I woke up at The Belafonte as hungover as hell on Thursday 22nd July at 6am, immediately understanding what the pegs on the curtains were for. The sun was very strong and streaming in through a gap in the curtains, I’d luckily managed to close the doors and pop the AC on before bed but I’d not fathomed that pegging the gap in the curtains would be a great idea. My head hurt and I felt like death so I got back in the very comfy bed – there really was no need for such a thick duvet on though. I was woken up again a few hours later by a message from Momma D to say her and Shannon were up and about so I reluctantly went to the kitchen. Diem and some of the neighbours were round and there was some box moving activity and too much loudness for my likeness. There was only one thing for it; breakfast at the Phong Nha Farmstay so off we went and ordered pho and juice. Veronika arrived for her morning coffee and came to sit with us, we all had a laugh at last night’s antics – it had been a great send off for Shannon and it had been a good celebration for Momma D getting agreement to remain in Vietnam for another 2 years too.
After breakfast and saying bye I retrieved Bluey, my bicycle, and headed off home with a bad headache and no sunglasses. Luckily it was slightly cloudy with the sun behind me but it took me a long 11 minutes 8 seconds to get back to Elements. As Captain Caveman made lunch I caught up on the news that yesterday Vietnam had reported the highest daily cases so far, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/vietnam-documents-highestever-daily-local-coronavirus-jump/62208.html I’d only been gone less than 20 hours but I’d missed quite a bit so Captain Caveman filled me on the updates while we ate our bacon, cabbage and tortilla lunch. That morning Captain Caveman had already cycled in to Phong Nha and back, as he usual does, to find that there were road blocks to check where each person was going and what for. Tatas, who was meant to be in Tu Lan, had her trip cut short because her Landlord was F1 (been in contact with someone who is positive) and her household had to isolate. I didn’t realise the phone shop man owns Tatas’ house so she and her housemates had been isolated and given emergency provisions plus the loan of a cooker and they had to wait to see if the selling of the ice-cream had meant her landlord had caught Corona. Luckily they had not actually been in contact with the landlord at all so they were going to be fine but because they are all registered at the same address that is the rule. Craig Davis had made it back to America, his journey had not been without issues but he had made it. Later I saw that Momma D had posted on Facebook that her rooftop bar was closed until further notice due to the Corona situation, The Villas was now closed too but all the meal specials would continue at Phong Nha Farmstay but only for in-house guests. The Lake House closed their doors as well and in Dong Hoi all of our favourites were just doing delivery only or had closed. Even Funny Monkeys posted to say they would do delivery only – places to eat out were very slim so we were glad of a good kitchen at home. Later Shannon messaged to say she had left for Hoi An already, having been to Dong Hoi for her PCR test, she was doing well with her hangover – I could not have done that car journey. Captain Caveman made us a nice veggie pasta dish for our dinner and I was in bed extremely early, still feeling a little delicate.
There were some changes afoot in Phong Nha and Dong Hoi on Wednesday 21st July, but first Captain Caveman and Veronika got picked up to join the Phong Nha Farmstay shopping trip at 8am, Duyet was driving the bus this week, while I had a Lake House croissant for my breakfast. The housekeeping staff thought we had all gone to Dong Hoi and so came to do a clean, surprised to find me in the room. I went outside, trying to find some breeze and drank some water. The new puppy was playing in the garden and came running over for some belly rubs and tickles. We have a new youth who has recently joined Duyet on the Elements team who cares for the pool, waters the garden and generally looks after the place. He came over so I asked him the puppy’s name – he’s called Cà rốt (which means carrot in English), the youth is called Cuong as I checked at the same time. I prepared some lunch using left over tortilla, bacon and cabbage to make an interesting meal and saved some for Captain Caveman. He had messaged to say that the supermarket in Dong Hoi was full and people had started to panic buy. An area near to the train station was taped off and no trains were stopping at Dong Hoi. Unfortunately during the tracking and tracing of people who were in direct contact with the 3 imported positive cases from Minh Hoa, Quang Binh, they had identified 2 people who had also tested positive. These were traced to be people in Dong Hoi; one a taxi driver and the other was a ‘drinking buddy’.
Video of Carrot, the puppy
Captain Caveman and Veronika returned from the shopping trip with very differing accounts of their outing. While nothing phases Captain Caveman, Veronika was still a little out of sorts due to the pushing and shoving at the supermarket. She had shopped, got to the counter and then abandoned her basket because it had just been too much for her. Luckily she had managed to get quite a bit of shopping in the Organic shop and wouldn’t be going hungry but it’s the first time I’ve seen her looking a bit frazzled after a shopping trip! Captain Caveman said it wasn’t as busy as a Morrison’s back in Sheffield on a normal Saturday and if he’d have known he would have got her shopping through for her. We are spoilt here because it’s so quiet generally that we don’t ever see a crowd.
Here is what Captain Caveman bought this week, keeping in mind our budget was still very tight and he went to 3 shops in total during a panic buy. As usual the prices are in Dong and it’s about 32,000vnd to £1.
Co-op Mart Shallots 7,592 1 can of Coca-Cola 8,500 Lettuce 8,506 Carrots 16,464 Tomatoes 17,561 1 can of Strongbow 18,500 Tissues 18,500 Bananas 20,550 Potatoes 21,212 2 dragon fruit 34,125 6 cans of tonic 45,600 2 packs of butter 62,000 1 jar pasta sauce 106,800 2 packs of bacon 129,600 3 cartons of orange juice 135,900
Red Supermarket 2 red peppers 49,205 2 cans grapefruit juice 64,000 Hot dogs 265,000
I had made one request to Captain Caveman to get me something to take to Shannon’s party that night. We were all taking a dish which they call Potluck in America and Canada and so I wanted to take something easy that everyone would like, I also asked him to get me some wine but he didn’t get any. Captain Caveman didn’t get as many bargains and couldn’t get eggs or chicken anywhere this week.
Our 3rd Phong Nha Ladies Night was arranged for 4pm at the Belafonte and I was about to take the worst potluck dish in the history of potluck parties! Captain Caveman had got me dragon fruit and baby bananas to take, his logic being everyone likes fruit. He assumed Shannon would have shot glasses and so I would also take a bottle of Hanoi vodka as my drink contribution – this was certainly one way to avoid being invited back again, or to any other future parties. Meanwhile Veronika had decided to take rice crackers, grapes and 3 homemade dips (hummus, olive tapenade and red pepper) which she was busy making at home. The Belafonte, where Shannon lives, is about 2.5km from the Farmstay (almost 5km from our place) and I wasn’t too sure how I was getting there. Veronika had decided that she would get a lift with Bich but they weren’t going until later as she was busy with guests. Originally I was going to go with Tatas but she had gone on a 2 day Tu Lan tour this morning, meaning that she couldn’t come to another one of our Ladies Nights. Captain Caveman suggested I cycle there because then I wouldn’t be stuck for being able to get home but I thought it might be a bit too far, plus I’d probably be able to get a lift home. Instead we came up with a better plan; Captain Caveman and I would cycle to the Farmstay for about 4pm and then I would leave Bluey, my bicycle, there and we would walk to Shannon’s house (Captain Caveman would push his bike) and I’d cadge a lift back. It would be about 30 minutes walk so we would be there before 5pm and it had been cloudy all day so felt a bit cooler. Captain Caveman would then cycle back home and have a quiet night in. I was looking forward to the party and this Ladies Night looked set to have 15 attendees plus a couple of local friends of Shannon’s who she had invited too. I sent a message in the Facebook event and group to let everyone know the party was still going ahead and that we were under the general Corona rule of no groups of more than 20 people so all was good to go, then I jumped in the shower to get ready for Shannon’s send off. Of course, this is Vietnam so by the time I had got out of the shower there was already some changes and at the time we didn’t realise how serious they could be.
I got out of the shower to several messages of cancellation, which is not unusual for Ladies Night, but the reasons were! The two people who were positive for Corona in Quang Binh (the taxi driver and the drinking man) had been in Phong Nha and so all the people in a section of town around the former Easy Tiger area were checked for F1 and F2 tracing, meaning quite a few people had to stay at home. Four of the girls who live in that area were unable to come due to their potential to be F2s and some were told they needed to stay home for the time being. Another couple of ladies had to stay at home (one in a different town) for the same reason and people in our sleepy town were genuinely worried that Corona had spread this far. What I didn’t know at the time was that the phone shop guy, at the corner of Phong Nha market, had been in direct contact with the positive taxi driver when he sold him and ice-cream and so he was F1 and had been taken away for quarantine and testing. As we were setting off to the Phong Nha Farmstay on our bicycles, armed with fruit, Saigon beers and rice wine, the sun decided to come out and it was incredibly hot again. It’s only 10 minutes of cycling but it was definitely over 35°C so I needed to stop for a refreshment before walking on to The Belafonte for Shannon’s party. We both had a Huda beer and then one of the guests came over to say she and her family were heading back to Hanoi by car tomorrow but wanted to introduce her friend to us. We sat chatting and ended up having another beer by which time Bich said I could get a lift with her and Veronika. When I finally got to the party it was already in full swing, we’d missed the fizz and everyone was in the pool, including Momma D, Deb, Trang, Shannon and a load of local kids. The party went much better than expected and despite the Vietnamese ladies laughing at my contribution and all the kids swarming around Veronika’s grapes like locusts there was a good spread with plenty of BBQ pork and spring rolls. I was drinking beer when Shannon insisted I go on to white wine then later when Tham arrived, with several bottles of wine and a bottle of Bailey’s, I went on to red. Shannon said for me to stay so I agreed, let Captain Caveman know and then we cranked up the music and got right on it!
As the last 3 standing Momma D and I agreed we needed to make sure Shannon had the best send off and not to get upset or it would make Shannon feel emotional so we were on a mission to make her night! By 2.30pm we were necking frozen Bellinis with extra rum, singing (and dancing) to Teenage Dirtbag at the top of our voices and generally celebrating we had made it to 2.30am – practically unheard of these days in Phong Nha. I vaguely remember going to sleep in a downstairs bedroom where the ceiling was a huge net and there was an actual thick duvet on the bed and I wondered why there were pegs on the curtains.
I’d been up in the night with indigestion and not having slept well so, when Captain Caveman went to Phong Nha on the morning of Tuesday 20th July, I stayed in bed a bit longer and had a nice lay in. When I got peckish I had one of the Lake House croissants for breakfast, it was bloody gorgeous and worth it that it made my tummy hurt a bit. Captain Caveman got back and had bought a jar of cashew nuts back from Funny Monkeys which I always prefer to the shop bought ones. While Captain Caveman had a shower I got him 2 croissants with butter and jam (he’s an animal) and he was so happy while eating them. We couldn’t resist, while the Lake House bread was still fresh, just having a peanut butter sandwich for lunch – the breadcakes were a little like a brioche bun but incredibly good. Information came from the Phong Nha Farmstay to say there would be a shopping trip tomorrow but there were some new rules; from now on only 1 person per household/villa/family was allowed to go. We decided that Captain Caveman would go for us as he holds the money, so he’s in charge. Our dinner that night wasn’t amazing as we just had a bit of a picnic meal with leftover jackfruit, Spanish omelette and pickles, but by the time we ate at 8.30pm I was kind of past it. Then the news we had all been worried about came; our province of Quang Binh had 3 Corona cases for the first time! They were young Vietnamese returners from Russia who had spent 21 days in compulsory quarantine on arrival in Saigon, Vietnam, and had all had several negative tests prior to being allowed to leave to continue a 7 day isolation at home. Unfortunately their home is in Minh Hoa (over an hour’s drive from us) so they had travelled north to get there, one part of that journey was from Saigon to Dong Hoi via bus. Contact tracing and tracking had commenced but it was difficult to know how this would pan out for our province and whether Dong Hoi and Phong Nha would be affected. Either way, we knew that Quang Binh would be very worried given that the province had been doing so well up until now, compared to almost everywhere else.
Captain Caveman managed to stay in bed asleep later than 6.30am on Monday 19th July, which was nice. For breakfast we just had toast and it must have been a tad cooler today as the pumpkin soup I took out of the freezer took a few hours to defrost. In the news there was a report which showed that the Corona situation was still a concern in South East Asia, more info here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210719/it-s-not-time-yet-for-vietnam-to-live-with-covid19-singaporean-expert/62141.html We spent some time in the swimming pool before and after lunch but my eczema on my face and ear was getting worse because of it. Captain Caveman went to the Lake House to collect our order of freshly baked bread and this time we were successful in getting 6 croissants – it was like Christmas! We got 2 sourdough loaves, 1 wholemeal loaf, 6 croissants and 2 (free) breadcakes for 390,000vnd (£12.90) – proper bread is expensive here, in Vietnam, but the chef at the Lake House is so good! While we were waiting for our pick up to The Villas I spotted the newest member of the Elements Collection team, then remembered getting back last night from the Phong Nha Farmstay and having cuddles with the new puppy. He came to greet us but hadn’t worked out that the hose pipe he was chasing had some leaks with water squirting out and he was a bit wet – he was such a cute little thing too. That evening we joined everyone for a trip to The Villas for curry night but on the bus were 2 new customers who didn’t wear a mask, even when Ben asked them to and offered to stop at the market to buy masks they didn’t – this was the first time I had witnessed people not wearing masks (something I would probably have to get used to once I left Vietnam). In the UK today it was the day they had eased the restrictions so that people could pretty much do as they pleased and it was almost 3 weeks since Turkey went back to ‘normal’, both of which made me nervous but not as nervous as the couple of no-mask strangers in front of us. Captain Caveman and I sat outside and, although Veronika put all her stuff down to sit with us, she was her usual social butterfly flitting about the tables, guests and kids. It was the busiest I’d seen The Villas in a while and so Lan, the manager, came to let us know that the butter chicken tonight would be at least 40 minutes and we said we didn’t mind and ordered another cold beer each. By the time we did get our meals it was almost 2 hours since we arrived but we weren’t too bothered that we had been kept waiting. The curry was certainly worth the wait, it tasted really good and came with nan bread and steamed rice, we were even offered more bread but we didn’t need any as it was a good sized portion for 185,000vnd (£5.74). Veronika didn’t get any food at all and when she finally asked Lan if she would be getting her curry she was told there was only 1 small bowl left but it was already allocated to a customer who had ordered the chicken curry without the chicken! When The Villas staff did the rounds to apologise and let us know there was a delay somehow Veronika had not heard or been seated when this happened and was unaware of the issue. A few minutes later a small bowl of buttered chicken appeared in front of a hungry Veronika and we can only presume the fussy customer then had to be told that Ben’s mom had eaten her order. The owners and staff were visibly concerned that they had not been up to their usual excellent standards but considering that almost every western expat or customer in Phong Nha was at the restaurant at the same time tonight, we still enjoyed our night. At the time none of us knew that it could be our last curry, or even our last meal, at The Villas for a while – things were about to get a little more restrictive.
At 5.30am I was up and taking photos of the sunrise (my camera doesn’t do it justice) and I had pineapple pancakes and jasmine tea for my breakfast on Sunday 18th July while reading the news; An announcement that Hanoi was to go in to lockdown too, more here: https://vietnaminsider.vn/hanoi-tightens-covid-19-restrictions-as-vietnam-reaches-new-height-in-daily-infections/ This was hopefully not going to be a problem for a friend who was heading up there for a few days before his international flight, as well as another mate who was already there and would be stuck in his Hanoi hotel for another 9 days. This would be the airport I would leave from and so I would change my plans to stay less time in Hanoi and I’d take food with me so I didn’t have to go anywhere. The good thing about being British is we know how to queue but in Vietnam it is practically alien to do so, meaning the Corona situation worsens as people don’t understand not to crowd, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210718/tens-of-thousands-leave-vietnams-southern-hubs-ahead-of-mass-covid19-social-distancing/62134.html Captain Caveman had stayed at the Glass House last night and had taken himself off for a birthday breakfast of Eggs Benedict at The Villas on his journey back home. We had organised a birthday lunch for him at one of our favourite places and had invited some of his friends and colleagues.
We had took a chance to book a table at East Hill for BBQ chicken and beers from 11.30am – it gets busy on Sundays so we usually avoid weekends. Captain Caveman pumped up Bluey’s tyres for me and we cycled it there in about 10 minutes, being overtaken by Stu and Jack on the way. On arrival East Hill had very kindly reserved us a table and even had a sign with my name and the time on. We ordered 2 chicken combos when we arrived, we don’t preorder because often the Vietnamese contingent can arrive late and then the chicken has been snaffled already. Next to arrive were Colin, Watto, Howard and Deb who had impressively cycled it from Phong Nha, then Mark arrived and we all ordered cold drinks and waited for others to arrive. The Funny Monkey’s team arrived and brought Captain Caveman a gift of homemade cookies which was so lovely. BBQ chicken arrived, the cavers ordered 2 more and we all started on the first lot of food. Mr Nguyen was last to arrive, looking very smart and carrying 24 cans of beer – what a legend! More beers were had and some photos taken and I had the bright idea to order even more chicken, thinking that any latecomers would show up soon! It was a really good lunchtime treat and it was good to see so many people celebrate Captain Caveman’s birthday.
Having left East Hill after a wonderful lunch we arrived back at Elements Collection about 2pm. Thankfully Tatas had taken the beers on her motorbike as Captain Caveman has no basket and I would have struggled to carry them on Bluey. It was so hot that we got in the pool straight away, Tatas hadn’t brought her swimmers so sat in a deckchair in denim dungarees. We all had a beer and it was at this point that Captain Caveman revealed what had happened to Tatas’ carrot cake on Tuesday; he had taken it, in the seat of the motorbike but had decided to take it to Oxalis and gobble it down for his hungover breakfast then pretend it had been stolen from the bike! He confessed from the pool, Tatas and I were shocked especially as we had lots more cake at home! Hien popped round and brought Captain Caveman a bottle of red wine, which was really lovely. Tatas and I ‘persuaded’ (it didn’t take much doing) Captain Caveman we should go to the Farmstay for a happy hour drink to finish off his birthday with the Farmstay family. We ended up having chicken quesadillas, pitta bread with dips and wine! A birthday cake was presented and we sang Happy Birthday to Captain Caveman before all having a piece of cake. When we got back home there was a tiny surprise which I had forgotten about until the next day.
I slept in until 8am on Saturday 17th July, I didn’t bother with breakfast as I was too full from last night’s pizza at The Villas and instead I got on with reading the news as there was quite a lot going on here in Vietnam. There were reports of Saigon getting prepared for very sick Covid-19 patients as the 4th wave was getting worse, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210716/ho-chi-minh-city-sets-up-1000bed-hospital-for-seriouslyill-covid19-patients/62106.html A report about punishment, which shows they don’t mess about here if you disobey the rules: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210717/man-gets-18-months-in-jail-for-causing-covid19-spread-in-vietnam/62120.html There was some good news for people in Danang waiting for vaccines to come: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210717/vietnams-da-nang-to-vaccinate-20000-people-against-covid19-a-day/62115.html Generally the authorities were doing everything they could to prevent spread, they were tracking and tracing positive cases well so I had faith in the government here but maybe things were either going to get better or a lot worse, more info on the measures being taken in the South: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210717/vietnam-to-place-entire-southern-region-under-social-distancing-from-july-19/62121.html From now on, in Vietnam, if we needed to move between provinces we would have to show a negative PCR test. A friend who had to leave Vietnam later this month had tried to do the right thing by booking his flight to Thailand for the 27th of this month but in the news Thailand was facing the worst cases they had reported so far and he had to do (and pay for) quarantine on arrival there. It did make me wonder if I was going to get stuck here, if I should have tried to leave (without being fully vaccinated) when I was told to. At least where we are still had no cases so we felt pretty safe, so far, whereas in Dalyan, Turkey, they were now showing as having cases not far from where Captain Caveman’s place is. I had an early lunch which I enjoyed making; pasta with onion, garlic, mushroom and tomato based sauce – it tasted great and I didn’t have a bad stomach. In the afternoon I had some pomelo, a diet coke and my left over carrot cake from Sunday which I’d put in the freezer. I’d had a swim while the cake defrosted and made jasmine tea to go with it. In the afternoon I decided to start watching Sons of Sam on Netflix which was very intriguing. Captain Caveman was out of Son Doong and was on his way to his gala dinner at Chay Lap for the evening with plans for him to stay at the Glass House tonight and come back in the morning. I decided to make another pasta dish for dinner and this time I made it with garlic, onion, mushrooms, broccoli, a Laughing Cow lite cheese triangle and pasta water sauce – it tasted really good and again I wasn’t ill! I was meant to have an early night because we had big plans for tomorrow but instead I watched more Sons of Sam, I was hooked!
On Friday 16th July I was up early and had pineapple pancakes and jasmine tea for breakfast while reading the news. A (New Zealand) woman had escaped from her isolation area in Nha Trang and the authorities were searching for her, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210716/new-zealander-escapes-from-isolated-area-in-vietnam-s-nha-trang/62110.html A Vietnamese friend in Saigon posted photos on her Facebook of what the conditions were like for those isolating in workplaces where there was Corona in the factories and so were unable to leave. I had some friends who were leaving soon or were locked down in Saigon and had questions about random stuff, so I helped them out. There was also a bit of a panic in Hoi An as there was supposedly 1 foreigner who had returned from HCMC with Corona and so today they were going to test all foreigners in Hoi An for the virus. For lunch I had a bit of a strange concoction which happened to turn out really well, I was using up some fruit and veg too. I had a Momma D’s sausage roll, warmed in the oven, with white and red cabbage, carrot and gherkins and I really enjoyed it. I had pomelo and pineapple for afters and then made plans to collect my passport.
It was 1 week since my visa had expired, I’d had it confirmed verbally that it was extended until 9th August but had not actually seen it to see if it had that date, or even an ‘XC’ was written on it. I’d purposely not let the visa/passport issue stress me out this month and figured if it came down to it I’d just book the next available flight and go to Turkey. I was keen to go to the newly improved pizza night at The Villas that night so I got a lift with Duyet to the Phong Nha Farmstay in the jeep and arrived about 5.15pm. My passport was there and I was pleased to see it had the stamp I needed to stay for another month. I decided to have a celebratory beer, in fact I had 2, mistakenly thinking beers were 2 for 1 on happy hour. I ended up taking one with me because the shuttle bus to The Villas arrived on time. Lan, the manager at The Villas, came over to fill me in on the new rules of pizza night; instead of getting random slices that you either accept or decline when offered and until you’ve had enough, you could select your own pizza. It was still 100,000vnd (£3.20) for any pizza from the new list but didn’t include a beer or soft drink this time. So, the deal was less of a bargain for someone who could eat more than 8 slices and liked a beer but was better for someone who is more particular on the toppings they like and doesn’t usually have a beer. I preferred this new way and I finally decided I would have the Classic pizza and 1 beer which made my total spend 130,000vnd (£4.16) and I managed to eat almost all of it by the time Veronika came to sit down and ordered a smoked duck salad. It was a busy night and Ben was on duty sorting out the kids who were inside all having Margherita pizza and behaving very well. As there was just me in my ‘group’ I wasn’t able to fully take advantage of the great pizza prices, if there was a few of us we could have ordered a selection and shared so I would try that the next time perhaps. It would also be better for some of my Vietnamese friends who can only manage a couple of slices each of pizza and could share. Even though I didn’t this time, I thought it was a good idea to be able to add extra toppings for 10,000vnd (£0.31) and think I’d also give that a go in future.
I wasn’t hungry when I got up on Thursday 15th July but I was aware that there were quite a few things that I still needed to eat up out of the fridge before starting on the new stuff. I had to salvage pieces of banana from the 3 blackish ones for my pancake and, because the housekeeping staff were in our room, I decided to roast the jackfruit seeds. Once they were cooked I began the laborious task of peeling them while Veronika sat down opposite me with a cup of tea and watched the process. I gave her some to try, she liked them and I put some in a jar for the Elements Collection staff to eat, I froze the rest to put in a curry another day. The housekeeping staff took almost 2 hours (they are very thorough and do a great job) and so I sat drinking jasmine tea with the fan on, Veronika went to the Phong Nha Farmstay for her coffee fix. I had an amazing lunch, the leftover BBQ jackfruit, which I reheated in the slow cooker, served on a baguette with shredded red and white cabbage, carrot and gherkins – it tasted much better than the last time we had it too.
I was having a cold beer by the pool, I didn’t go in because of my eczema, when Veronika came to tell me that tonight’s pick up would be earlier if I wanted to go for fish and chips at The Villas at 5.10pm – not one to miss out on a Happy Hour I got ready for an early bar. My current visa had expired 6 days ago and I hadn’t heard to say if my passport was back in Phong Nha yet so I decided to see if I could pick it up from The Villas, if it was back. You need good patience here because it just so happened that it was already at the Phong Nha Farmstay reception but I’d not been told – I was a bit more chilled out than previous passport encounters and said I’d pick it up tomorrow, happy to have got it back in a week this time. Ben was taking the Phong Nha Farmstay guests’ kids stand up paddle boarding before dinner, hence the early pick up and when we arrived I bumped in to Moon from Funny Monkeys. She was doing her delivery rounds of cookies made at Bella Cafe, within Funny Monkeys. A dishevelled Stu came out to collect 2 big jars and had just woke up and had hardly had time to put his shirt on before Moon was taking his photo and calling him handsome as she buttoned his shirt. Veronika had been interested in buying some cookies for some time so she arranged to walk and get some this evening when Moon was back from her deliveries. These cookies really were going down a storm and were a popular addition to the treats we can get in the town now. I sat in the Aircon at The Villas with a margarita and did some blogging as I had the whole room to myself. One of the cavers told me that he and Tatas had got back from their cave trip earlier than planned so I messaged her to say to come for a drink. When Tatas arrived Happy Hour had finished but she still had a couple of margaritas. Stu came to join us while I had fish and chips and the food took a bit longer than usual to come because of all the guests at The Villas tonight – I didn’t mind as it was good to see it busy again.
I had an exciting day on Wednesday 14th July; while Captain Caveman had gone to Son Doong for another 4 days I was booked on the Phong Nha Farmstay’s weekly shopping trip at 8.30am. I had a very small budget to work with this week so I had to be really careful if I wanted to be able to go out for some meals as well as cooking at home. Bich picked up Veronika and I from Elements Collection and already in the car were 2 other passengers. One was a customer who was very nice and friendly and so we had a good chat while we drove to Dong Hoi, I was particularly interested in her home country of Bhutan and why her and her family were moving to Ethiopia. Our first stop was the Organic Shop where I was absolutely delighted to find they had popcorn kernels, unfortunately they were expensive but I decided to get them anyway and popped back the brown rice biscuits I was going to buy. I really wanted to buy the juicy looking cherries but, even though they had come down in price, they were still 400,000vnd (£12.80) per kilo – instead I sensibly bought some carrots. Our next shop was the VinMart supermarket where the girl on the reduced veg and fruit weighing machine counter had started to recognise me and pointed out the pumpkin which I got as well as a selection of other cheap produce. I didn’t manage to get everything on the shopping list but I still got quite a few things before putting our stuff in the car then joining Bich at QB Casa cafe.
For those of you who do like a good shopping list and a nosey here’s what I bought and the cost in dong:
VinMart Supermarket 1 pack of pumpkin 2,778 1 pack of pumpkin 2,999 1 pack of white cabbage 5,472 1 can of soda water 6,500 1 baguette 9,500 1 pack of broccoli 15,232 1 can of coconut milk 16,000 2 cans of diet coke 19,000 2 packs of pineapple 23,000 Washing up liquid 23,000 1 jar of tomato pasta sauce 27,000 500g of penne pasta 30,000
Total spent 180,481vnd (£5.76)
It wasn’t a thorough shopping trip but interestingly I didn’t buy any item that was over £1 in VinMart, do you think you could do that in your local supermarket and get most things for the week? What did I miss?
After shopping, Veronika, who likes a coffee in a morning, had taken herself off to the Vinpearl Hotel reception for a cappuccino, when she saw we were all in QB Casa she came over and ordered another cappuccino and found not only was it cheaper but it was better! Bich had ordered steak and chips for her breakfast so I decided to have the same, and I also ordered a fresh coconut. I was thoroughly impressed with my meal, the service was good even though the staff are a bit shy and not too confident speaking English, but that didn’t matter to me. I paid 200,000vnd (£6.40) for steak, chips, a warm baguette and veg, a fresh coconut, water and included a tip, I was very full and left there thinking I would definitely go again.
When we got in I popped my shopping away and realised I still had a small amount of almond milk left so I made myself a dairy free white russian to have with some gluten and dairy free chocolate brownie. My eczema on my face was still bad so I avoided putting my face in the water as much as possible while swimming and didn’t stay in too long. I watched some Netflix and made some popcorn, I had some of the old kernels left and when I popped the new and old together it was clear to see the organic shop was much better quality so I didn’t feel so bad for spending too much on it – it still works out better than crisps. After dinner, of a chicken sandwich, I found a cockroach in the bathroom and was a bit anxious about trying to get it as they are usually indestructible (this one was massive and extremely fast) but I sprayed it with Mosfly before bed and hoped it would be dead when I got up.
On Tuesday 13th July Captain Caveman had to return Tatas’ motorbike to her and so I asked him to take the cake she left at our place on Sunday night back to give her, but when I sent her a message to remind her about it she told me that he hadn’t given her the cake! We already had 3 more pieces of cake at home so it would be a mystery (for now) as to what happened to the cake. I ate some pomelo and mangosteen for breakfast with jasmine tea and read the news as usual. It was reported that finally people from Saigon have to self isolate on arrival in to other areas of Vietnam, so far people had been free to move to other provinces without any checks or isolation. Here’s the article: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210713/travelers-from-ho-chi-minh-city-to-other-localities-required-to-selfquarantine-for-14-days/62037.html The number of new cases was the highest ever daily amount in Vietnam so far and had more than doubled the previous day’s amount so things were starting to get more worrying. I saw on Facebook more and more westerners were planning to get out of Vietnam. Captain Caveman returned and we had crisp sandwiches as our first lunch, the crisps from The Villas and Phong Nha Farmstay are the best, Naturals. I didn’t go in the pool with Captain Caveman today because my face eczema was particularly bad and the chemicals in the pool make it worse. By 3pm we were eating our second lunch of chicken and veg stir fry with steamed rice – very tasty. That evening Captain Caveman had his next Son Doong briefing at 6pm so he cycled over to Phong Nha, he’d got a full group again, which was great news but we weren’t sure for how much longer customers would still be able to travel to go on the tours. For dinner I had chicken and gherkin sandwiches and finished the wine Tatas’ had left on Sunday, which I really should have put in the fridge. I got a message from one of the Ladies of Phong Nha to say she had decided to move to Hoi An at the end of this month so we should arrange a Ladies Night for her going away party – how could I refuse. Unfortunately Phong Nha was losing more of its Westerners as the months rolled by and the virus situation didn’t make it any easier, knowing it might be a while before any tourists, or people who had left, would be able to come back in to Vietnam.
Monday 12th July was a bit different to my usual days of late and I did a few new things for a Monday, too. Tatas had stayed over at Elements Collection and I wasn’t at all surprised when her alarm went off at 6am, as it always does! She doesn’t even wake up and turn it off but just keeps on snoozing it! So my day started off feeling very tired and I offered to either go for breakfast at the Farmstay with Tatas or make pancakes with bananas and honey for us both. Tatas wanted to go to Funny Monkeys for coffee so I decided I would get a lift to Phong Nha with her and go there for breakfast as I’d not visited there for such a long time – it would be nice to have some time in the Phong Nha town area for a change. I decided to have a peach tea which was delicious (in fact I had 2) and we joined an American guest, Leonard, who was in the wars a bit with an injured shoulder but was enjoying a milk tea. For breakfast Tatas and I ordered a bowl of the pork and prawn rice noodle soup which I really enjoyed. We were joined by Ngày, Ly Ly and Moon for a bit and Leonard was making us laugh as well as telling me interesting stories, so much so it was past midday when I got round to leaving for my next (small) adventure. I decided to walk (in the hellish heat) from Funny Monkeys to The Villas, it’s not far but I was carrying my helmet as well as a bag, there was very little shade and there was zero breeze.
When I arrived a hot sweaty mess I went to sit down outside with Veronika but Hien, the waitress, took my temperature and suggested inside with the Aircon might be better for me – she probably thought I’d put customers off looking so pink! For lunch I decided to have a Margherita pizza and a lemon juice of which I managed to eat 5 delicious slices of and put the rest in a takeaway box for later. The Villas closes at 2pm and reopens at 4.30pm so I had intended on leaving my motorbike helmet, my bag and the Naturals crisps I had bought, while I took a walk but the manager, Lan, said I could stay there until the afternoon staff came back, so I did. I wrote up a bit of blog preparation and learned some Turkish on Duolingo. Captain Caveman had returned from Son Doong and was coming to meet me for Happy Hour and a Half at 4.30pm. When he arrived he snaffled the remaining 3 slices of my pizza and we turned it into Margarita Monday.
He got picked up for his gala dinner around 6pm and I carried on with the cocktails until it was time to try The Villas’ curry night. I was joined by Stu, Max and Jack for butter chicken, steamed rice and naan bread and was very pleasantly surprised. I’d not had a buttered chicken since the closing of Namaste and Raj leaving back in September 2020 so I was happy – it tasted really good. I got a lift back with Ben and Bich quite early so Captain Caveman missed getting a lift with us and went to a leaving party at Dangerous Corner with Tatas after his gala dinner. It was 11.30pm almost when he came in, quite worse for wear.
On Saturday 10th July I had 2 gluten free, dairy free pancakes with banana and honey for breakfast and read the daily Corona stats. Unfortunately in Vietnam there had been 2 more deaths, one of them didn’t have long between diagnosis and dying, which was concerning. More info here: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/989833/two-more-covid-related-deaths-reported-in-viet-nam.html There was an updated list of categories for people receiving the vaccine in Vietnam and I would have been at the very bottom had it not been for Oxalis and Captain Caveman. Unfortunately the vaccine progress was still slow here and therefore cases were going to keep coming and deaths were inevitable, especially for those with underlying health issues already. For lunch I had the left over buffet from last night’s party and in the afternoon I decided to tackle the rather expensive pomelo for a snack and realised it would last me for days. Around 5pm, I was swimming in the pool when Veronika asked if I’d like to share some wine with her, it was very hot weather again, after some storms in the night, so of course I agreed. She even got some crackers from Momma D’s out and an avocado for nibbles. Veronika kept topping up my glass and by the time it came for me to reheat my jackfruit seed curry for dinner I was rather merry. The curry with steamed rice was absolutely delicious and very filling but, as is usual with masaman curry, it made me ill as soon as I’d eaten it.
I started what was about to be a mammoth task on Sunday 11th July; transferring all my photos and videos from the laptop to one of the SD cards. I had a slice of buttered toast and a slice of toast with jam for breakfast (with no issues) and read the news. Because the number of daily cases was getting bigger each day they were proposing even tighter measures in Saigon, more info here: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/989958/hcm-city-sets-up-mobile-teams-for-covid-19-testing-at-home-tightens-travel-from-nearby-provinces.html Reports of bringing in a quick PCR tests at Hanoi airport meant this could be better for when I leave so I wouldn’t have to travel or wait long for my result to enable me to fly to Turkey, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210711/hanoi-airport-offers-covid19-testing-service-to-passengers/62001.html For lunch I ate some pomelo and was expecting Tatas to come over for a swim in the afternoon. She arrived later than I expected which meant I had totally cleared everything of mine from the laptop and it was starting to function again, I could now view photos and videos, so started looking at old memory sticks. Tatas and I sat on the balcony with a cold beer but she hadn’t brought her swimmers. I had a bit of a swim and we arranged to go to the Happy Hour and Farmstay Sunday dinner with Veronika at 5.30pm ish. The Elements Collection staff brought us a plate each of warm jackfruit and peanut salt. I love it and was keen to tuck in to ours with another beer.
After pool time (for me) and showers for both of us all 3 of us got a lift with Duyet to the Phong Nha Farmstay. Tatas and Veronika were on the gin and tonics and I had rum and diet cokes (2 for 1 as we love a bargain) and we ordered our roast dinners. We met the first person I have ever met from Bhutan, a lovely customer from Tatas’ last Son Doong tour. Tatas had my pasta, I had her crackling, pumpkin and Yorkshire pudding and the food was excellent – I do enjoy a roast dinner almost as much as wine. Tatas decided to try a Pina Colada which she was now getting in to. She insisted on buying a bottle of red wine for us to share and we also got a glass of wine included and a carrot cake each – we took the carrot cake home as we were too full after such a substantial portion!
Craig Davis was having a leaving party on Friday 9th July at his home at Bolero homestay. Shannon and Mark had agreed to share a car which made it easier but Duyet wasn’t available, like last night, so we had to book a taxi at a higher cost of 200,000vnd each way. This is one of the reasons I very rarely go out in Phong Nha, unless it’s an organised trip with Phong Nha Farmstay to The Villas, because it’s just too expensive for a short journey here. Captain Caveman had made himself breakfast before going on his first Son Doong tour in a while, he gave me some money and told me to go to the party and not to worry about money so much, we would cope! I had toast for breakfast and caught up with the news in the UK and Vietnam. There was good news for vaccinated people in the UK who wanted to leave and return, without having to do quarantine. It was not great news for people coming back from a country where they had got a vaccine which had not been given by the NHS. More here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57763173 This meant even though I might have had my vaccinations by the time I go to England, I would still have to quarantine because I’d have had them in Vietnam, or Turkey (or both). In Vietnam there was more concern in Saigon for people trying to go anywhere as more rules and restrictions were put in place, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210709/coronavirusfree-requirement-restricts-interprovincial-travels-in-vietnam/61968.html For lunch I had a Momma D’s sausage roll out of the freezer, which cooked lovely in Veronika’s oven then before I knew it, it was time for the party. The driver picked Shannon up first, then me and then we picked up Mark. When we arrived at Craig Davis’s place two of the cavers were already there so we went to say hello. We had a tour of Mr Davis’s home which is really lovely and it’s very sad that he has to leave Vietnam. Momma D was managing the party event and the staff and her were there setting up the bar and getting the buffet ready. I had a can of Saigon beer and we chatted to Andrew and his family as he and his son got in the guitar shaped pool. The buffet was good and plentiful including some homemade chocolate brownies which were a massive hit and there were quite a few people turned up to the party which was great because Craig Davis is such a nice bloke. It was good to see old friends, Uy and Chung, for a while too. When we were leaving our host insisted we take a plateful of food home too and had really treated us all well – Phong Nha would miss him!
Our SD cards had finally arrived from Lazada and so on Thursday 8th July Captain Caveman cycled to Phong Nha to pick them up. I unpacked my suitcases hoping I wouldn’t have to repack them too soon but (just in case) I left all my winter stuff and the BBQ in the big one. I had 2 gluten free, almond milk pancakes with a banana and honey while reading the Vietnamese news. The Saigon lockdown had started with panic at the supermarkets, read more here: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnams-biggest-city-sees-panic-buying-over-virus-lockdown-fears-2021-07-07/ I made jackfruit seed curry to pop in the freezer with all the stuff we had in the fridge and it was a joint effort on the lunch. We had chicken topped with pulled BBQ jackfruit, carrot, cabbage and gherkins on baguette and it was really good (much better with the chicken). I didn’t go in the pool today because, even though it was a warm day, my eczema was playing up and I didn’t want it to get worse, as it does from the swimming pool. I also needed to get ready for the second of our Phong Nha Ladies Nights which looked to be fun!
We had planned our second phong Nha Ladies Night at Momma D’s rooftop bar! There were about 16 people invited and we had done a vote which had confirmed the majority wanted it to be on a Thursday, most people wanted it to start earlier and they wanted it sooner than having to wait a whole month for the next one. Shannon had the whole day off so was happy to get there at 4pm and then we could have sunset drinks, others who were working wanted to go about 6 or 7pm so, as is usual, no-one could agree on the leaving time for our car. I decided Shannon, Captain Caveman and I would book Duyet to take us at 5pm and we would pay 300,000vnd (£9.30) for the return journey. This way we could go with Captain Caveman who had his Son Doong briefing at Oxalis and needed to be on time. Unfortunately that meant Captain Caveman and I were already spending 200,000vnd out of our budget before I had even eaten or drank, so I decided I would only have something cheap to drink and not go mad tonight. By the time we set off there were fewer than the 16 that had said they were coming and so numbers were already diminishing and Tatas, my usual drinking partner, was in Son Doong so couldn’t come. Shannon and I had felt quite tired and so she ordered a coffee and I just had a Huda beer because it meant I could have more drinks, the cheaper they were. First to join us was Diem who was excited to be able to come out this time, then next to arrive was Tham, with a big smile on her face and she had brought duck for everyone to share. Next was Bich who started the party off with a Bloody Mary, Huyen arrived shortly after that, bringing a big bag of sim fruit for everyone to share. It was the first time of trying them for me but they taste a bit like blueberries wrapped in a then layer of carpet or fuzzy felt. I ordered roasted peanuts and tacos, some of the others ordered various things from the extensive menu including nachos and pies. Momma D gave us all free frozen Bellini shots and some extra peanuts to share. Unfortunately for various reasons we had 3 more ladies cancel after we had started the evening so only 7 out of the invited 16 were in attendance, including Momma D, but we were still up for a good time. The BBQ duck was a winner as everyone shared it, I didn’t have any but everyone said it was delicious. After a couple of Huda beers I decided to try Momma D’s own draft lager which she had recommended and was very nice – not as gassy as the Huda. The 7 of us had a very civilised evening and by 8.30pm most of the Vietnamese ladies were ready to go. I had booked Duyet to take us back when Captain Caveman finished work and could join us so the westerners had another beverage and Captain Caveman had a quick Huda when he arrived. As we were leaving there was a bit of a storm brewing and some heavy rain came but luckily Captain Caveman was able to help me on the stairs and down the ramp to the pavement. I’d enjoyed my night out despite spending just over 500,000vnd (£16) on food, drink and transport meaning I’d need to be very frugal with the housekeeping over the next few weeks, as we had a few events coming up.
On Wednesday 7th July it was clear that the number of Corona cases in Saigon were not letting up and there were some issues in trying to keep it under control so an announcement was made that Ho Chi Minh City would go in to Directive 16 lockdown from midnight, more info here: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/covid-19-sources-spread-all-over-hcmc-says-health-department-4305117.html A lot of our friends in Saigon were feeling the stress of it a bit more now and some were F1 or F2 and having to isolate. There was a morning shopping trip at 8.30am which both Captain Caveman and I decided to join Veronika and Stu on. Our first stop was the pharmacy where I bought cream for my eczema, paracetamol, contraceptive pills and some Decolgen for Captain Caveman. In all pharmacies now you have to give your name, address and phone number if you are buying any medication which could be for Corona so I had to do that and I didn’t have enough money as the face cream was so expensive that Captain Caveman had to come and bring me more cash in the now heavy rain. We also shopped at the organic shop and the VinMart before going for a fancy lunch.
We got quite a few things but we’re still meant to be on a strict budget so we were trying to be as careful as possible. Captain Caveman had been paid but after all the outgoings there wasn’t much left. Here’s the shopping we bought, for all you list lovers, prices in Dong;
Booze Shop 2 bottles of Bombay Sapphire gin 460,000
Total spent (£14.26)
Organic Shop 1 red cabbage 13,330 4 carrots 20,670 2 red peppers 47,530 1 pack of vegetable stock granules 75,000 4 potatoes 75,600 1 pomelo 157,500
Total spent 389,630 (£12.08)
VinMart Supermarket Tissues 8,500 1 baguette 9,500 1 packet of Fox’s glacier mints 15,100 6 bananas 23,880 Mushrooms 35,500 1 bag of frozen sweetcorn 41,000 10 eggs 43,900 3 180ml cartons of almond milk 69,500 1kg of chicken 88,900 1 jar of jam 138,000
Total spent 473,780 (£14.69)
The bargain of the day was the gin being only £7 per bottle which Captain Caveman was thrilled with it being cheaper for 2 bottles than my small face cream. The items we probably could have left off the list was the pomelo (which was huge) and the jam, but we got a nice free tote bag with it this time and that would come in handy for me to use in Turkey. We still didn’t buy any wine which is usually around 400,000vnd for 1 bottle and at least it was keeping me healthier! Once I got to Turkey I would drink a lot more wine as a cheap (but good) bottle there is about a third of the cost of that in Vietnam. The 2 items I would love to be able to buy are popcorn kernels and mince beef but nowhere has any in stock.
What would you have left out or added this week?
Bich had chosen the Vinpearl hotel for lunch, we were the only guests and the staff had to put the lights on as we sat at a huge table with a lazy susan! Captain Caveman and Stu ordered Caesar salads, Bich ordered prawns, Veronika chicken breast and I went completely off the diet and ordered the chicken burger (I’d taken stomach medicine in case of any issues). My food was absolutely fantastic, it came with French fries, cheese, bacon and gherkins and was only 180,000vnd (£5.58). Everyone else said their food was nice too and we had a good laugh before heading back to Phong Nha.
Captain Caveman and I had BBQ ‘pulled pork’ jackfruit on a baguette with shredded cabbage, carrot and gherkins for an early dinner. It was nice, if not a bit unusual, but it definitely wouldn’t fool a meat lover. I would have it again though, which was a good job as we now had BBQ jackfruit left, which we popped in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch. I’d organised another Ladies Night for tomorrow but was having a few problems getting people to commit to whether they were coming or not.
joloyolo 