Phong Nha – 3rd August

I was still awake when the loudspeaker went off around 5am on Tuesday 3rd August but I pretended to be asleep so that I didn’t have to speak to Captain Caveman, who kissed my head when he was leaving and went to Phong Nha. After a little bit of sleep I got up and had dragon fruit for breakfast while reading the news, which did little to cheer me up!
Vietnam was told to prepare for the worst as this 4th Corona wave and Delta variant got worse, info here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/opinion/1002350/we-should-prepare-for-the-worst-case-scenario-expert.html
Some initial reports in the Vietnamese news of a new variant of the Delta variant in South Korea, more here:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-detects-its-first-two-cases-delta-plus-covid-19-variant-2021-08-03/
Disturbingly the BBC published an article about what was happening in China – back to where it started:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58066744
Before lunch Captain Caveman video called me to show me my stuff in the Glass House that I might want bringing back so I could take it to Turkey. I said I felt like shit, picked out a few things and then went to get some water. When Captain Caveman returned he tried to apologise but I told him I didn’t think he meant it, he had brought some fruit home, which he left on the kitchen table and went to have a shower after cycling. When I opened the bag there were mangosteen and longans but they were covered in ants – was this a joke!?
I put the fruit in a sink full of water and went upstairs, thinking “Get me on a plane out of here, now!” Unfortunately, there were still no flights from Dong Hoi and so I was going nowhere but in to a bad mood. I warmed up my leftover curry and rice for lunch and enjoyed the butter chicken very much.
In other news Melissa and her family of 5 had made it out of Hanoi but not before letting me know that the Paragon hotel in Hanoi, had been forced to close by the authorities.This was the one I had planned on staying in, if I need to before my international flight so was a bit rubbish.
Something strange happened as I was cooking dinner. I was cooking bacon, cabbage, pumpkin and tortilla and, as I was stirring it, my onyx ring, on my right hand, cracked and fell off. Luckily I caught it just as it was falling in to the food – how strange! Just as we were getting ready for bed, Captain Caveman got a work email to tell him to go for his 2nd vaccine tomorrow and to be ready for 1pm departure with about 40 of his colleagues. Well, that cheered him right up and he was in the best mood now – what a relief he was getting it 2 days before his 12 week deadline. There was no mention yet of tomorrow’s weekly shopping trip but it would be my turn again and Captain Caveman gave me the last of his money. I set my alarm for 7.30am so I could be ready for a call or message to confirm the shopping trip pick up time.

Phong Nha – 2nd August

Monday 2nd August wasn’t the best of days, I had a slice of buttered toast and was ill straight away. I went to access my online banking and wasn’t able to because my bank card had expired and so I couldn’t even check if my new card had been sent to my UK address yet. This was not going to be ideal as this meant that I had no bank card to be able to use if I needed one to leave Vietnam with – great timing but I should have left here in April 2020 when all my cards were still in date.
Captain Caveman had gone to Phong Nha and I read a strange news article about something that had happened at a checkpoint in Vietnam, more info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210801/boy-killed-family-members-injured-in-road-crash-on-way-to-hometown-in-vietnam/62361.html
When Captain Caveman returned he had some updates from his morning at Oxalis; there was still no word on the 2nd vaccine situation (of which they only had until Friday to have it), while some of his colleagues were off back to the UK, Captain Caveman had confirmed he would be staying in Vietnam for the winter. He would be delivering training to the Oxalis guide team, 3 days per week, throughout the winter season. For lunch we had leftovers from yesterday; chicken, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, and green beans which was really tasty.
We had 600,000vnd (£19.20) to last until pay day on Friday so we arranged to go to Curry night at the Phong Nha Farmstay with Stu and Jack. We had 2 happy hour beers each and a curry each which was really good, with nan bread and steamed rice. I saved a little bit to take home and it was a great night, until we got home and Captain Caveman decided to cause an argument.
I was desperate for a pee when we got in so I went for one and while in the bathroom I grabbed some Antisan cream for my 4 or 5 mosquito bites, which I happened to complain about having and that was it! Captain Caveman hates it when he hears complaints and says that I do it all the time so now he was having an argument that I talk about toilets, mosquitos and ants too much and that he was sick of me mentioning them. I was pretty sick of him losing his temper at me and that when he does, it’s always at night, after a lovely evening out and also around the time when the visa extension issues arise (I was noting the correlation and putting it down to him either being upset I have to leave soon or cheesed off that I haven’t left yet). I know he does love to argue but I don’t, so I didn’t even bother, which made him more argumentative. While I was upset he fell asleep pretty much instantly and snored like a pig for most of the night. I had no sleep until the morning but I had made a list of all the things I can no longer mention in front of him and decided I’d wait until we were on a night out with all his friends or work colleagues and then mention each topic – loads!

Phong Nha – 1st August

It was a weird one on Sunday 1st August, it was rainy first thing and Captain Caveman didn’t need to go to Oxalis so we had a lazy morning. I had jam on toast and a mangosteen for breakfast and then saw an unexpected message about my visa extension. Immigration said that they could only do my visa extension if I had proof of a flight booked within the next 30 days. Once they had that they would then do the extension but it would be dated to my flight date. As there were no flights from Dong Hoi to Saigon or Hanoi at this time I didn’t want to be forced to book a flight that I may have to cancel as it may mean I wouldn’t get the refund in time to book a different flight or airline. Captain Caveman had found a flight from Saigon to Singapore on 9th September for £31 which I wouldn’t use, but could book it, as a last resort just to get the extension. I replied to say I would book a flight when I got my passport stamped and we would see what would happen with that but, as it was a Sunday, I got no further messages about it. I also decided not to worry about it and if they wouldn’t agree then I would look for a flight – it would perhaps be cheaper to pay an overstay fee for up to 10 days than the visa extension fee anyway.
We had a healthy salad for lunch and a couple of gin cocktails in the afternoon, I’d already prepped the vegetables for a Sunday dinner at home, pay day was not far off but we had barely any money left to go out so we had chosen to use what we had left for tomorrow night. We inadvertently decided to take a sourdough loaf off Veronika’s hands, which she gets from Dong Hoi and are pretty big, not realising it costs 200,000vnd (£6.40), when we came to pay for it later. We needed to make better choices on spending until I leave and agreed that once pay day arrived we would plan a budget together and stick to it.
We had a lovely homemade dinner of chicken, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and green beans that evening and it was even pretty healthy.

Top 10 ways I’m saving money

Being in Vietnam without access to my own money has meant we have had to cope with living on the one (at times reduced) wage. As a tourist in Vietnam I’m not allowed to work and so things haven’t been as easy as planned due to the Corona situation. I was meant to leave Vietnam in April 2020 so I wasn’t prepared for a prolonged stay, at all. When I get to Turkey I will be able to access my bank account there but, until I get more income I will need to be very careful. These are some of the things I’ve already tried to adopt to cut our cloth and be more frugal with the money we do have.

1. Take advantage of a bargain only when it suits what you need.
2. Stop buying new clothes or cosmetic products.
3. Drink mostly water as much as possible, all those soft drinks or juices can add up.
4. Make a daily, weekly and monthly budget and stick to it – make adjustments if unexpected costs occur.
5. Plan ahead with food shopping.
6. Don’t waste any food.
7. Limit the amount of stuff we buy which isn’t locally produced.
8. Cut out snacks and treats (good for the diet too).
9. Stop going anywhere you need to pay for a taxi to get there, unless essential or urgent.
10. Stop buying gifts for Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Weddings, Engagements, Baby showers, Anniversaries and other celebrations.

10 Reasons to leave Vietnam

After 1 year and 8 months I will be leaving Vietnam. I arrived from Turkey in January 2020, intending to leave after 3 months, and have been paying to extend my tourist visa ever since (the cheapest worked out at $60 per month and the most expensive $120 per month). My intention now is to leave Phong Nha, Vietnam, in September and head back to Dalyan, Turkey, and hope that I will be able to get back to the UK to see family and friends too. Below is a list of my top 10 reasons why I am leaving;

1. Immigration will no longer extend my tourist visa and I have to leave Vietnam by the 9th September.
2. I have no access to money in Vietnam, my UK bank cards have expired (and I’ve spent all my UK money), plus I can no longer access my Turkish bank account here.
3. It wouldn’t be ideal for Captain Caveman to have to continue to support both of us through the winter.
4. I’m running out of good underwear.
5. I need to renew my Turkish residency but can only do it when there.
6. My UK driving licence expired 2 years ago and I can only renew it from a country where I can post back the old license.
7. None of my family or friends can enter Vietnam to visit me but there’s a chance I will get to see a few of them sooner, in Europe somewhere.
8. I no longer have any insurance in Vietnam but I do in Turkey.
9. If I don’t leave in September I could be stuck here illegally for a while and may have to pay overstay fees or be denied access when I do leave.
10. My 10 year passport is going to need renewing (after only 4 years) because it’s getting full.

10 Things I will have to get used to again

The realisation that I might actually be leaving Vietnam soon made me think of all the things I’m going to have to get used to again, once I leave the sleepy town of Phong Nha, where I rarely see more than 20 people in any one day (sometimes a week). I’m not sure if I’m ready to be let back in to society or not, yet!

1. No maskers
I’ve recently seen the first couple of people who refused to wear a mask and I was so shocked. In bigger cities it’s going to happen as well as countries where masks are no longer required! I’m not fully vaccinated yet so of course it concerns me.

2. Crowds
I hate being in a claustrophobic situation anyway but I don’t think I will quickly adjust to public transport and busy buildings in a hurry.

3. More Choice
I’ve spent the last 18 months having a fairly limited choice of food, drinks, venues, friends, clothes to wear and activities but still not been bored so it makes me wonder if I’m ready to fit in more choice and how I will be able to decide.

4. Coins, a purse and a handbag
After not using any of these for 18 months, it’s just going to be really strange.

5. Staying awake later
I am often in bed by 9pm so it’s going to take some adjusting to, if I go out out I might have to have a nap beforehand to prepare myself.

6. Walking about
In my next destination I won’t have transport or a bicycle and need to walk everywhere so I will have to get used to a simple trip of walking to and from the shops. I rarely walk far now unless it involves going for food or drink so that might be a shocking change for me.

7. Kitchen appliances
I will have to remember that the oven will be hotter than the one I’ve been using in Phong Nha but I’m looking forward to being reacquainted with the slow cooker. I will have to buy a rice cooker as I can’t live without one now.

8. Doing laundry
For 10 months we have used the laundry services of the housekeeping staff who do such a good job of our laundry, I’m going to have to fit it in to my hectic schedule again.

9. Physical appearance
Being back in society will probably mean I have the chance to sort out my appearance again. For the last 18 months I’ve had my hair done once so it will be great to be reacquainted with my Turkish hairdresser as well as having my eyebrows shaped and generally looking like I don’t live in a field.

10. No Captain Caveman
I don’t know when it will be possible to see Captain Caveman again and, while we hope Vietnam opens to tourists in 2022, it could be a while.

Photo credit – various internet sources and Captain Caveman

Phong Nha – 31st July

I had leftover pizza and 3 mangosteens for breakfast on Saturday 31st July, it was raining and so we had a lazy morning. Our friends Melissa, Rimaha and their 3 children who used to live at Elements Collection, in the villa opposite us, before moving to Hoi An had decided they were going to leave Vietnam and go to Turkey. The free visa extensions were still covering them as they arrived after March 2020 but they were getting worried it might stop and, understandably, didn’t want the visa worry every month. Going back home to New Zealand wasn’t an option for them as the Managed Isolation Quarantine (MIQ), although free of charge, could not accommodate the 5 of them for months yet – it is thought that there were approximately 100,000 Kiwis trying to get home and some were spending up to 16 hours per day trying to book their place in New Zealand’s compulsory hotel quarantine facility. Melissa and her family were planning to fly to Istanbul in August but unfortunately as of tonight they were stopping all domestic flights from Danang (their nearest airport). They also had a bit of an ordeal leaving; PCR tests to fly from Danang to Hanoi for all of them, they had 35 minutes to pack to make the last flight to Hanoi, and they had to use 2 private cars and change vehicles at the checkpoint with lots of bags. When they got to Danang airport Melissa recorded a live video which told of the struggles to leave Vietnam at this time and we watched feeling sorry for them, until the part where the family find that the airport Burger King was still open – and there wasn’t even a queue! Check out their Instagram stories here: https://instagram.com/worldtravelambitions?utm_medium=copy_link
Captain Caveman was out but came back with some eggs so he made tortilla, I had one piece of it, with salad, for lunch and then I was ill – it could have been a delayed reaction from gluten or dairy but I’m convinced my stomach can’t handle egg. We had more of Mina’s mangosteen which were certainly better than the supermarket ones and cost 110,000vnd (£3.52)for 3kg. In the afternoon I was peckish so Captain Caveman served me cashew nuts with a vodka and orange by the pool. For our evening meal I chopped mushrooms and red peppers and Captain Caveman made us a vegetarian pasta meal, which was tasty and I had no reaction to the normal pasta.

July had started with a few struggles in Phong Nha, proving that it’s certainly true that it’s not always perfect in paradise. My visa extension and passport issues had improved last and I actually got the passport back in the quickest time ever. All my plans to leave had been postponed for a bit longer as we tried to work out what was going to be our plan(s) for the rest of the year. I missed a few more celebrations in the UK as my home country returned to ‘normal’ for a lot of people, as did Turkey. Towards the end of the month Phong Nha saw the closing of more places and the stopping of transport links to other provinces. We even had to sacrifice yet more holidays and Captain Caveman was sad to see his cycling event moved to later in the year, due to Corona.
August was going to be my last month in Vietnam as the tourist visa extensions were definitely going to be denied soon, so I was preparing to go back to Turkey. I was also a little nervous of what the rest of the year would have in store and whether I’d be able to get back to the UK for a friend’s wedding – I couldn’t afford the hotel quarantine in the UK, nor would I have the time to do it, so it would be dependent on restrictions being lifted.

Phong Nha – 30th July

On Friday 30th July I had bread and cheese for breakfast again but this time had no reaction and I looked for the positives in the news today.
In Vietnam the amount of recoveries was looking promising as more patients in Saigon were discharged, more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210729/ho-chi-minh-city-has-discharged-over-25000-covid19-patients/62318.html
I got a bit of perspective reading this one, and if you thought working from home in the UK, during the pandemic was bad, read this for what it could be like for many workers in Vietnam:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/1000196/hundreds-of-covid-19-cases-detected-in-binh-duong-companies.html
Plans in Saigon to vaccinate 70% of its 9 million residents by end of August were ambitious but could be doable if they got on it, info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210730/vietnam-accelerates-vaccinations-in-covid19-epicentre/62328.html
As you had probably noticed it was getting to the end of the month which meant it was time to start preparing for the next visa extension request. I checked and was told that I could have 1 more month’s extension and to submit my passport after the weekend.
Captain Caveman had gone early to Phong Nha and was picking up a load of mangosteens from my Jungle Boss friend, Mina. When he came home we had a chicken salad for lunch and a couple of drinks by the pool before getting ready for our predictable Friday night out. We’d budgeted enough for us to have a treat for dinner and we went for Happy Hour and Pizza Night at the Farmstay. It’s only 50,000vnd (£1.55) for 2 rum and diet cokes or gin and tonics so we ended up having 4 of those each and Captain Caveman had realised you could order more than 1 pizza each! We ordered 3 between the 2 of us; a salami one each (his with extra chillies and garlic) then a ham and pineapple to share. It was delicious and the ham and pineapple was my new favourite (plus I took 2 slices home) and we had a great night out for 400,000vnd (£12.40).
Back home we got to give cuddles to Carrot, the puppy, who had been sleeping beneath Cuong’s hammock – he really is so cute.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman

Phong Nha – 29th July

I decided to test something out on Thursday 29th July for breakfast, given that I’ve been able to eat pizza once per week now, I had toast with a melted cheddar slice on it and, of course, I was ill – I just don’t get it!!! Captain Caveman had already gone to Phong Nha to catch up with what was going on at Oxalis. I read in the news that there had been a lag in Corona deaths in Vietnam, probably due to the large amount and there were another 350 deaths added on retrospectively, see the 2 reports below:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/999477/106-new-covid-19-deaths-announced.html
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/999828/233-more-covid-deaths-7594-new-infections-recorded.html
This meant that as of the previous day the death rate for Corona was at 0.5% already in Vietnam.
Once my stomach was a bit better I prepared some BBQ jackfruit which we had with chopped veg and salad for lunch. While we were serving up our lunch Veronika returned after having been razzing around the National Park on the back of a Harley Davidson with Ben, she was not impressed and said she was aching because it was so uncomfortable. In the evening Captain Caveman cooked some chicken with veg and steamed rice which we sprinkled with peanut salt. It was nearing the end of the month again and I’d managed to not worry about my visa extension for a couple of weeks but now we were back in the same situation as last month – would I get it extended or would I have to leave next week? Tomorrow I would ask the questions and see what happens!

20 things I Googled in July

The theme of my Google searches in July seemed to be fruit and travel related in the main, here’s my list:
• Astra Zeneca and Moderna mix
• baolau.vn
• canitravel.net
• Czech language basics
• Dong Hoi flight departures
• English to Vietnamese
• French to English
• Hungary
• Jackfruit
• Kirazlı
• Longan fruit seed soap
• Manavgat
• Magner’s cider
• Nationwide Bank
• online check-in, Singapore airlines
• Turkish university for international students
• UK Red list
• Vietnam free visa extensions
• weather
• worldlifeexpectancycoronavirus

This really is the most useful website for anyone wanting to work out where they can travel to right now: https://canitravel.net/

Phong Nha & Dong Hoi – 28th July

I was awake early on Wednesday 28th July and not because it was my turn to go on the shopping trip today. I was worried about my friend who was still trying to get back to South Africa, he’d had an horrendous night and had ended up walking 5km to find water and food, which he didn’t because all shops are closed for the evening curfew in Saigon. Because this morning shops were open from 6am he found a 7-11 and got an egg and cheese sandwich which he said was disgusting but he loved it.
Captain Caveman went off to Phong Nha for work, he had given me the money for shopping, we had just over a week until pay day so things were pretty tight and I had my shopping list at the ready. We’d already had a message from Ben asking who was going and saying we would only be going to the organic shop and Co-op Mart so Veronika, after her traumatic experience last week, decided not to come along. I was told my pick up was at 8am and so I went outside ready for that, at 8.05am Duyet told me to get in the jeep to go to the Farmstay so I thought Bich may have told him to bring me there. As I was leaving Ben arrived to pick me up so I switched cars and off we went to pick up 2 customers at the Phong Nha Farmstay. At 8.45am Bich was ready to leave so off we all went to Dong Hoi and on the way she asked if we wanted to go anywhere specific and suggested Tuan Viet Gourmet so I said yes. My South African bound friend managed to get checked in for his flight to Singapore and was happy to be on his way at last. I got a few bits in the shop, including treating us to a bottle of wine for just under a tenner. Our next stop was the organic shop where I managed to get a couple of things from my list. Next, Bich dropped us at Co-op Mart and went to pick up something, I managed to get quite a bit from the list but there were no eggs or chicken and it was surprisingly empty so Veronika would have been fine. When we left the supermarket I mentioned to Bich I still hadn’t been able to get chicken or BBQ sauce so we stopped at Horeca and I got those plus some cheese. I had thought I’d get 2 lots of BBQ sauce but it wasn’t cheap so I put one back, while I waited for them to find me some frozen chicken breasts which they kept in the back of the small shop.

Here’s my list of the shopping I bought, prices in Vietnamese Dong. I bet you can see straight away the things I shouldn’t have been tempted to buy, which exceeded the tight budget rule;

Tuan Viet Supermarket
Green beans 14,500
Gluten free stock cubes 22,000
2 red peppers 26,220
6 Mangosteen 27,000
2 dragon fruit 30,360
1 packet of penne pasta 35,000
1 jar of green olives 45,000
1 bottle of red wine 310,000

Total 510,080vnd (£15.81)

Organic Shop
1 red cabbage 51,150
300g of beef 90,000

Total 141,150vnd (£4.38)

Co-op Mart
Broccoli 9,741
Carrots 11,085
2 packets of crisps 23,000
Pumpkin 27,422
Tomato puree sauce 28,400
Potatoes 36,527
2 Strongbow cider 36,600
2 packs of Mushrooms 64,000

Total 236,775vnd (£7.34)

Horeca
250g cheddar cheese slices 65,000
200g cream cheese 68,000
125g brie 90,000
2 bottles of BBQ sauce 150,000
2kg chicken breast 180,000

Total 553,000vnd (£17.14)

Is there anything you think I missed or shouldn’t have bought?

Bich had a request from one of the Farmstay guests to bring back some Banh Loc (which smelled of fish sauce so bad) and we made a new rule; whoever doesn’t go on the shopping trip has to order the smelliest food for the others to have to bring back on the 45 minute car journey!

When I got home Captain Caveman was a bit cheesed off because he had set off this morning to go on the Tu Lan take down trip but when he got to Oxalis it had been postponed until Friday but he hadn’t been told. Luckily Watto, who is going back to the UK next month, had given him a toaster – he was happy about that. So, my other half was in a mood, I was starving hungry and decided that a croissant with a slice of cheddar cheese on would be an amazing brunch – of course this made me terribly ill for about an hour.
I got a message from Tatas to say that her home isolation had ended 9 days early because her landlord had tested negative 3 times and she was already at work, in a meeting. Captain Caveman and I drank wine by the pool in the late afternoon, I snacked on crisps and longans and we discussed Captain Caveman’s plans for the off-season (September to December) this year. Vietnam has been promising that they were going to reduce the quarantine period for experts entering Vietnam to just 7 days followed by 14 days self isolation ‘at home’ but they still had not implemented it and as it stood it would be 14 days quarantine then 14 days self isolation. Given that Captain Caveman would need to be ready to work in November it didn’t leave much time for him to come to Turkey. He decided that it would be too risky to get stuck in either Turkey or Vietnamese quarantine and potentially not be able to work when needed so he would not leave Vietnam this year. We both agreed that while the pandemic was still continuing as it is, it would be sensible for him to stay in Phong Nha.
For dinner we used the leftover stew from yesterday and added the beef I bought today to have the same delicious meal we had last night. I noticed that at Horeca they had still charged me for 2 bottles of BBQ sauce so I messaged Bich to see if she could let them know so I could rectify it on the next shopping trip.

Phong Nha – 27th July

I was a bit worried for my friend on Tuesday 27th July who was due to leave Vietnam for South Africa today. He’d had quite a lot of issues up to now and they didn’t get any better as he tried to get from Hanoi to Saigon to make his international flight via Singapore. While I was tucking in to 2 fresh croissants for breakfast, Captain Caveman was in Phong Nha and my friend was a stressy mess. My morning kitchen activity was the slicing of the bread and popping in the tuppaware boxes for fridge or freezer, while the housekeeping came to do our room. They’d also mended Captain Caveman’s swimming shorts after he ripped a hole in the bum getting out of the pool a few days ago, they did a wonderful job and wouldn’t take any money for it, either. They kindly brought us a load of longan fruit for us all which they left on the kitchen table. By the time Captain Caveman had returned my friend in Hanoi was having a meltdown because his flight to Saigon from Hanoi had been cancelled, I told him to get to the airport regardless and demand they put him on whatever plane is available for that day.
I read in the news that a month after Turkey had opened up again, there was a big spike in cases, hardly surprising but concerning if I have to leave Vietnam without being fully vaccinated, read more here:
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/turkey-may-face-difficult-autumn-as-covid-19-cases-climb/news
Captain Caveman made us bacon and asparagus with gin cocktails for lunch and we swam in the pool. I’d took to slathering my face eczema in sudocrem overnight and so it seemed to be clearing up a bit.
While Captain Caveman prepared a beef stew for dinner I tried to calm a very stressed South African friend down after he was refused his flight from Saigon to Singapore. Nothing in Saigon is open, he is not meant to leave the airport where there is no food, drink or Aircon and now he had to stay there overnight. The beef stew was the best I’d ever had and we really enjoyed it even though we felt very sorry for our mate who was now hoping to get on the flight tomorrow. He sent me voice clips and he sounded like he really was at the end of his tether with everything – he didn’t even want to go back to South Africa but with only a South African passport he had little choice – not many countries will take a South African in these days! While he tried to find a comfy bit of airport floor to sleep on and not get robbed, we grazed through a bunch of longan berries.

Phong Nha – 26th July

Monday 26th July was a very good day! I had the last of my gluten and dairy free pancakes (to be honest I was getting a bit fed up of pancakes for breakfast now) but we had run out of fruit so I put jam on.
The news in Vietnam read that we now had more than 100,000 cases and going on for 500 deaths since the pandemic began, read here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/997795/covid-19-case-tally-tops-100000.html
I read the following article which didn’t half give a bit of perspective – wouldn’t you just hate working in a factory in Saigon? Check this out:
https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/997569/hcm-city-factories-seek-to-remain-open-by-complying-with-covid-prevention-regime.html
There was also a curfew announced in Saigon which means supermarkets close at 5pm, I started to feel really sorry for our friends in Saigon:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20210726/saigon-supermarkets-to-close-by-5-00-pm-in-adaptation-to-new-covid19-restrictions/62263.html
Captain Caveman went to Phong Nha and I chopped peppers and onions ready for lunch. I still had a headache but was at a normal temperature and my stomach was also bad despite not having eaten anything that could have set me off. I’d managed to remove all of my photos and videos (up to the end of June this year) from my phone on to the SD card and was pleased to see I could now do a screenshot again – unfortunately my phone still said it was full and I had issues with loading photos on to my WordPress now!
When Captain Caveman returned he had some good news, he had been told by his work that we will both get our second vaccines, him within 2 weeks and me within 4 weeks. We had a healthy salad for lunch followed by a piece of carrot cake, which we had in the freezer still since the last time we had Sunday dinner at the Phong Nha Farmstay. It was fresh bread day so Captain Caveman went up to the Lake House to collect it, he came back with bread, croissants and a bottle of wine from Tham and Tony for his birthday, which was really nice and we said we would go there as soon as they could open again. We were meant to be cycling to the Phong Nha Farmstay the long way round but it was already dusk and I didn’t fancy being stuck on the French Road in the dark so we went the short way. We sat with Lucie and Martan (the lovely Czech family) and the 3 adults at the table all enjoyed a cider/beer and the curry special. Martan had a massive burger which looked pretty good and he had trouble eating it all. This week was the first Buttered Chicken meal at the Farmstay, with The Villas being closed, and it was definitely one of the best ones yet. The curry was not too spicy, plenty of it, the steamed rice perfect and the nan bread really good too. The Magner’s cider was on offer so me and Lucie took advantage of that and it was a lovely chilled evening. Unfortunately the cavers had to miss out on curry night because under the rules here we still weren’t to be going out out and the Farmstay could only serve their registered residents (which we were lucky to be). Being conscious of money we just had a couple of drinks with our curries and our meal for 2 came to around 500,000vnd (£15.50) and we were very full!

Phong Nha – 24th & 25th July

I’d not been feeling too well when I got in bed the previous night and had a headache at the back of my head on the left side. I woke up extremely early on the morning of Saturday 24th July extra sweaty, a worse headache and feeling hot or cold intermittently. There had been rain during the night, it was a bit cloudy and I had to force myself to eat my gluten and dairy free pancakes with banana and honey for breakfast, hoping I’d feel better. I took some paracetamol and ibuprofen and read the news, this time there was some good news. Apparently, Vietnam was going to mix first and second vaccine providers, so those of us vaccinated with Astra Zeneca, may get Pfizer as their 2nd vaccine, read more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210724/vietnam-to-prioritize-pfizer-as-followup-jab-for-people-who-received-first-dose-of-astrazeneca/62222.html
Reports came of chaos in Hanoi as the stricter social distancing measures were to commence, more info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210724/people-rush-in-out-of-hanoi-before-strict-social-distancing-implementation/62228.html
Captain Caveman stayed in bed all morning on his phone and eventually got out of bed at 12.30pm, made his own lunch and then sat on the balcony in the rain with a beer. I had a red dragon fruit and popcorn for my lunch and, feeling hot then cold most of the day, I watched a cooking show on Netflix and rested up.
For dinner Captain Caveman cooked chicken and veg while I got the job of peeling chopping and roasting potatoes, garlic, onion and pumpkin which took so much time to cook that we had dinner in two sittings. I still felt unwell so I went to bed early, during the night there was a massive storm and I was even a bit scared as the thunder and lightening sounded like they were hitting the roof.

On Sunday 25th July I still felt unwell and was awake really early taking some painkillers for my headache which still hadn’t gone and I also had a touch of indigestion. It was cloudy so there was no sunrise to see and Captain Caveman didn’t cycle in to work, with it being a Sunday. I had another nap to try to shake off the head and neck pains.
Captain Caveman made us bacon sandwiches for breakfast, we’d ran out of brown sauce so I had to have Vietnamese tomato sauce which is ultra sweet, and I had orange juice, jasmine tea and lots of cold water to keep hydrated too. I took over the oven and did a mass roasting of potatoes, shallots, pumpkin and onion ready to make our Sunday dinner. We do love the Phong Nha Farmstay dinner but 600,000vnd (£18.60) for the 2 of us is out of our price range at the moment. Instead we would prepare a healthier version at home, no wine and no cake for a start. I was a hot sweaty mess after being on roasting (literally) duty and so Captain Caveman made us lunch and in the afternoon I had 2 dairy free White Russians as I thought I’d started to feel better.
By the time it came to dinner time I was feeling much better, the headache had almost gone, I was a bit less sweaty and I managed to tuck in to a lovely dinner of chicken, potatoes, onion, pumpkin, carrot and broccoli with a dash of BBQ sauce on the side for dipping.

Phong Nha – 23rd July

On Friday 23rd July I had orange juice, and banana and honey pancakes (gluten and dairy free) for breakfast while Captain Caveman had gone to Phong Nha. I read the news which was not looking so rosey today;
Danang was back in lockdown, we have a lot less friends there now as most of them have already left Vietnam but it was disappointing as Danang has had a lot of lockdown weeks during the pandemic. More info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/vietnamsda-nang-bans-outdoor-activities-nonessential-businesses-over-new-local-coronavirus-infections/62201.html
It was worrying to read reports of a lot more deaths occuring, I believed due to the fact that very few people were vaccinated (especially the elderly and vulnerable), more here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/995869/viet-nam-reports-more-36-new-deaths-related-to-covid-19.html
I read a very interesting article about addicts at a rehab centre who had lots of positive cases all in the same building, which just shows how fast this 4th wave of virus is spreading, read it here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/saigon-assists-binh-duong-in-treating-nearly-500-coronavirusinfected-addicts-staff-at-rehab-center/62203.html
The worst article I read today was horrendous and this is what worries me about travelling during a pandemic. A man with Corona got on a flight pretending to be his wife, who’s negative, and actually managed to get on the plane! Unbelievable, check this out:
https://bbc.in/3zq1LeR
When Captain Caveman returned he reported that there were no longer checkpoints in town but Phong Nha was even more of a ghost town than usual. In his entire journey of 18km he had not seen more than 10 people in total. The F1s that had been tested and had results so far were all negative for the first test so that was good news, they would have 2 more tests over the coming days.

I was a bit despondent as I had thought that, with The Villas being closed, we wouldn’t be having a pizza night but Captain Caveman had already checked and there most certainly was. We just had popcorn for lunch so that I’d have room for pizza night and I wasn’t really expecting much, given that it would be done with a different oven and staff at the Phong Nha Farmstay, who might not be used to the same style of pizza. Ben and Bich at the Farmstay had about 25 guests, mostly families who were staying longer term due to the Corona situation and restrictions in their home cities, so they were doing their absolute best to keep things running as normal as possible. We arrived at the Phong Nha Farmstay for Happy Hour, sat at the big table, I had a couple of the 2 for 1 rum and cokes, Captain Caveman had beers then we ordered our pizzas, he had a salami one with extra chillies on (so I couldn’t try his pizza) and I decided on ham and mushroom (a new pizza on this week’s menu). There was a big screen and the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was being shown which, at first, all the kids were interested in, it soon wore off though and they were definitely enjoying their pizzas more, as were the adults. Our pizzas were excellent and the service very slick so I was very impressed and happy. I was pleased that the pizza night was a success and it was a bargain at 275,000vnd (£8.50) for the two of us, even though I’d hoped to take a slice or 2 home (Captain Caveman snaffled the last of mine, obviously). Back home I felt very full but I didn’t have a dodgy tum so I was pleased about that – it seemed I was fine with gluten and cooked cheese now!