beers and ordered a pork clay pot while the others had pizza or snack food. Mine took a bit longer to be served but it was really good and I had some rosé wine with Shannon. It was a pleasant evening and good to see Shannon passing through Phong Nha after a year away. Captain Caveman was back home before me and the rain had started to get heavy when I got my lift back home.
We had breakfast on Saturday 9th July at a place in Hanoi which Captain Caveman had told me about. I’d been looking forward to trying 7Frydays for its fish and chips, which are meant to be ‘the business’, but a good English fry up would do me. The rain in Hanoi was pretty heavy so we had borrowed an umbrella and taken the shortcut through the alleyways to get there. I think Captain Caveman was hoping to prove where I went wrong on getting lost yesterday, but we got lost again and it made me laugh. At 7Frydays the staff/owners were friendly and hard working and they dried off a table for us to sit at. As soon as I saw the breakfast menu I was happy and went for the build your own, while Captain Caveman ordered a Full Monty, of course. I had a lovely pot of tea with cold milk and a proper mug too. Something I have noticed that seems to be increasing is using chillies as garnish, as I’m allergic I find it unnecessary, but Captain Caveman had the bit that was on top of my hash brown. The food was absolutely wonderful and I would definitely eat there again when I’m in Hanoi. I was very full and wouldn’t need any lunch.
In the afternoon we went to meet Gary in a Bia Hoi, the weather had fined up so we walked. To be honest I’m not a fan of the Bia Hoi places because, although now I can drink the beer, the ones we usually go to are aimed at Vietnamese men. The toilets are always basic at best, no one has heard of soap and there’s lots of smoking (cigarettes and weed) on most occasions. Nevertheless, I do love Gary and his wife, Hanh, their friends are often good company too, so I put up with it. I usually end up having a great time and just get drunk so I worry less about having to use the piss drenched, stinky toilet. Joining the group today were Matt and Darren, both of who were also fun and we talked about a load of random topics. Captain Caveman got his beer served in a wonky glass which I wanted to see if we could buy but Captain Caveman wasn’t interested in doing that. I enjoyed the humour and having such a good laugh, which we always do whenever we meet up with Gary and his crew. The time went too quickly, I was very merry but it was time to say farewell. We had a dinner booked for our final evening in Hanoi together, tonight.
On the way back to Euphoria apartments Captain Caveman pointed out that the Bia Hoi next to where we were had a small Frydays within it. We stopped off and I tried the fish and chips, Captain Caveman had a fish sandwich. Unfortunately they didn’t have the Atlantic Cod, probably as they had been busy last night, so we settled for the red snapper. Our bill came to just 255,000vnd (£9), the portions were good and that included 3 beers. It was very tasty and hopefully helped soak up some of the alcohol before I had to go back to get ready for our last night out in Hanoi.
I decided to wear my orange dress with a bit of cleavage on show and had my hair down despite it being a bit warm still. Captain Caveman booked us a Grab taxi and texted his friend, Mr B, to let him know we were on our way! It would be a romantic table for three at the Drunken Duck. When the car dropped us off it was a bit of a walk down some alleys to find the place, it is on the canal by the Intercontinental hotel. As we walked in to the Drunken Duck it definitely looked like the type of place you’d go on a date. I noted it would definitely not be a place my Dad would like, though, on account of it being very dark and there were absolutely no menus whatsoever, not even for cocktails or wine! We sat at the bar, where the extremely young bartender was making cocktails and we chose ours. I wasn’t expecting to be that impressed with my Old Fashioned but it was spot on. My next cocktail was a dry martini with olives, by which time Mr B had arrived and we sat at our ‘table pour trois’. I think I preferred a menu rather than the waiter telling us we could have ‘chicken, pork, beef or fish’ and then Captain Caveman and Mr B asking for lamb. I ordered chicken in a rush and regretted it instantly. My food was good and came with 5 spice sauce on half a chicken, served with salad and pickled white carrot. The guys got what I thought was one portion of lamb to share but the waiter assured us it was two portions but on the same plate. We asked if they had wine and he directed us to the wall where I asked the price of a Primitivo. It was a reasonable cost at under £30 so we went for that and enjoyed it.
The night was delightful, we saw Mr B off in to a taxi before walking back to our accommodation. On the way back we inadvertently ended up in 7 Bridges Taproom bar, again! It had been great to see Captain Caveman as well as him be able to have some time off to see friends. Tomorrow we would be back in Phong Nha, we were both looking forward to it.
Photo credit – some at the Drunken Duck taken by Captain Caveman
My first job on Friday 8th July was to book myself on a trip to Laos for my next visa run. I had found an agent who did organised van/bus trips to the Vietnam-Laos border to be able to go out and in again with a new e-Visa. They were based in Danang and were doing at least one trip per week so I made enquiries, leading to a provisional booking for the end of the month. Captain Caveman’s train was running a bit late but he was on his way. I took a walk to Republic in the West Lake area of Hanoi and had a pot of earl grey tea. When I asked for some milk for it they brought me hot frothy milk which was a bit strange but I used it. Captain Caveman arrived and we had to leave straight away because he had arranged a lunch appointment with a friend. I’d particularly wanted to visit Con Heo Beo (The Fat Pig) as I hadn’t been for so long. It’s primarily a pork restaurant, a short walk down the hill from Republic, and where we went when my parents were visiting a few years ago. When we arrived the place had been done up a tad and looked very nice, Captain Caveman’s friend was already sat at an upstairs table, we ordered beers and pork scratchings for starters. We listened intently to Mr B sharing tales of his life since he and Captain Caveman last met up, 15 years ago. We ordered a sharing platter over more interesting updates. I was just getting to find this guy entertaining when it was informed to me that Mr B and Captain Caveman had to leave as they had arranged to be somewhere else at 2pm. Captain Caveman gave me his rucksack, put a shortcut on my phone of how to get back to Euphoria apartments, through some back alleys, and sent me off. It was not quite the romantic ‘welcome back to Vietnam’ reunion I’d imagined but, honestly, it was not unexpected – Captain Caveman has form for this sort of thing.
Google maps told me it was a 3 minute walk through some alleys back to Euphoria apartments. I followed the map for about a minute then my map told me I was stood in the middle of a lake and stopped directing me. It was hot, humid, I was lost but I was definitely not in a lake. I decided to go right and when I saw some building works, which Captain Caveman had mentioned, I turned left thus ending up in a school playground. It was 2pm as Google directed me to walk through the school, which I did and was back on track. I did some Turkish practice and lolled about back at the apartment for a bit. Captain Caveman had said he would meet me at the Moose and Roo at 5pm where I’d also rearranged to meet friends from our cancelled plans yesterday. I walked the 10 minutes to the pub and arrived at 5pm, just as Captain Caveman had got off a Grab motorbike. He hadn’t brought his friend so just the 2 of us went inside the Moose and Roo. Leonard made it and was doing well, I’d not seen him since before the pandemic, when he lived at Funny Monkeys, Phong Nha. We ordered some beers and the service wasn’t super quick so we weren’t going to be getting drunk. Leonard is a pensioner, and not too steady on his feet, so he just had the one beer. We happened to notice a guy we knew from a few years back, Declan, and he joined us for a drink too. We got talking to him about mates we had in common and had a bit of a laugh. Once Declan left, we decided to have some food and checked out the extensive menu. Leonard ordered the topped nachos, Captain Caveman and I shared a cheese board, both were nice but not the best ever. We had another beer (or 2) then said our goodbyes to Leonard and stopped traffic to get him in to a taxi, back to his hotel, in the old quarter. As we were leaving I started petting a customer’s dog and we got talking to the owner, they knew Mark and Lesley from Phong Nha and were coming to Phong Nha soon, so we exchanged details on Facebook. They needed information on what to do in Phong Nha and would message us with questions. We set off walking home and decided to call for one at the 7 Bridges bar. We ended up staying a little longer than expected and even had more food. Captain Caveman had a slice of pizza and some onion rings, I had the most amazing mac and cheese with bacon in. We left when a big group got too noisy – they just happened to be British! Captain Caveman and I had just one more full day in Hanoi tomorrow so he was going to make the most of it!
Thursday 7th July was particularly rainy in Hanoi so I stayed in the apartment. Kat was up early and had stuff to do so we said our goodbyes, it had been a really great couple of days and I was going to miss her company. She’d already had a croissant for breakfast, I had mine a little later. By lunch time I was eating left overs and doing a spot of Duolingo Turkish. Captain Caveman was due out of Son Doong today and would be going to his gala dinner tonight. His train was leaving Dong Hoi in the late evening but would arrive at 10am (approximately) tomorrow morning. We had arranged to meet up at a place I could walk to for lunch. I helped my sister, in Dalyan, organise a private boat trip with Kaan and breakfast at Çandır Resort for this coming weekend and then I did some blog editing. I couldn’t be bothered to go out in the rain as I didn’t have the clothes for it so I stayed in. I was meant to be meeting some friends at 5pm but, because of the rain, we postponed to when Captain Caveman was here. I drank the peach cider and finished off what was left of the picnic. It was all very nice and the peach cider is definitely worth a try. It was a lovely relaxing day, one I should have appreciated more because our weekend was going to be busy!
I had a bit of a funny turn at about 2am on Wednesday 6th July. Kat turned the light out for us to go to sleep and I lay down. I got an overwhelming feeling of not being able to breathe properly and my chest was very hot to the touch. I scared her as she wondered if I was going to need medical attention and I didn’t know what was wrong with me. When I sat up I seemed to feel better but when I lay down I got worse, I turned my head toward the Aircon and we left the torch, on Kat’s phone, on until I calmed down a bit and eventually fell asleep. Thinking about it, it was the same thing I had when I got on the plane in Singapore so I wondered if it was just from lack of sleep and a bit of stress. When I woke up, Kat had already been out to buy us some local food for breakfast. She had got me xoi ngo (or xoi bap), which is sticky corn rice with mung bean and fried onion. It’s very filling and tastes great. Kat had xoi xeo for herself, which was similar to mine but without the corn. We ate it with kombucha, which I didn’t particularly enjoy but it did cut through the stodge of the breakfast well. After breakfast I got ready and we decided to go over to West Lake so we could grab a drink at a cafe. Our first stop was at Mystic cafe where they put up a parasol for us to sit by the lake. It was hazy but hot and I borrowed a sun hat from Kat. I had a fresh iced tea and the menu looked good so we ordered lunch there. I had a chicken taco and Kat had chicken salad, both were great value for money. Next we stopped off at Huy Long cafe on a nice corner spot, Kat had a coffee and I had a fresh lemon juice. Kat had stuff to do in the afternoon so she kindly dropped me off at the accommodation which Captain Caveman had booked from tonight. We loosely said we would meet up later and off I went, to the Euphoria reception desk to check in.
I was excited to find we had been upgraded to a snazzy 2 bedroom apartment at Euphoria. I roughly knew the area too so, after unpacking and taking some photos, I had a walk to the shopping centre next to Fraser Suites. I was surprised to see that the Annam Gourmet shop sold Yorkshire tea bags but 80 were 450,000vnd (£16.20). I found that wine was cheaper and bought 2 bottles of screw top red and some croissants for breakfast tomorrow. I wasn’t sure if I would be eating out tonight but noticed the pizza place had 2 for 1 offers on Wednesdays which was good.
Back at Euphoria, I chilled out a bit and worked out how to operate the TV so that I could put my Youtube playlist on. Kat was coming over later but I got peckish and thirsty so I ordered pizza and started the wine. Kat arrived with treats of cheese, olives, Korean chocolate nibbles, some pastry things and peach cider. We had a bit of a picnic for our dinner, with wine and some great tunes. At first I was reluctant to try the Ricco Tiramisu gluten free sweets, but Kat insisted. I’m glad that she did because they are life changing and I need to have more if them in my life. We went to bed late and it was pretty luxurious to have a bedroom each tonight.
It was only just Tuesday 5th July, as I stood at a phone charging station in Changi airport, Singapore, at 12.05am. I’d found a currency exchange shop where the woman was finishing her shift and she swapped me five $20 notes for one of my $100s. She also told me that all the places to get food and drink will close and not open until morning so to stock up on anything I needed. She was helpful and it was nice. There is so much to do in Changi airport, but not after 10pm at night. I was eating plain crisps and dairy milk chocolate while trying to ignore the ignoramus next to me. He was watching very loud and violent clips on his phone while laughing. I’d not been able to have any sleep yet so I’d decided to come to make sure my phone battery was at 100% before my attempt to check-in. Given that my ticket had my surname spelled incorrectly, and I couldn’t change it, I was genuinely worried. All helpful posts on the internet gave the same answer that I wouldn’t be allowed to travel with it. I was situated right next to the Scoot automatic check-in machines which were open for flights to Australia, South Korea and Indonesia but there seemed to be a bottle neck of customers. This proved to be very useful as I overheard a member of staff who had come to help people get through quicker. It seemed that the Australians had more discrepancies than the South Koreans, who still needed PCR tests to enter their country. I decided I would try my luck and wandered slowly towards the queue. On the way there, I bumped in to a lovely older Australian lady, heading for Sydney, and we got chatting in the queue. She couldn’t work the machine and I noticed her passport was upside down and I copied her. Because we were causing a jam, the Scoot staff member sent both of us over to the in-person check-in, giving us both a slip of paper to say we required manual check-in due to a fault! That was the first hurdle. I let the Aussie lady go first and I waited behind a large South Korean family who were half way through repacking their bags and arguing at being denied check-in. This Scoot staff member looked stressed so when it was my turn I smiled and tried a bit of sympathy. As she was checking my passport and printing the ticket I asked if she needed to weigh my hand luggage (I knew it was under) then proceeded to pop it on the scales. I was through to departures just before 1am!!! I had just 8 hours to kill before boarding my flight so I was heading straight to do some damage in a lounge for 3 of them!
Once through security at Changi airport, I trotted off to the SATS Premier Lounge, Terminal 1, and I was so excited. It had 24hr food and booze and should have been even better than the one I was in last month, at Terminal 3. The guy on the reception desk was super friendly and informative and told me that he would remind me when my 3 hours was up but if I wanted to do another 3 hours after that, I could! This would mean paying on my Priority Pass for an extra visit but if the food and drink selection was good and it was a nice place to relax I would do that. I didn’t even sit down first, I went straight to the booze selection and poured myself a prosecco in a wine glass, who cares if they had no flutes! I took a couple of selfies so I could ‘brag off’ to Kate and Mark, who also have a Priority Pass, that I was in a lounge and then I went to check out the food options. There were some delicious looking curries with hardly any left but the staff seemed to be replenishing the containers. I grabbed a pumpkin and spinach sandwich, some cheese and turkey ham and another prosecco. I told one of the staff that I would need another bottle of prosecco and handed him the empty bottle. Despite the sandwich selection being the only choice available I had 2, they weren’t too bad and I poured myself a third glass of fizz. There was still no hot food left so I asked the bloke who was in the kitchen area if I could get some chicken curry and rice, he said yes. It never appeared and so I asked the reception staff why there was still no hot food. They said they would find out what was happening but after twice of me checking nothing appeared. By now, all that was left of the cold food was a bowl of cucumber and tomatoes (which I don’t eat) and I was very hungry. I got some nuts but they had wasabi peas in them and I didn’t chance eating any more than the first mouthful. I got out my own crisps at one point and told the staff this was not acceptable. I was now quite tiddly but soldiered on with more prosecco and kept asking how long the food would be. After another 2 hours of waiting and asking I was told my time in the lounge was up and there was still no food, I was flabbergasted. I complained, asked the reception guy for a solution and he told me they were changing from dinner to breakfast food hence the delay. I could not believe my ears when he suggested I go to find the 7-Eleven shop to buy some food in the airport. Outrageous! Incidentally, it was closed. I spent the next 3 hours just wandering around the airport, drunk, looking for snacks/food (in shops, not in bins) but had to eat the rest of my crisps. I found an empty seating area and made a bed from my travel pillow and towel, took my Volleys off and tried for a nap. It was still only 5am!
By the time I was boarding my flight from Singapore to Hanoi, I was exhausted and pretty hungry. Although not hungry enough to have eaten the Bounty and a Dairy Milk fruit and nut bar, which I was saving as a treat for Kat. Between us, we had completely got the details of when I was staying at her place, in Hanoi, confused. She had thought it was yesterday and I’d obviously known it was today but may have not corrected her on our messages. This meant she was busy when I intended on arriving but was still happy for me to stay over and sent me a video of where she lived in Hanoi. The least I could do is take her some chocolate! I was nervous because I still had to show my boarding pass and passport to the staff at the gate – what if they noticed the name error? I got to the front of the queue to board and, as the staff checked my documents, I asked if the plane was full. She looked up and told me it was, but if I needed to request a seat change I should ask once I got on the plane. And, just like that, I was through! We waited on the air bridge for quite a while and when I got on I was feeling hot and a bit jittery. I put it down to having been wearing a mask and my eczema flaring up, a lot. I sat down in row 7, in the window seat allocated to me, but I really wanted an aisle seat. I started to feel unwell so I asked the guy in my row to swap. As luck would have it his wife was in an aisle seat 5 rows back so I then swapped with her and I was very grateful of their help. I was lucky to not have anyone sitting next to me and we took off on time. On Scoot airlines they have free WiFi and you have to order any food or drinks online. At first it didn’t work but eventually I ordered a red wine and some fried rice! It cost 19 Singaporean dollars, which was good as I had 20 left, about £11.50. I was so hungry I would have eaten anything, despite any allergy warnings and I expected the worst! The mixed fried rice was great (I left the crab claw) and I enjoyed the appropriately named wine before we landed at Hanoi. It was not long after midday when I got into the lengthy immigration queue to re-enter Vietnam.
I was very tired as I waited, then got moved to another queue. After what seemed like too long I was allowed back in to Vietnam! It was 24 hours since I’d taken off in Danang, but 35 hours since I had left Phong Nha. I felt it was a bit of a chore for a visa run and wouldn’t choose to do this journey again in a hurry. I was meant to get the number 86 bus to Hanoi train station, where Kat would send a taxi for me. Considering I was knackered, and I’d not spent hotel or extra lounge money, I splashed out on a taxi to Ba Dinh. It cost 400,000vnd (£14.40) and took less than an hour to get there. I got out of the taxi at the WinMart, Kat came to meet me and I bought a couple of cold beers to celebrate being back in Vietnam. Kat was very welcoming and her studio apartment was a delight – I loved it. She told me to help myself to anything I wanted as she had an appointment she needed to get to. I unpacked, had a shower and then tried to sleep. I woke up a few hours later to a horrendous noise. It was a monsoon style storm and the thunder and lightening was right above me. It went on for several hours and when Kat eventually got home, she’d had to push her broken down motorbike through thigh deep water to get to her place. I was so lucky to not have had to leave the room and we planned to get a takeaway for a late dinner. It was around 10pm and we struggled to get a delivery with the flooded streets. Our burgers arrived at 11.30pm and we were so hungry that mine was snaffled quickly. I was so excited to be safely back in Hanoi and was grateful to have a safe, dry, friendly place to relax after a very long day.
Our best intentions to stay awake until my car came at 2am on 4th July fell flat! We had both fallen asleep but, luckily, I had set an alarm. I said my goodbyes to a very snoozy Captain Caveman who offered no words of ‘good luck’ or ‘hope to see you soon’ as I kissed him, and he barely woke up. The driver, who I booked with the receptionist at the Phong Nha Farmstay, was early and the car was nice and comfortable. On the way to Dong Hoi train station, the driver had the windows open and was doing a strange tapping on the side of the car with his left hand – probably to try to stay awake. The journey cost 500,000vnd (£18) which is standard for the 50km distance and I was very early for my 3.15am train. The trains are very busy at this time of year so the booking had shown I had the last seat available, there were no sleeping berths left but I didn’t mind too much. When I got on the SE11 train it was dark inside the carriage and I could not see to get to my seat, which was in the middle somewhere. It was very busy with people sleeping, some were even on the floor with blankets over them. I found an empty couple of seats with a broken back which was reclined to almost horizontal – ideal! We left on time and were scheduled to arrive in Danang at 09.08am. By my calculations I probably had 2-3 hours of sleep before passengers started to get up and make a noise as the Vietnamese like to wake up early and eat breakfast. I got my trusty neck pillow and travel towel/blanket out and managed to nod off. By 5.25am the carriage was practically a party with the amount of toing and froing for ablutions, nose/throat clearance and smoking in the vestibule. I could see that my booked seat had people in it so I stayed where I was and was lucky enough to not get kicked out, unlike the old woman in front of me did, the conductor was pretty shouty at her too. When Captain Caveman woke up he checked on my progress and we worked out I was running about half an hour late. I still had time as my flight wasn’t until 1.15pm. I declined a banh mi breakfast baguette from the trolley, having seen them sneezed on at least twice. Masks were no longer compulsory on trains, most passengers wore them but pulled them down to sneeze! I didn’t bother wearing my mask, mainly because I knew I would probably have to wear one for a long time once I got to the airport and it makes my eczema worse. When I got off the train I was planning on going to the noodle shop opposite the station. It was now a Korean BBQ place and next door was a craft beer place so I decided to walk towards the supermarket, Big C. I had the directions which Captain Caveman had given me and I followed them. After 11 minutes I realised I was lost so I flagged down a taxi and went straight to the airport. I couldn’t check in until 11.15am so I found a Big Bowl cafe and ordered a bowl of overpriced Pho Bo and a beer. The lady serving me kept saying I should have the more expensive wagyu beef version because it is better for foreigners. I stuck with the cheaper version which was still expensive. Even the drinks were twice the usual price for a can of beer, which definitely confused the server and the waitress that I was having beer for breakfast. So far, Plan B was going well and Captain Caveman was walking his group through the jungle towards Hang En right about now.
When I got to check-in, it was just starting to get busy but I was at the front of the queue. I’m not sure why I didn’t expect the check-in staff to be as thorough, but she did ask for proof of everything; • vaccines and booster evidence, • registration on Singapore site and email confirmation of that, • onward/return flight within 30 days, • a hotel booking in case of quarantine if testing positive on arrival I almost forgot to ask for an aisle seat in all the paperwork checking. I had nothing printed out and all on my phone because we don’t have a printer. She didn’t notice that my hotel booking was just a photo of the link to the place Captain Caveman had sent me and she didn’t spot the mistake on my ticket back in to Vietnam for tomorrow. I was through security relatively quickly but then the airport was pretty busy at the gates with not much seating. I wasn’t sure what time I would eat again today so I decided to go to Burger King which was fairly empty. I’d just placed my order and sat down when I noticed my ticket from Singapore to Hanoi tomorrow had an error on it, one that meant I couldn’t travel without amending it or buying a new flight. Captain Caveman had spelled my surname wrong on my ticket back to Vietnam, and it was with one of those low cost airlines where the check-in is done by a machine, meaning my passport and ticket with booking reference wouldn’t match up. Obviously, I could still leave Vietnam as the ticket to Singapore was fine but now I was stressed over what to do about this cock up! I decided I might be able to log in as Captain Caveman and try to amend my booking. I got all the way to where it wanted another $40 from his existing card and that’s where I failed, I didn’t know his 3 digit number on the back of his card. I let the transaction time out and it gave me a picture error message which I took a screenshot of. I’d just started eating a cheeseburger and fries when Captain Caveman rang from the little village on day 1 of his tour. He neither had his card nor knew the numbers I needed. He wasn’t as upset, or apologetic, as I thought he’d be and just said he was sure I would figure something out because I used to be a travel agent! That was about 25 years ago, it’s not like I had connections in Singapore and they were pretty strict. Now, not only was I worried about getting back in because of a potential visa issue, I was very concerned I would be stuck in Changi airport with no solution. I had $300 cash on me but I didn’t want to buy a new ticket and have no money left. I decided I would chance it and see how things were once I got to Singapore, after all, I had 15 hours or more to work it out.
My Danang to Singapore flight was delayed very slightly so we landed about 5.15pm at Changi airport. My flight tomorrow was at 09.55am, that’s if I could even get on it because of the name mistake on my ticket. I was tired but prepared to have a mini adventure in Singapore. I was wearing my volleys, some loose trousers and a vest top but I had not thought of bringing any clothing for if there was a storm. I looked outside of the airport and there was monsoon type rain. I’d intended to get the MRT (subway) but then walk to some accommodation, which I hadn’t booked yet. I would be soaked. Instead, I decided I would go to the terminal I was flying from tomorrow and investigate the automated check-in machines at Scoot. I walked around the airport for an hour and established that the Scoot check-in was a bit chaotic so I kept on walking. I found the Jewel which is a massive mall type area with amazing gardens, fountains and lots of designer shops over several floors – it was massive. Changi is one of the best airports for this kind of thing so I decided I would just stay in the airport. I had spent longer in airports overnight and I was sure I’d be fine, plus I would try my luck at check-in in the early hours of the morning and hope to get through to one of the lounges on my Priority Pass – the one landside didn’t include alcohol. I walked for 2 hours non-stop then watched the fountain and light show. I walked some more and tried my best to change my three 100 dollar notes which most of the exchange shops couldn’t do. I got myself $25 worth of Singaporean dollars with the intention of getting an alcoholic beverage, or two. Unfortunately I didn’t realise that by 10.30pm the airport had already closed most of the shops and alcohol was not able to be purchased until I was airside – it was going to be a long night. I asked a member of the Scoot staff if there was any way I could check in early to go through to a lounge and she said there was no chance. She said I couldn’t check in until 6.55am but I wondered how the automatic machines could tell that. I bought some chocolate and almost thought seaweed crisps were salt and vinegar flavoured. I found a quiet area upstairs near the prayer room and tried to have a bit of a rest, I’d started to have a sea-sickness feeling which I get when I’ve had no sleep. I would wait until after midnight then try to check-in again when the staff changed.
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.
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.
Captain Caveman was on day 2 of his tour and I was expecting rain, the skies were cloudy and it felt a bit cooler on Friday 1st July. I decided I’d been a bit slack with not taking my measurements or getting weighed each week and would reintroduce it. In Phong Nha we don’t have any scales but Captain Caveman had previously brought over a tape measure. The last time I had taken measurements was the 6th May, so almost 2 months ago and I was shocked by the results. I’d had a good month of going out in Dalyan and then a quieter month with less drinking in Phong Nha. These were my results this morning; Bust -3cm, Waist -5cm, Hips -6cm, Right thigh -0.5cm, Left thigh -2cm, Right calf -2.5cm, Left calf -3.5cm. Wow, I wish I knew my weight. My calves had lost a lot, probably from not cycling, walking or dancing like I was in Turkey. Both calves measured the same but my thighs had a 1cm difference still and I was sure the swimming was helping my overall measurements. I treated myself to a breakfast of buttered teacake toast and then got to moving Captain Caveman’s winter clothes in to the spare room. I also noted while tidying up his stuff that he had in excess of 10 pairs of sunglasses including 1 pair of mine that I had given him last year when he said he didn’t have any to wear – they were my only spare pair. For lunch I took a Snickers out of the freezer and it defrosted naturally within minutes. In the afternoon the cleaners came, so I chopped fruit in the kitchen. I put mango and passion fruit in the fridge and freezer and ate an orange. The rain didn’t come and the humidity level was very high, I heard thunder nearby. At 6.30pm I got picked up for pizza night with the Le Mitchell family at The Villas. When we arrived it was very busy so Veronika wanted to sit by the river, I find that it’s easier to get served nearer the bar so I joined René who was sat at a table outside but near to the door. I ordered a beer and said yes to the all you can eat pizza for 180,000vnd (£6.30). Veronika, Ross and the grandchildren came to sit next to us and went for the same deal. We chatted on about the visa extension debacle and the pizzas were great, as always. The company was lovely and I had a really good evening. René and I exchanged phone numbers and told me he was happy to come pick me up on his motorbike to go to his, while Captain Caveman was away which was really kind. Veronika and Ross also said they fancied a trip out to see his homestay and we could perhaps cycle there together. It wasn’t too far and I quite fancied doing that.
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.
joloyolo 