Saturday 11th June wasn’t an amazing day for me and it was only my 2nd full day in Phong Nha. I started off trying to keep positive after not feeling particularly welcomed back by Captain Caveman, yesterday. Him not having made any room for me, or my stuff, was probably just an oversight as he had been working so much. I was obviously disappointed that he didn’t have much time off and, especially as more of my family were hoping to be in Dalyan soon, I could have stayed in Turkey longer to join in with their plans. I had a friend who I was talking to in Dalyan who was going through some not very nice things right now and I felt useless to help them. I also had another worry at the back at my mind too; although I’d been promised I could extend my tourist visa after the 5th of next month, I didn’t believe it. If I had to leave Vietnam it would have been a very expensive trip to hardly see Captain Caveman – the main point to my visit. I’d had a croissant for breakfast and was doing some editing most of the morning. I decided to eat up the rest of the pulled pork for lunch and I got the trusty rice steamer out to make some perfectly cooked rice to go with it. I sniffed the pulled pork in the jar to see if I could tell how spicy it was. I couldn’t smell anything and even when I ate it, the taste was nice and I couldn’t tell if there was chilli in it. Of course, it made me ill and I even had to have a nap after I finally got out of the bathroom. By 4pm I was so hot but I couldn’t swim in the pool because there was a dead baby bird in it. I tried getting it out with a colander but couldn’t so asked the staff if someone could get a pool net or something, they said yes but it didn’t come before dark. I had to cancel the evening plans because of my stomach and went back to bed. By 9.30pm I was wide awake and hungry so I had a slice of Kate’s fruitcake with Dick’s Red Leicester cheese and a gin & ginger ale. I hoped for a better day tomorrow.
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!
Thursday 9th June was not a relaxing day, we were off back to Phong Nha as Captain Caveman had to be at work for 6pm. After finalising some packing, and Captain Caveman getting cross with me for not having sufficiently wrapped the Stilton cheese, we were ready to check out of Melia River View apartments. Our flight was in the afternoon so we still had time to meet up with another friend, Quyen, in District 1 of Saigon. We temporarily left our luggage at her place while we walked round to a nearby restaurant. As luck would have it I’d requested a Japanese restaurant and it couldn’t have been a better choice location wise. I ordered a peach tea drink and a pork dish, the other two had fishy stuff. We got brought some warm boiled gingko nuts which look like pistachios but taste more like a slightly off, cheesy chestnut. The food was delicious and we had a nice catch up with Quyen, who’d I’d not seen for quite some time. After our meal we went to a cafe round the corner for a hot beverage and then it was sadly time to say bye to Saigon and Quyen. We were off to the airport for our 3.30pm flight to Dong Hoi, there was still no rain which was lucky.
At the airport Captain Caveman found some Ron Zacapa rum, which was a lovely surprise and he bought a bottle to take with us. By 3pm we were near the front of the queue to board the flight and I should have known it would happen. Captain Caveman got in a separate queue to me, so he didn’t have to speak or listen to me for the next half an hour while we waited to be let through the gate and on to the bus to the plane. He made out it was because 3 Vietnamese men had pushed in by starting a second queue but he was doing the same by becoming the 4th person in it. We were lucky to not have anyone sitting on the aisle seat on our row so we spread out after take off, I had some dried mango and Captain Caveman had Pringles. The flight was quick, slightly delayed but landed in Dong Hoi around 5pm. I left Captain Caveman getting our luggage while I went to the toilets, they had soap which only I used. I remembered a couple of years ago some Vietnamese women telling me they didn’t like to use soap as it makes their skin look older. The pandemic was obviously a thing of the past for hand washing with soap in toilets again, but of course everyone wore a mask over their mouth and nose. Captain Caveman had arranged an Oxalis car and driver to pick us up from Dong Hoi airport, drop me off and take him to work. He would cycle back after work, to where I would be staying for at least another 3 weeks.
When we arrived at Elements Collection, the villa where Captain Caveman has been staying since September 2020, he was pushed for time. He left the luggage downstairs, gave me his keys and got back in the car to go to the Oxalis office. Part of his job, as a cave expert on the Hang Son Doong tours, is to meet the guests at their briefing and dinner on the evening before their 4 day expedition. I started to move the bags and looked for somewhere to unpack my stuff. I also took a jar of mystery contents from the freezer to defrost for my dinner. Unfortunately, in the time that Captain Caveman had been away in Saigon, he had forgotten to inform anyone at the villa or Phong Nha Farmstay that I was coming back. There were only half the pillows and towels in the room and the place was not looking like it was ready for me coming to stay. I was a bit miffed about this as I thought Captain Caveman would at least have moved all his winter clothes out of the wardrobe, or cleared me a drawer or shelf to use. The stuff I had left here back in September had been put in storage in the Glass House and were still over there. I put all my clothes back in my suitcase and got myself a can of cold Huda beer. The pulled pork that I had got out of the freezer still hadn’t quite defrosted 2 hours later and I was peckish. Instead, I had spaghetti with pesto mixed in – basic but tasty and it would do. Captain Caveman cycled Bluey, my bicycle, back from Phong Nha so that I would be able to get about while he was away for the next few days. By 9.45pm he was back and we were having a Huda beer before an early night, as Captain Caveman had an early start tomorrow.
I was back on track for getting some sleep now and on Wednesday 8th June I woke up feeling almost human again. Storms with very heavy rain were forecast for the afternoon and it was our last day in Saigon so Captain Caveman had a plan. He booked a Grab taxi and we went to Lubu for lunch. Almost 7 years ago to the day I met a lady called Beth who I went on an Easy Rider motorbike trip with from Phong Nha to Hue, via Khe Sanh, as a group of 4. She has a son, who we met while he was the manager of Mekong Merchant in Saigon, when we caught up with Beth again a few years ago. Her son, Jay, is now at Lubu, and we happened to see him. Captain Caveman took a terrible photo of me with Jay to send to Beth and he gave us a glass of wine each on the house, which was really nice of him. Captain Caveman and I ordered the lunchtime special which I would definitely recommend. I ordered a green salad starter (get me!), the steak and chips with garlic butter and a pannacotta type dessert. Captain Caveman went for the Gazpacho, chicken schnitzel and ate both of our desserts. This surprised me as he doesn’t ordinarily like sweet stuff and I don’t like the texture of a pannacotta. My complimentary red wine was lovely so Captain Caveman decided we would have a bottle of that. We sat and relaxed while sipping our beverages and discussing plans for when we were back in Phong Nha.
Our next stop was to have a wander in to the Annam Gourmet shop where I wanted to get some treats. They had bottles of Prosecco for 550,000vnd (£19.25) but Captain Caveman wasn’t interested in buying any to take back with us. I spotted the 4 Limited Release Lab Series gins from Lady Trieu too but we didn’t even buy any of that, on account of us not really having enough luggage space. We wandered our way through District 2 and by 3.30pm we were in the pub. I’d already been warned there were no late night bars open in Phong Nha so I was making the most of it. We met Andrea for a couple of ales in Bia Craft (one with an indoor AC section), I accidentally ordered a snack of shredded cheese, not realising it was sprinkled with hot chilli flakes and I had to drink a lot of beer, rather quickly. The snack menu had a Caeser salad on there but I didn’t point out to Captain Caveman that it had egg in it! When Andrea’s colleague and friend, Amarjit, joined us we had one more drink before going out for our last dinner in Saigon.
Captain Caveman and I had chosen Baba’s Kitchen because we love it there and it’s my favourite Indian restaurant in Saigon. The food was lovely, the drinks flowed, I was pretty merry so I forgot to take any decent photos. We also ordered 2 portions of Chicken Jalfrezi and 2 Butter Chickens to take away. It was a lovely last night which Captain Caveman and I finished off in a bar where we discovered a sport I’m good at; shuffleboard. We had several games of it and I am much better at this than pool or darts, maybe we needed to find one in Dalyan for the winter. The storms held off all day and night so I had been lucky to not encounter any rain yet. When we got in, Captain Caveman made sure our curries were in tupperware boxes, sealed properly, in the fridge. They would be packed to take to Phong Nha, tomorrow.
I didn’t wake up until 7am on Tuesday 7th June, although it was still 3am on my Turkish watch. I was missing having 2 pillows and having to get used to a hard bed again. Captain Caveman was already up and about in the kitchen making himself peanut butter wraps because he was hungry. For lunch we went to the same place as for breakfast yesterday, as Captain Caveman was complaining that I couldn’t walk far, or quickly enough. I thought my foot was ok but I just wasn’t used to walking at his pace so it was starting to hurt a bit. I was back to walking several metres behind my man again and it felt weird. While Captain Caveman ordered a Caesar salad and a smoothie I ordered chicken fried rice and a draft Platinum beer. When Captain Caveman’s salad arrived it had poached eggs on which I commented was unusual. Our first argument happened because now Captain Caveman was insisting that there is always eggs in a Caeser salad. I agreed that eggs were in the dressing but I had never seen cooked/poached eggs in one, but of course he had to argue the point until I really couldn’t care less if it did or not. I could see I was going to have my work cut out for me as I’d temporarily forgotten how much Captain Caveman likes to argue and be a know-it-all. I still maintain he is wrong but I just said ‘lovely’ then drank my beer and ate my chicken fried rice without speaking. My food was ok, it didn’t have much flavour to it, but the beer was good so I had another one. We were sat in the shade, with a fan on, it was only 30°C but I was melting – the humidity was a bugger!
By 4.30pm we were on our way to meet Keith from Grimsby, who lives in Saigon. I’d asked Captain Caveman to think of a bar which had AC as I didn’t want to drink in this heat and become sick with dehydration. When we arrived at Bia Craft, which I already knew would be an outdoor place, we picked a table near to a fan in an attempt to keep me cool. It was still unbearable but of course we were here now so I may as well get a beer. I chose a beer made with rice in the attempt that I wouldn’t consume too much gluten and have a bad stomach. It tasted ok but when Keith arrived he let us in on one of his top tips that there is another beer which is a lot cheaper if you buy the bigger size. We all had one of those and ordered food. I had already decided I was having a rack of pork ribs with chips, Keith ordered a burger and Captain Caveman ordered a sausage but was giving Keith his chips as he’s not a fan of them. My ribs were so good and we had several more of the better value beers.
Next, Captain Caveman had arranged to meet his friend, Hung, at a Bia Hoi place not too far away so we invited Keith to join us. When we got there Hung was already on his way and had several Bia Hoi containers at the ready and snack food. There was duck and beef jerky, later he ordered frog. I was too full to eat anything more so I just stuck to the beer. It was a great evening and I enjoyed catching up with Hung and Keith from Grimsby as it has been a long time since I’d seen them, due to the pandemic. Keith was the first to leave as it was a school night, but luckily he didn’t live far from the Bia Hoi bar. By 9.45pm I was ready to say bye to Hung and go back to the apartment, I was so full of beer and still jet lagged. I could tell Captain Caveman wanted to stay out so I said he could and I would go back by myself. It was decided we would both leave as I don’t yet have a working Vietnamese phone or access to the Grab app. Back home Captain Caveman got the washing out and was annoyed at me that I had not secured the Stilton cheese in a Tupperware for transporting all this way, so some of my clothes still smelled of cheese. I thought he’d be excited to try some of Kate’s fruitcake because he does like fruitcake, but he didn’t want any. As soon as we got in to bed Captain Caveman was snoring very loudly so it took me a while to get to sleep. At least tomorrow we had no plans to be up early, as far as I was aware of!
Monday 6th June started off with me being rather crotchety at not having had enough sleep. Captain Caveman had set his alarm for 7am and then turfed me out of bed to get a shower and get ready for the day. I was confused as my watch still said 3am, the blackout curtains fooled me in to thinking it was still night time and, at that moment, I didn’t really care what the plan was. I wanted to stay in bed and go back to sleep but Captain Caveman was insisting we needed a hearty breakfast because today’s activity would require sustenance. All I could think was ‘please don’t let it be an outdoor/adventurous pursuit’! First, we went to a nearby cafe for breakfast where I got to watch Captain Caveman shovel in a plate of my least favourite breakfast items in one meal; avocado, tomatoes and poached eggs with toast. I had Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) with a pot of earl grey tea.
After breakfast we asked a security guard to call us a taxi and we headed to Bach Dang ferry terminal. Captain Caveman had booked arranged for us to go on a gin tasting experience which we were told to meet at 9.30am for – I love a good gin but, crikey! We were early and it transpires we weren’t getting on the ferry anyway. I had a wander about, used the portaloo (which was quite clean and had soap) then saw a statue of Vo Thi Sau, a girl who had fought in the war against the French occupation, more about her here: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/vietnam/articles/vo-thi-sau-the-story-of-vietnams-guerilla-girl/ Captain Caveman’s friend was sending a speedboat to pick us, and a few other select guests, up. I’m not one for speedboats, I was even seasick on one in the Maldives, so I was a bit apprehensive. The others arrived and we all walked across the ferry to get on to the speedboat. We got our life jackets on while Captain Caveman explained to me how these ones with CO² cannisters work. They automatically inflate in water and so, as we sat at the front of the boat, I moved my bag from across my chest in case it inflated by accident and injured me.
We were on the speedboat for quite some time and as we passed District 12, where Captain Caveman had cycled yesterday, we saw a big fire. It turned out that a tyre factory was in flames and was nicely polluting the area. After a total journey of 75 minutes we had arrived at a small area where we could use the facilities and wait for a car. When the car came, the guide expected the 8 of us to get in, but the 4 western fatties amongst us looked at him like he was insane. In no time, one of the guys was on the phone to request a 2nd car. By 11.30am (7.30am on my Turkish watch) we were at the distillery of Lady Trieu gin, having a water and meeting the very talented master distiller.
It was a strange feeling to have been out in Dalyan (Turkey) on Friday night, travelling to Vietnam all weekend, eating Lebanese food in Saigon last night and now it was Monday morning – it didn’t feel real. We liked Adam, the Master Distiller at Lady Trieu, straight away. He was knowledgeable, engaging and funny as he ran through the process of how they make gin here. The downstairs part of the warehouse was super hot for the 8 minutes we were stood listening to Adam. We went upstairs to an AC room which was set up for us to taste the gins in and at 11.46am, Vietnamese time, we were about to find out more and taste the Limited Release gins. The clientele were reminiscent of us being in a corporate meeting but that didn’t stop me trying to smell and taste my way through the gins with much enthusiasm.
For the gin lovers amongst you, here’s the Lady Trieu Limited Release gins we tried, neat: 1. Mekong Delta Dry Gin – has star anise, pepper, kumquat and orange peel flavours. I liked this one and could see me drinking this with a dry ginger ale, as I don’t like tonic. 2. Dalat Flowerbomb Gin – floral with chrysanthemum, jasmine, citrus, lotus and coriander. I didn’t think I’d like this but I did and would definitely buy this one. 3. Sapa Citrus Tea Gin – the oolong tea and pepper flavour was amazing. This became my new favourite of the 3 and I’d fancy this as a martini cocktail, so no need for tonic. 4. Hoi An Spice Road Gin – ginger and black cardamom flavours which was fantastic and would go well with a curry. By the 4th neat gin tasting I was starting to get tiddly and hungry but we still had the newest and best gin to taste. It was also apparent that almost everyone in the room, except for us, were suffering the after effects of a whisky event yesterday. One of the guys had popped out of the room to get himself a coke and a banana. Meanwhile I was getting right into it and my seasickness feeling was back with a vengeance. Lady Trieu, named after the famous warrior, was being sampled and reviewed by 12.20pm, this time I tasted it neat then with the recommended Fever Tree tonic and ice. I loved it.
In my mind it was 8.20am and I was pretty sozzled already as we went in to the next room, which had even more AC on and was where the magic and science happened. There was also a shelf with lots of glass bottles on which Adam, the Master distiller, explained were the ones that didn’t make it in to the final gin. By 1pm we were back downstairs, getting pictures with the rest of the Lady Trieu team and we were honoured to be allowed in the store cupboard to look at, touch and smell the ingredients. By 2.20pm we were in cars and almost back at the speedboat. As is usual for me, Monday madness was only just beginning and we happened to have an extra passenger!
As we got back on to the speedboat at 2.30pm, I foolishly thought we would have a calm ride back and then a taxi back to the apartment where I might get a little nap before whatever shenanigans Captain Caveman had slotted in to the schedule for tonight. We had brought Adam, the Master Distiller, with us and within 2 minutes of departure he was driving the speedboat. While Captain Caveman and I looked on at the impressive speedboat driving skills, the others were sat at the back of the boat drinking bottled water and eating plums. On the 75 minute journey back, anyone who wanted to drive the speedboat down a Saigon river, could. Well, when in Rome! I can now drive a speedboat and I loved it. Captain Caveman could already drive one, obviously – what can’t he do!? Unfortunately I peaked too early and, after the real driver took back control, I had to have a little sit down inside the boat, while the men chatted business. I was so jet lagged, tired and drunk, that I took my Volleys (shoes) off and had a short siesta. When we got off the speedboat Captain Caveman, Adam the gin man and I said bye to everyone else and jumped in a taxi. Captain Caveman had booked a grab to take us to a bar he likes, which I’d never been to before and couldn’t tell you where it was. I found that our new best mate liked Pulp as we blasted ‘Babies’ out and sang along to it. When we arrived at The Orient, I insisted we go in the AC, our friend Andrea, arrived to meet us. Unfortunately Adam, the Master Distiller, couldn’t stay out for more than the one drink and we said our goodbyes and thank yous.
We, on the other hand, managed another beer before going on to a restaurant of Andrea’s choosing where the 3 of us shared 2 bottles of lovely pinot noir red wine and 2 cheese and meat platters. Needless to say, we had an absolutely fantastic first full day together in Vietnam, I don’t recall getting back to the apartment over 12 hours after we left it, but I do remember wondering why all my clothes smelled of blue cheese.
When I wrote my list of what I will miss when I leave Dalyan it automatically meant I was thinking about what I was looking forward to in Vietnam. Some of them are pretty obvious:
1. Captain Caveman – after 257 days apart I was really looking forward to seeing my other half again.
2. Pork – I rarely eat pork in Turkey whereas it’s a very popular meat in Vietnamese dishes.
3. Tropical fruits – I love mangosteen, pomelo, pineapple, jackfruit, dragon fruit and passion fruit which are pretty cheap in Phong Nha.
4. Our own private pool – not having to worry about a boob popping out when swimming, or sharing the pool with a neighbour who clears their airways in the water, is always a bonus.
5. Cheap beer – at 250,000vnd (£9) for a case of 24 Huda cans I can get used to leaving the Efes behind for a bit.
6. The Staff – living in a managed property means we get our own team of lovely people to assist us. Whether it be cleaning the pool and rooms, doing the laundry, tending to the garden, driving us to or from the nearby Farmstay makes it feel like I’m always on holiday.
7. Buffalo – I love seeing the buffalo every day, especially when they get too hot and have to wallow in the muddy rice paddies.
8. People – while there are far less expats or westerners in Phong Nha there are still lots of locals returning now, so I will get to see friends I have missed.
9. The rice cooker – I never did buy one in Turkey so I’m looking forward to having plenty of perfect rice once again. I definitely plan to bring one back with me as they are so much cheaper in Vietnam.
10. Less distractions – with Captain Caveman down a cave a fair portion of the time, and me not being able to work in Vietnam, I’m looking forward to having spare time to work on a few projects and return to Turkey better for it.
As we were getting ready to land in Singapore on Sunday 5th June at 6am local time (1am Turkish time), it dawned on me that I had been on my way for almost 24 hours, already. I still had not had any sleep and I had a bit of a sea-sickness feeling. I drank lots of water and asked the air stewardess if I needed to pre-book the free tour in Singapore. Unfortunately, she informed me they were no longer available due to Covid restrictions. I now had 12 hours to kill in Changi airport and it was the busiest I had ever seen it. We landed at the same terminal which my next flight was going from so there was no need to worry about going to a lounge anywhere else. I thought I would try to find a place to sleep for a bit first. Masks are still required and are enforced in Singapore so it would be a long and uncomfortable lay over. I got the free WiFi to update people on my journey but there were no quiet seats available anywhere. In fact, it was so noisy everywhere, as if the world had forgotten that headphones for phones existed. I decided to head for the lounge and would be there from 6.50am until 10am, I wasn’t boarding my next flight until 4.30pm so the staff at the lounge said I could book another slot later on if I wanted to, which was nice. By 7am I was having paneer tikka and rice with a Tiger beer and it was lovely, you had to keep putting your mask on and off though, to go up to get drinks and food, which was a bit of a pain but I obviously adhered to the rules. I had another beer, some more food and tried a pasty which I have no idea what the mystery filling was. I had a chicken stew, more curry then tried to get some Prosecco but it was finished because it was breakfast time! I had a couple of vodka and oranges as I was determined to get my money’s worth and then had ham, cheese and salad sandwiches. For afters I had lots of fresh pineapple but then had more bread and some more drinks. I left at 10am, although no one came to kick me out, I was going to have a shower but the queue was long. I decided I wouldn’t book the lounge again for later as I just really needed to get some sleep. The day dragged a lot, I managed to write a couple of lists for my blog which were things I’d miss in Dalyan and things I was looking forward to in Phong Nha. I took the opportunity to rehydrate and pee a lot. I eventually found space in a group of sleeping Indian men and took my chances to make a bed out of 2 chairs, with my hand luggage under my thighs, and my trusty neck pillow from Chung and Uy. I slept for 1 hour and woke up when my ‘neighbours’ became loud. I walked around looking for better places to sit/sleep but none of the places I went for were good enough to get any sleep. I kept checking the boards for flight information and there were no changes to my gate, terminal or flight time and I set an alarm. At 4pm there was an update that my flight was now leaving from a different terminal and I had to take the sky train then walk, quite quickly, through the new terminal to the gate, the furthest away possible. I met a robot hoover on the way and took photos and a video, not realising I was running late. The robot was great as he blinked when people got in his way and I liked him – clearly I was depraved of sleep. I only just made it in time to the gate and then noticed that my seat was a window one when I had requested an aisle. I asked a Singapore Airlines staff member at the water cooler if it was too late to change it and he sorted it out for me. We left at 5.15pm local time and were due to land in Saigon in 2 hours and 10 minutes. On the plane I was so tired I have no idea of the passenger next to me, only to recall the flight was full. I remember having a water and an apple juice with a meal of Singapore noodles which were super tasty. I must have nodded off on the short flight because I woke up to the jolt of us landing at Tan Son Nhat airport at 7pm. It was 3pm in Turkey, I had no WiFi and still had to collect my luggage, find a taxi and get to the apartment in Thao Dien where Captain Caveman would be waiting, hopefully!
I headed for the passport queue and, as is usual, it took quite a while to get to the front. I had to move to a different queue twice as the official at the desk went for a break. I got my stamp in the passport and I remembered to check the date was correct before leaving the passport control section. Next, I waited for my suitcase which arrived wet, slightly damaged but still wheeled. I headed to the exit and was astonished as to how busy the international arrivals section of the airport was. The heat, at almost 8pm, was pretty consuming and I could tell the humidity was high. I booked a taxi, as advised previously by Captain Caveman, which was 380,000vnd (£13.33) and was a bit on the pricey side. I also had to wait quite a while for a car to come and the staff organising it suggested I should share with a Vietnamese bloke in front of me. He was also going to District 2, but if I didn’t share, I would have to wait 30 minutes but, as I’d already paid, I said I wasn’t sharing. Without a working phone I knew that option was likely to be fraught with disaster and the Vietnamese are not known for their sense of direction at the best of times. I got chatting to another westerner in the queue and he was trying to calm me down by kindly explaining how things work with taxis in Vietnam. The taxi was big, comfortable and had lovely Aircon on which made me feel better as we drove for about half an hour to where I would be joining Captain Caveman for the next 4 nights. When I arrived outside Melia River View apartments, there were no signs of life and a barking dog was trying to see me off. I looked for a reception or a staff member but couldn’t find anything, a man came out of the dark and asked if he could help. As I asked which way was room 101, I saw Captain Caveman look out of a window upstairs. He came to get me, and took my cases to the lift, I got in with them but there was no room for him so he did the stairs. When I got to the room it was nice but there was no time for a rest or much else. I had a quick shower, put the cheese and fruit cake in the fridge then Captain Caveman hurried me out. It was already 9pm gone and he was worried we wouldn’t get fed. He had chosen a nearby Lebanese restaurant, called Beirut, and neither of us were quite prepared for the experience. It would be 5pm in Turkey now and we let family and friends know I had arrived after 42 hours of travelling. I was so tired that I seriously could have slept in my soup, had I ordered any. As it turned out, it was a great choice for dinner as it certainly kept me awake. We had Baba Ganoush and hummus with flat bread for starters while 3 belly dancers gave us a show. There were only 2 other couples in the restaurant and we didn’t know where to look as the girls isolated their ribcages and got their boobs shaking. Captain Caveman was more interested in the falafel and chicken liver while I seemed to be hypnotised by belly dancer boobs, as I tried to work out their nationality. It was a pretty tasty meal, the white wine was good and I would definitely eat there again. It was 11.15pm when we left, by this time my sea sickness feeling was taking over and I really needed to go to sleep. As we got in bed, I expected to be having a long lay-in tomorrow, as requested. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman told me that it was no longer the case and we needed to be up early because he had a surprise planned. He set the alarm for 7am!
I woke up with 4 out of 5 cats in, or on, my bed on Wednesday 23rd March. I was hungover and vaguely remembered last night agreeing to leave my door open so the cats could get used to me, ready for the cat sitting next week. Kate brought me in a cup of Yorkshire tea in an appropriate mug and then got herself ready for art class. I went back to sleep for a bit and really did not want to get out of bed at all. I didn’t relish the thought of walking home so I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mark was still home and was happy to give me a lift in the buggy, he was going in to town anyway. I had a pain au chocolat for breakfast at home before Turkish class, then put all my cat hair covered clothes in the wash and had a shower. Turkish class was really good today and I felt like I was learning more hearty sentences that I would be able to use. The staff at Lukka are very good too at encouraging us to practice our Turkish skills. For lunch Vanessa and I went to Rehab bar where Tayfur ordered us a chicken wrap with chips from Cafe Dalyan. It was only 30 lira and was tasty so we ordered one for Kate for after her Turkish class. Penny and Phil arrived next and decided another chicken wrap was in order and I bet the delivery guy thought we were odd, as he came over for the 3rd time. Jo arrived next with her cute little dog, Charlie, and we all had a good old natter. I’d had an update that the embassy would no longer be able to process a visa for me and was waiting to speak to Captain Caveman. He called as soon as I had finished eating and I went outside to speak to him. As is often the case, Captain Caveman had a Plan B for me coming to visit. He told me to look for a flight and apply for just a 30 day e-Visa. We would then fly out of Vietnam and back after getting a 2nd e-Visa for another 30 days, if I could. This all seemed straight forward but given that I would need a negative PCR test to enter Vietnam I had to be careful I didn’t pick a flight with a long lay over. We agreed a Turkish Airlines direct flight from Istanbul would be better but they had no flights on as yet. I would continue to wait but it was going to happen, I would go to Vietnam. I also had a date in the diary to be in Saigon on the 10th June for an important event which Captain Caveman had already committed to. I went back in to the bar, a little giddy that there was an alternative plan, but then there was some bad news. Debbie (Darling), Roy and Sue were all positive for Corona and had aborted their trip to Pamukkale. They had got a taxi back to Dalyan and Debbie (Darling) was quite poorly. She asked me to let everyone know, who had been in contact with them, that we needed to do another test. I had been in close contact with all 3 of them on Monday so it was probably only a matter of time until I caught it now. I went home, via the ongoing roadworks and scenic route, and had red wine, bread, cheese and olives but didn’t do a test as I’d had alcohol. A massive thunderstorm and heavy rain was due which also meant the WiFi went off for quite a few hours.
Rain stopped the work on my parents’ apartment on Monday 7th March and the pool at Captain Caveman’s Turkish apartment overflowed. I struggled to guess my wordle games this morning but eventually managed it. I tried a new one called Nerdle, which Kate had recommended to me, then I suggested it to Captain Caveman. He was now on his way back to Phong Nha, having been to visit Raj at Curry King in Tam Coc.
After being on my laptop until lunch time, I popped to Migros supermarket for some shopping, here’s what was in my basket:
Back home I had a simit with cheese spread and crisps for lunch, then strawberries with yoghurt and honey for afters.
As I had leftover Sunday dinner, I ate that and really enjoyed it for my evening meal, with a bit of broccoli from the freezer. Before I went out that night, I called to check my parents’ place was locked and I noticed that the gardener had been round. This was unusual as the weather had been awful and they don’t usual start cutting the grass until April. I took some photos so I could let Ma & Pa know about it and went to join Penny, Phil, John, Mark and Kate for more Monday Mayhem.
The specialist section of the Wonky’s quiz this week was James Bond, of which I knew very little about. Lucky for Penny and I, Kate had taken control of the whole thing. While Phil and John got bossed about, I just drank my wine and let them get on with it, until it got to the music round. By the end of the night, though, some of our team was a little inebriated and I had to resort to some cheering up tactics. I had to pull out the only thing I knew couldn’t fail to take one’s mind away from one’s problems! My secret skill is I can flip a considerable amount of beer mats with one hand. Mark didn’t believe I could do it, so I told him to video it! It had been a while, but my Dad had taught me well and, after steadily building them up one or two at a time, and numerous failed attempts, I managed it. By this time Mark had got bored of filming and, if I remember correctly, Kate was having a Bailey’s. As soon as filming stopped, the pressure was off and I managed to flip the 20 beer mats – Dad would have been proud! Mark and Kate left by taxi, instead of cycling, and Penny kindly gave me a lift home. I had arranged to meet Kate at 2pm tomorrow as we were off to try something new.
1st attempt of the beer mat trick – video by Mark4th attempt at the beer mat trick, 12 beer mats – video by Mark7th attempt at the beer mat trick, 20 beer mats – video by Mark
I’d successfully survived 5 months of being in Turkey without Captain Caveman and my first month of working online. Tuesday 1st March started with the realisation that my internet was off. It needed renewing on the 28th February but I’d overlooked this so I trotted off to the Captain Net office to sort it out. I walked through the roadworks and noticed there was progress but it was still moving slowly. The lady at Captain Net saw I had some English money in my purse and asked if she could buy a £20 and a £10 from me for ‘her piggy bank’ and I agreed. The rate was 18.5 lira to the pound now and looking likely to go up again. Back home, with the internet back on, I read an amusing article on Facebook from Vietnam about having sex during Corona. I hadn’t eaten breakfast so I had beans on toast for lunch while pondering my choices for dinner. That’s when I got the bad news; today was actually Pancake Day! I was confused, I had no idea why I had thought it was last week but felt pp certain I had read it somewhere. Never one to pass by an opportunity to eat pancakes, I whisked up a mixture and popped it in the fridge. I decided beef stew would go with it for dinner but I just had the one then decided to join friends for a cheeky vino. I met Mark, Kate, Andy and Kaye at Lukka bar for a drink and Kate had brought me some Thai curry paste from her trip back to England. She worked out it would be easy enough to make here and set about sourcing some of the ingredients, such as lemongrass, from an App called Trendyol which a lot of people use over here. Kate, Kaye and I chatted while Mark and Andy played pool. The consensus with everyone, but Mark, was that it wouldn’t be a late one however, as can often be the case, that didn’t quite pan out. Kaye and Kate decided they were going home, I’d ordered a 2nd glass of wine, the blokes were playing pool and arm wrestling with Appo, the waiter. Mark insisted on Kate staying for another drink as he didn’t want to go home yet. I could see he was being daft so I offered to drink some of the bottle of wine he’d just ordered so they could leave sooner – I’m kind like that! It didn’t work and everyone went home, leaving Mark playing pool with the staff. It was after midnight when I failed to force-feed pancakes to my impromptu house guest, despite my best efforts to help sober him up.
On Wednesday 2nd March I woke up late and got ready for my Turkish class. I met Kate at Lukka, she had brought her blanket to crochet while I had my lesson then I stayed and had lunch while she had her lesson. I tried the chicken and mushroom penne and it was a really tasty and healthy sized portion. I chatted with Katrina and Abi who were having sweet and sour chicken, another dish I needed to try. When Kate finished her class she was heading up to Rehab bar and asked me to join her. The cleaner was at mine so I agreed, despite the heavy rain, the new road was starting to flood and by the time we got there we were soaking wet. I had a Turkish cider while we took off our layers and arranged wet belongings in front of the heater. The blokes were playing pool, as they do on a Saturday afternoon, and there was some banter going on. One bloke was in trouble with his wife because he’d bought cucumbers instead of courgettes and had to traipse back out in the pouring rain to get the right vegetables. My Sheffield friends, Vanessa and Matt, had flown from England to Antalya and were currently on a coach to Ortaca. We were all looking forward to them being back in Dalyan about 5.30pm so, after pool, we hung about in Rehab bar for them to arrive. When they arrived we all had hugs (get the LFTs at the ready) and it was great to see them. More drinks followed but I still limited it to just the 3 ciders as I didn’t want to go mad. Unfortunately, we experienced a new first in Dalyan and had a bad meal. We ordered a takeaway, to eat in Rehab bar, which was pretty terrible but we were all hungry. Vanessa ordered a pide which looked like burnt cheese on toast, Matt and Mark ate their’s without complaint, Kate and I had a chicken burger each and shared chips – the chicken burgers were grey inside. We still ate it all though, but made a note not to have another takeaway from the burger place next door to Rodrigo’s bar. It was definitely the worst meal I’ve had since I’ve been here. I walked home with Vanessa and Matt and was home by 9pm to a newly cleaned apartment and an early night.
I had cornflakes for breakfast on Thursday 3rd March then did a bit of work before going to meet Ann at Porta Dalya. As I was leaving the house, Penny called but I didn’t answer it because I didn’t want to be late. When I arrived, Ann had already got a coffee and I ordered a diet coke. When our lunch arrived Ann had underestimated the spicy arrabbiata sauce on her pasta and had to get some yoghurt. I stuck with the chicken and mushroom Alfredo which is always a winner. We had 1 glass of wine each and then we were sensible and went home. I called Penny back and she was at Lukka bar, my loaned bicycle was ready to pick up, so I went to meet her. When I arrived there was quite a crowd sat drinking in the sun. I ordered a cider but then my phone rang, it was Captain Caveman so I went back to the apartment so we could chat. He had an invitation for me! Vietnam had been promising to open to international arrivals and the date was set for 15th March. He wanted to know if I wanted to come to visit sometime in May or June for a few weeks and, of course, I said yes! His colleague has a wife who was keen to visit too, so Captain Caveman put us in touch to discuss travelling out there together. He sent me his schedule up to July and he’d got some tours back-to-back to accommodate gaps in which I would be able to visit. I went back to the bar feeling delighted that I would be getting to see my other half within the next 3 months. I drank my cider with a big smile on my face, then Penny drove me to her villa to pick up the bicycle. I cycled it back to Lukka not knowing it had gears so found it was like peddling through treacle. It certainly warmed me up and I was once again, mobile! Having got a bit of a sweat on from cycling, I ordered another cider, not realising I had missed an upsetting incident. Debbie (Darling)’s street dogs, Socks and Brin, had gone on a cat chase with a terrible result, Socks was in the dog house and tied up at the bar, Debbie was upset. Sheila arrived next and we got chatting about music and her accordian playing. She is part of a singing group in Dalyan, which Kate and I got invited to and we agreed to give it a try next week. I didn’t stay much longer and went home for a good home cooked dinner of stew, Yorkshire pudding and broccoli. Before bed, I checked the cost of flights to Vietnam, there were no direct ones as yet but the ones via Singapore Airlines were £581 return. I was so excited to perhaps be able to plan to see Captain Caveman, that it took me a long time to get to sleep!
There was some excitement on Sunday 31st October as I was about to meet up with a good friend from Sheffield, who I’d not seen for almost 2 years. I woke up and was looking a bit better for having slept in and I had my cornflakes for breakfast without any issues. I spoke to Captain Caveman who was doing well in Phong Nha and didn’t really seem to be missing me too much. I was missing him but I played it cool and pretended I’d been too busy to notice even though I was missing his cooking and foot tickles a lot! It was a bit cooler today but it wasn’t raining yet, as predicted, although I did get my warm slippers and the old raincoat out. Vanessa and I had arranged to meet for a Lukka bar Sunday dinner at 2.30pm and when I got there she was already there with a white wine and soda – we were so pleased to see each other and we did have a hug! Mehmet could see that I might need more than a glass of wine and so I got a bottle of red wine while we caught up on quite a few things; family, health issues, Dalyan plans and lots of digressing in-between. We both had the roast beef Sunday dinner and it was really good, this time I managed to eat almost all of it and still have room (after a good rest) for the apple crumble and ice-cream. We both have similar stomach issues and both think we have food allergies/intolerances so when I told Vanessa my plans to get tested after being here 6 weeks, she was also up for joining me. The gravy, cauliflower cheese and Yorkshire pudding are usually a no-go for me but I was pretty good after eating it all. My parents joined us for a drink, by which time we were merry, Sarah and Katrina had also sat down next to us and I couldn’t finish my wine. We decided to leave Lukka with my wine being saved behind the bar with my name on, Vanessa went home and I said I’d join ma & pa for dinner, even though I was still quite full from lunch.
They had chosen to go to Kebapçı Yusuf again and it’s always excellent service with great food at very reasonable prices. I had a mixed pide but had to take more than half of it home, my mom had a chicken shish and dad had meatballs, we shared some chips and they gave us a complimentary salad which I took half of home too. My parents, who hadn’t been drinking in the afternoon decided to continue their night but I just couldn’t carry on so I took my leftovers and went home. Instead of being out doing anything Halloween related (which I don’t celebrate anyway) I was in bed by 8.30pm reading a post on Facebook that reminded me that, although I wouldn’t have to automatically self isolate in England when I land, if anyone tests positive who have been on any of the same planes, I would have to – that was a bit rubbish as I could see in various Facebook groups that it seemed to be quite a common occurrence!
The end of October had definitely come round very quickly and it was hard to believe that I had been in Turkey for almost 6 weeks. I had been living an almost normal life with less walking than I’d have liked and more alcohol than probably wise. Having said that, I was 0.5kg lighter on the last day of October than I was at the beginning. I’d been lucky enough to meet up with friends and was organising more of that right through to the end of the year. I’d visited more new places and revisited old favourites with the highlight of the month being getting to see my parents again for the first time since 25th October 2019! Of course I wished Captain Caveman was able to be here in Dalyan with me, enjoying all the trips and good times but I also understood that it would not be that easy for him to return to Vietnam and we could not put his job at risk, I just hoped we were lucky enough not to have to wait a whole year to see each other again. There were still things I missed about being in Phong Nha that I had to keep putting to the back of my mind, knowing that coming to Turkey was the right thing to do and had ultimately meant I could become a resident here, in Dalyan. This blog was doing well and had 353% more views this month than the previous one, I was now looking in to ways I could monetise it without compromising it too much, ready for next year. In October the top countries for viewers were UK, Turkey, Vietnam, Netherlands, Australia and USA and it was good to see a couple of new countries popping up on the stats, including a couple of views from Azerbaijan.
People I knew seemed not to be following the Corona numbers any longer, due to various reasons, but I couldn’t shake that habit off and checked daily. Here’s a Corona data October summary for the 3 countries that have an impact on me and the people close to me:
Vietnam: October Cases 130,367 October Deaths 2,782 October Recoveries 211,503 October mortality rate 2.13% Total Cases 921,122 Total Deaths 22,083 Total Recoveries 820,334 Total mortality rate 2.4% Population 98 million
Turkey: October Cases 850,000 October Deaths 6,557 October Recoveries 880,000 October mortality rate 0.8% Total Cases 8 million Total Deaths 70,611 Total Recoveries 7.5m Total mortality rate 0.9% Population 85 million
UK: October Cases 1,200,000 October Deaths 3,970 October Recoveries 1,040,000 October mortality rate 0.33% Total Cases 9 million Total Deaths 140,632 Total Recoveries 7.36 million Total mortality rate 1.56% Population 68 million
In Vietnam the number of Corona cases in October were a third of the number in September which was good news that the strict lockdowns were definitely reducing the number of cases, it was reassuring to see that the number of deaths in October were only a quarter of the number of deaths in September. The number of recoveries were less in October to the previous month and the mortality rate had reduced too. A good news story but would it be short lived as the number of people with 2 doses of vaccine were still very low and now most of the lockdowns had ended people were free to move from infected areas to go back home, would this mean an increase and another wave for Vietnam? In Turkey, although the number of cases and deaths were still high, there was some good news; the number of cases and recoveries for October were 1,000 more than in September but the number of deaths were 1,000 less. The mortality rate had decreased too and hopefully as the winter months followed things would continue to improve. I still didn’t like not knowing how many cases there were where I lived but I guess it was still better than being told there were cases nearby when there wasn’t, like we were in Phong Nha. In the UK the number of cases in October were a 20% increase on September cases, the recoveries had increased too and the number of deaths were slightly less in October than September with the mortality rate showing a decrease. I just hoped it didn’t get any worse or result in lockdowns or travel limitations before I could visit. The world data was showing improvement with the number of cases and deaths dropping but the total number of deaths in the world attributed to Corona had now passed the 5 million mark.
My November was looking promising; I had another 12 days with ma & pa, I was finally going to find out what foods I was allergic or intolerant to, there would be more day trips, nights out, nights in and even my 2nd Pfizer vaccine so I had a lot to look forward to while Captain Caveman looked forward to getting on with his job at Oxalis!
It was day 6 of medication on Sunday 17th October, I was still feeling ropey and I wasn’t in the best of moods that morning. There were some comments that annoyed me on the WhatsApp group for the apartment owners so I said I’d had enough and left. I had my breakfast of bread, cheese, turkey ham and olives with a cherry juice and a plum and tried to relax a bit. Meanwhile, in Phong Nha the rain had been heavy and some of the lower level areas were flooding, Hoi An also had floods. Sonuç and Leanne had invited me to their daughter’s 3rd birthday in the afternoon and, although I wasn’t in the mood for it because of pergola-gate, I forced myself to go. I put some money in a card, as I didn’t know what present to buy, and went to meet Sarah at Sofra so we could walk there together. Katrina and the kids were passing and gave us a lift to a nice little play area and cafe where all the kids played on the slide, swings or trampolines while the parents chatted. There were some nibbles of crisps, cheese rolls and the most delicious birthday buns, I actually had a fantastic time and was glad to have been invited. It was good to meet with some of the other women who live here and they seemed pleased to be able to let their kids go off with the other kids for a while. For a kids party it was much more relaxing than I envisioned and I had a nice Turkish tea.
On the way back from the party I bumped in to Maddie, Angela, Nick and their friend so I joined them at Rehab bar for a drink (diet coke, obviously). We got chatting and I was nearly late for my parents coming over to mine at 6pm. It was Mom’s turn to decide where to eat, so after a quick drink in Jiks, we headed for dinner at Bistro Clou, where my parents had not been for several years. Captain Caveman and I had been a few times back in 2019 and I really enjoyed it so I was happy with the choice. Dad had a starter which was a Turkish version of a shepherd’s pie, Mom had stuffed mushrooms and I had şakşuka. All were lovely and my parents had a glass of wine while I stuck with boring old soda water. For mains my parents both had steak and I had the meatballs, the food was really good and the fresh bread was excellent too. We were given plenty of lemon cologne before we left and it was definitely a place I’d eat again. Unfortunately, I don’t know if the almost 4 weeks of eating everything that I’m probably allergic to had finally caught up with me, but I had a reaction, it wasn’t terrible but I had to get home to rest up. When I got home I started watching the 3rd series of You on Netflix and I wasn’t sure after episode 1, if it was going to be as good as the last 2 series.
Photo credit – various from Phong Nha & Hoi An flood photos.
When the social media issue was fixed on Tuesday 5th October it was a relief and I had a message from Melissa to say she had some ice-cream left to give me, as I was sending her a message to say I had a dress which was too big for me and perhaps it would be suitable as a maternity dress for her. I went over to her place and we said goodbyes again as they headed off to see more of Turkey, it felt a little strange that almost a year ago we had spent a few days together during the floods of Phong Nha 2020, watching Harry Potter together at Elements Collection, it was also pretty cool that the first people to come to visit me in Dalyan were friends we had met in Vietnam! My next stop was the bank where I transferred quite a bit of money to Captain Caveman’s Turkish bank account to be able to pay for the bills here, I did this a bit prematurely it would turn out, as I didn’t realise there was a limit to how much I could get my hands on before my account maturity in about 3 weeks time. I finally got my internet banking set up for my Turkish accounts, which felt good and I decided to treat myself to an English breakfast at Lukka bar, I’d been here almost 2 weeks and not had one yet – I do miss a good breakfast and wouldn’t be able to resist or wait until I got to England again, after just over 3 years of being away. The breakfast consisted of bacon, sausage, beans, toast, butter, and mushrooms for me, as I don’t eat egg or tomato on my breakfast, I had 2 orange juices and 2 teas and it was really good. I met a friend of Katrina’s, who was hilarious and he gave me some good physiotherapist recommendations, he also was a fan of shockwave therapy which had cured his leg after a bad accident. Sonuç arrived for more paperwork and preparation for the forthcoming residency application and he made a phone call to Hüseyin, the translator, and the notary office. Before I knew it, we were booked to go to Ortaca notary tomorrow, which would be another step closer to the process of being able to stay here longer than 90 days, if they agree. My lunch with Leanne and my neighbours got cancelled as Leanne wasn’t well and I decided to get some much needed products from Katrina’s shop, Maizie Moo, instead. The shop is really lovely and the products are all made with natural ingredients where I picked out whipped body butter, a hair mask, a sponge which is like magic, mosquito spray and I also got a few more free samples of foot balm, face scrub and a shower/bath bomb type of product. All of it smells like you could eat it and the products I had already tried had really done wonders for my eczema, so much so that I had now stopped using the steroid cream from the pharmacy and was using only the Maizie Moo butter. I spent a total of 300 lira (£25) and got a handmade bag which looked like someone had bought me a gift, it felt wonderful being able to get something nice for myself as a treat.
At 2pm I went for my 60 minute full body massage at BC Spa which was so lovely, the guy who did my massage, Ramazan, was very careful around my injuries too, which I was pleased about. Interestingly, when he touched the left shoulder where the scar from my cyst was it felt sore and it was obvious that there was a bit more of a problem with the cyst regrowing than I realised. Back home I felt very sleepy after the massage and I watched more Line of Duty, then made my leftover Sunday roast dinner and had some of the rather lovely red wine with it. I polished off the ice-cream from the Wiringi family and as I was washing up I realised that the origami bird, which Aaliyah had made for me in Hoi An, Vietnam, was on the shelf next to me. I’d had it in my purse all this time and taken it out to put on display, then forgot to let Aaliyah know it had travelled with me to Turkey. Before bed I got an invite for tomorrow night which I would find difficult to turn down and it was, quite literally, right up my street.
It was a very long day on Monday 20th September, which started with my alarm going off at 5.30am. My driver, T, was due to pick me up at 6.15am but he arrived at 6am and I wasn’t ready. When I got to the car at 6.15am T had gone to help one of the staff move something heavy and then we had to go to Duyet’s house, around the corner, to collect a pig to take to Khanh’s in Dong Hoi. I watched as the butchered and bagged up pig was transported less than 20 metres by motorbike by Duyet’s dad, in to the back of our van. I knew we were going to be late for my important PCR test as we pulled in to the petrol station to fill up. We arrived at Medlatec in Dong Hoi 12 minutes late and I incorrectly went up the slippy wet steps to the main reception only to have to come back down them, turn left and in to the loading bay area where a PCR testing facility had been set up. There was just 1 other customer there and about 4 staff and I was given a form, this one was in English, to complete all my details. I decided to ask for a rapid test and the RT-PCR test so that if there was any errors with the RT-PCR certificate I would still be able to travel to Hanoi and get another RT-PCR test there. Although 1 nostril hurt more than the other, this time the pain wore off much easier than the previous couple of times I’d been sampled. I was moved to a waiting area and told to wait 20 minutes for the rapid test result. I checked the Corona numbers and the news as well as reading an email from Singapore Airlines, reminding me I could check in for my flight! I didn’t, as I still didn’t know if I would be actually getting on the flight. The news in Vietnam had an article of some crazy stuff going on now, check this out: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210919/vietnamese-teacher-purposely-receives-two-covid19-vaccine-shots-within-10-minutes/63171.html The technician came over to say there was a problem with my rapid test and I had to wait a little longer, this was the first hurdle of the day. She showed me that my result was negative on a plastic testing device but said she couldn’t get the computer to send the paper document with this on, someone was trying to fix it. This was worrying because my RT-PCR test result needed to be printed at 5pm today and I hoped it wouldn’t be an issue. Less than 10 minutes later it was fixed and I got my certificate in a nice envelope and was told I could collect the RT-PCR test certificate at 5pm. I introduced T and told them he would pick it up, I also advised that they needed to put my full birthdate, not just the year, on the print out, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to fly.
The next of the morning’s activities, having got my negative rapid test results from Medlatec, was supermarket shopping. T dropped me off at the Vincom centre which was still closed but the VinMart Supermarket was open. It was a strange feeling doing the ‘essential’ weekly shop not knowing if I would be in Vietnam or Turkey in the next few days but I hoped after all this hassle, that Captain Caveman would have all the provisions to himself.
For all of you who have missed a list of my shopping items, here’s what I bought;
1 baguette 9,500 Baby wipes 10,000 Green beans 15,057 Potatoes 20,417 Sandwich loaf 21,000 Ziplock bags 23,000 Carrots 23,616 Red cabbage 33,085 Mushrooms 33,900 Cherry tomatoes 35,108 Onions 36,476 1 tin of mints 46,100 Sunflower oil 57,000 Mouthwash 58,000 Spaghetti 61,000 1 jar of jam 138,000 1.5kg chicken 143,700 500g of butter 161,400
Total spent: 926,359vnd (£29.68)
I was looking forward to seeing how much a comparable shop would be in Dalyan, I suspected it would be more expensive.
As I was leaving at 8.40am the main escalators were still not on so I decided to take my shopping and trolley down in the lift, it was only 1 floor and I intended to leave from the side exit to go to the car. When the lift got down I found the door was locked and I tried to recall the lift but it would only open from the main shopping centre side. I was wondering how on earth I was going to get out when the security guard came to rescue me – if I couldn’t get out of a building without a hitch, things weren’t looking too promising for my attempt to leave the country!
I was on my way back from Dong Hoi on when I got a message from Danny, the driver, he had to get another PCR test, as his would run out at midnight tonight, and he was 150km away from where he needed to pick me up. He said he couldn’t get his results until 4pm and he would be arriving about 6.45-7pm, later than expected. That was fine by me as my results weren’t getting picked up until 5pm in Dong Hoi so it did mean I might have time to eat and say some goodbyes. When I got home Captain Caveman was once again in the kitchen making me a nice breakfast, this time with baked beans. Stu was on his way over to say bye and I had a shower and packed a few last minute things in to my hand luggage. I just happened to look outside and saw a policeman so I told Captain Caveman that maybe he should delay Stu until he’d gone, as we were still in Directive 15 and shouldn’t be having visitors. Before midday I got a call from Bich to tell us the reason for the police visit; apparently there had been some positive Corona cases 500m from our house and so he was letting us know, and telling everyone in the area, not to leave the house. Bich advised that I couldn’t go anywhere and I was gutted but Captain Caveman said we would still go ahead with the plan for me to leave and if I got stopped then so be it. We spoke to Stu to tell him not to come and that I still didn’t know if I was leaving or not, we decided against me inviting anyone else over or me going to say bye to friends. Regardless, I made packed lunches and packed frozen bottles of green tea in to a cooler bag, in readiness for a journey that might not happen. We decided to watch Sex Education on Netflix and have some red wine while leftover beef stew was on the cards for my last meal. Because of the cases Bich told us about we were probably going back in to Directive 16 tomorrow and so it was a bit concerning whether I should have permission to leave, if we asked it was likely the People’s Committee could say no, so we didn’t. By 4pm we were almost finishing the wine so we decided to have an early dinner, which we had with rice and it was delicious. Danny had his results and was on his way, the rain had started to become heavy and I was a bit anxious if T would manage to collect my PCR test result as requested – more importantly, would it be correct!?
The final part of the day was pretty stressful! We’d already been told by Bich that the police had informed everyone to stay where they are and that there were positive Corona cases very near to our place which meant we had no idea what would happen when Danny came to pick me up. Captain Caveman and I decided I should still try to leave because tomorrow we would be in no better position and we didn’t know for how long that could remain, plus the forecasted wet weather could also impede my attempts somewhat. There was also the fact that Danny, the driver, was on his way and he would charge another 7 million vnd (£250) regardless of whether I made it to Hanoi airport with him or not – I felt like it was now or never. The evening before, Ben and Bich had mentioned that Danny wanted to pick up 2 bicycles from previous customers that had been left at the Phong Nha Farmstay but I had decided to disregard the details of that, I just needed to get out and not worry about other people’s stuff, plus I’d had 1 too many glasses of fizz. At 4.30pm I got a couple of messages from T, who was already at Medlatec in Dong Hoi, followed by a phone call to tell me to look at the photo of my PCR test result certificate to check it is ok for him to bring back to me. It didn’t have my nationality on it, which I was concerned about, but it didn’t say I was Vietnamese either, Captain Caveman helped me check it and we thought it would be ok, my full date of birth and the dates all matched – T was on his way and I had sent a copy to Danny. This was it, I was going! Captain Caveman weighed my suitcase and it was 22kg. My hand luggage was about 8kg, bang on the allowance. When T arrived he had the PCR test paper in his hand, in the rain, no envelope or in a pocket, but at least it was here and I could use it to get on a plane tomorrow. At 7.15pm in the middle of a rain storm Danny messaged to say he was here, we looked outside and he wasn’t. Danny was at the triangle junction off the main road but near to the Phong Nha Farmstay – not walkable with my ankle, the suitcases and the rain. I called Bich, she explained that she didn’t know what was happening with the pick up location but earlier she had sent T back to deliver a bicycle to Elements (so the bike was at our place too), she asked me to put Duyet on the phone. Duyet would have to drive me, my luggage and 1 random bicycle, to where Danny was, which meant Captain Caveman couldn’t say a private goodbye to me at the car or help with my luggage. Duyet, Cuong and Captain Caveman were all struggling to get the bike in the van while I sat there trying not to cry. It was not quite the farewell I had in mind and I only got to quickly kiss Captain Caveman and have a very brief hug, despite not knowing when I would see him again. The bike had to go in with the wheels on as no one could remove them and when we got to the barrier we had to stop. I didn’t have any permission slip from the People’s Committee, neither did Duyet, and I have no idea what Duyet told the man but they let us through – I was so relieved and had tears running down my face as I waved bye to the man. A few minutes later we got to the next road where Danny was, there was no barrier so we quickly transferred my suitcases in to Danny’s car in the rain. Then Duyet and Danny faffed about for a while trying to get the bicycle apart and in to the car. They managed it eventually but it did mean I didn’t have the whole back seat to spread out on and was sat behind the driver’s seat in a car with mosquitos trying to avoid the rain. I tried not to dwell on the oil and cobwebs on my luggage and near my head as I got back out in the pouring rain to give Duyet a hug, this was not actually allowed but we didn’t care! I had finally left the village and we were on our way to our first checkpoint, 3 hours later we had successfully made it through the 1st checkpoint without me having to get out of the car and feeling happy I had my documents in a plastic wallet. By 11.10pm we had made it to the first empty services with a squat toilet which I managed fine but, as I was coming out I saw a big momma rat carrying it’s baby. We made each other jump on the wet tiles and she dropped her baby in front of me, it made me think of my mom and how much she would freak out. I kept calm, walked slowly and got back in the car, only 7 or more hours to go until I would get to the airport – it was going to be a long night!
joloyolo 