I think it’s fair to say that Wednesday 17th April could definitely have gone better! I was in a real tangle and could not function when Captain Caveman’s alarm went off at 6am. Our flight from Noi Ba airport in Hanoi left at 8.55am and Captain Caveman had to take one for the team and get me to the airport in my completely incapable state! He had left Lizzy’s key card at our reception when she had gone home without it and this caused some confusion with the receptionist. Captain Caveman had completely done the right thing getting to the airport earlier and by 7.30am I was checked in and lolling on a seat trying not to be sick or collapse. I don’t even remember leaving the hotel, the taxi ride to the airport or going through security. How Captain Caveman was functioning I do not know and, if it wasn’t for him, I would not have made it to the flight. Looking back I was still drunk as I’d had less than 4 hours of sleep and the most alcohol I’d drank since I missed my flight in Rhodes. I slept through the flight and was glad to get in to the Oxalis car at Dong Hoi airport. I was not so thrilled to be in the back of the pick up service for a customer who was quite sociable. Luckily, Captain Caveman was dealing with all the questions. We got to Phong Nha before midday and dropped me off at Phong Nha Homestay where we were staying for a few nights. I was so happy that the early check in was available and I got straight in to bed, only then realising I was still wearing last night’s clothes. Captain Caveman had his Oxalis briefing at 6pm and, quite frankly, I was so glad it wasn’t me who had to work tonight – I was broken. I’d eaten nothing all day so I managed a full fat coke and some crisps. It was weigh day, obviously I didn’t get weighed as I’d barely made it through the day before I knew what day it was. I took my measurements to find there was no change to my bust or hips and 1cm off my waist. I counted the syns for last week, including what I’d had last night (using photos) and Captain Caveman’s rather observant memory – it was the most I’d had in months at 323 syns. I went to sleep not even checking any of my messages or getting in touch with Amanda and Greg who had come to see us in Phong Nha for a week on their way back to Australia.
Captain Caveman and I were up early on Saturday 13th April and it looked to be a hot and sunny day in Ayutthaya, Thailand. After some research, a plan had been made by Captain Caveman to visit Jaeb Tom Leud Moo, a local Thai breakfast restaurant. It was famous for its blood and entrails soup but (luckily) it was also good for dumplings. It was already busy when we arrived but we found one available table at the back. We ordered various pork, prawn (or both pork and prawn) dumplings with soy sauce, a big bottle of water, an iced coffee and a hot tea. The dumplings were only 25 baht (54p) for a dish of 2 or 3 so we ordered 3 lots initially. We loved them so ordered the same again. When the drinks came, they both had ice in and so much sugar I couldn’t tell which was tea or coffee. Captain Caveman drank both as the least offensive of the 2 drinks was full of condensed milk which I can’t stomach. We paid just over 200 baht (£4.33) for our feast and we were ready to explore the old temples of Ayutthaya.
We walked around and I tried my very best not to moan about how hot and sweaty I was but it was about 39°C by lunchtime. We’d walked round the old temple grounds, seen some elephants where people were riding them. I hate seeing tourists ride the elephants as it’s not good for them and they are probably not looked after very well. Previously, the thought of being sprayed with water in the street to celebrate the Thai new year had not been appealing to me, whereas now I could walk fully clothed in to a cold shower just to cool down.
As we approached a cafe there was a member of staff at Boran Cafe, dressed up and armed with a water gun. Captain Caveman went past without even a squirt but I lingered a bit and got my torso wet! The cafe was very nice and was probably not the cheapest place in town but it was clean and had friendly staff. Here’s what we had for lunch with the prices in Baht;
Boran Cafe 1 soda water 25 1 steamed rice 25 1 duck curry 150 Prawn Pad Thai 190 Crispy Wontons 220 3 Leo beers 240 Total spent 850 Baht (£18.44)
The food was fantastic and made me feel better, as I continued with the cold and cough. I did have one of the Leo beers just to try it and at 80 Baht (£1.74) it was good but I didn’t finish it all. The staff asked if they could put a paste on our faces which is one of the oldest of the Songkran rituals. They mixed a white powder of limestone in to a pasty substance in a bowl and got us to shove our fingers in it then smear it on each others faces as a sign of protection to ward off evil. We looked very fetching as we made our way ‘home’ trying to avoid getting too wet.
Back at Nature Home hotel, Captain Caveman went to the room to play Bridge on his phone while I went to find the pool. There was a nice small, but deep enough, pool and I chatted to a Thai guest who was there and then the owner. When Captain Caveman came down to the pool we decided to miss going to the 3.30pm water festival nearby. We bought a couple of large Chang beers for 90 Baht (£1.95) each and shared the first one while the owner stuck the second one in the freezer. It was a lovely hotel and I’d definitely stay there again if I went back to Ayutthaya.
That evening was the Thai new year’s eve and we had planned to go to the local night market which was famous for having lots of food stalls. While we were in the room getting our showers, an almighty storm started and we were going nowhere until it finished. When it did eventually stop we went out to find there were some casualties; a tree had been struck by lightening and had fallen across overhead cables on to the metal gate of a property. A group of people congregated outside and it looked like no-one was brave enough to touch anything for fear of electrocution. We found the night market but there were not many stalls that were functioning, much of it was in darkness and the vendors burned candle wax to give them some light. I decided I wouldn’t be eating from the stalls, my stomach can’t cope at the best of times, and I was concerned we couldn’t see if items were cooked or what they were. I encouraged Captain Caveman to try some food but he didn’t look keen either and we had a big day planned tomorrow. Instead, we walked the streets trying not to get soaked with water from all the Thais out on the street having water fights, or people with super-soakers and buckets in the back of pick up trucks. I was doing so well until we turned a corner and a guy with a small container threw it at me, it was quite nice in the heat. It wasn’t so nice when the next guy along tipped a bucketful on us both! We walked, sopping wet, and a bit cheesed off that we wouldn’t get our clothes dry before travel tomorrow. At least we had both put our phones and stuff in my bag inside a plastic bag to protect them from getting soaked. I even had my tissues and Hall’s mentholyptus sweets in to a plastic bag too. We had trouble finding somewhere open where we could get an evening meal and were about to give up and go back to the hotel when we came across a white building called Walk In Cafe and it also had a sign saying Grandma’s House. We walked in to the cafe which was freezing due to us being wet and the AC being on. I was starving and so we ordered some dishes to share and extra pork. I was tempted to order the cheese toast as the menu made it look amazing but the Thai dishes were better value and a bit more diet friendly. All our food was amazingly tasty and I really enjoyed it but I didn’t take any photos of it. Here’s what we had and the prices in Baht;
Walk In Cafe 1 soda water 15 1 Leo beer 90 Chicken Pad Thai 100 Chicken & Cashew nuts 100 2 crispy pork 300 Total spent 605 Baht (£13.13)
The place started to close just as we finished eating and we walked home. It was dark and we noticed the property with the fallen tree was still dealing with it. Back at the hotel, we hung our soggy clothes out to try to dry them as much as we could before we had to leave tomorrow. Captain Caveman was still in two minds whether to leave on the early train or check out at 12 and then get the train. We had plans to meet his friend for a bit of a special Thai New Year celebration.
Photo credit – some photos taken by Captain Caveman
I had no idea what time or day it was when I woke up on Sunday 10th March. My watch said 5.30am but it was hot and sunny. I just remembered getting a Grab taxi with Andrea and Elena after the first set of the band at Acoustic bar last night. I’d paid 850,000vnd (£27.19) in total for my Mexican food and drinks. I recall not paying for the glass of wine I had in Acoustic and Andrea had paid for the Grab. I remembered getting the quiet Vietnamese group next to me to dance and then we were headbanging to Highway to Hell just before we realised it was definitely time to leave. The others had work in the morning and I was starting to get a bit of jet lag. Today, wasn’t to be wasted though, as I had people to see. I met Keith (from Grimsby) and his girlfriend, Trinh, at the Bia Craft bar near to where I was staying. We had water, beer and some nibbles. I ordered BBQ pork and edamame beans which were lovely. Keith noticed the increased price of a small craft ale being 39,000VND (£1.25) now so we didn’t stay long. My total bill came to 225,000VND (£7.20) which I didn’t think was too steep. We called at a roadside bar, called Twister, for one more beer where a draft Tiger lager was 60,000VND (£1.92) so quite pricey really. Our next place to visit was a favourite of Keith’s, where he gets all his lunches from for work. Soma was really nice and we ended up chatting to the owner, Scotty, who seemed familiar but we couldn’t work out if we had met before. The food there was healthy so I made a note to come here while I was staying at The Common Inn. Scotty bought us some beers so I couldn’t work out the individual price but I remember they were less than Twister, which was good. That evening, I stayed in at the hotel and for my dinner I had a ham sandwich from Micro Boulingerie, next door, where they do the most amazing sandwiches. I also forgot that I had supposedly given up chocolate for lent and ate a chocolate cookie which I’d bought at Soma. My Netflix had issues with my device being in Vietnam, instead of Turkey, even though it’s a Vietnamese account so I had to faff about getting a code from Seamus to be able to finish off a series I’d started. At 9pm (2pm UK time) I video called my parents for my first call with them from Vietnam. I didn’t go to bed/sleep until gone midnight as my head still thought it was only 8pm.
I was served another inflight meal at 3.15am on Saturday 9th March. I almost declined it as they said it was omelette but it consisted of chicken sausage and garlic spinach with the omelette on the side so it was edible. At 5.30am (local time), I was off the plane and walking through Bangkok airport. My next flight was due to fly at 7.45am to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) so I didn’t have an awful lot of time for fannying about. We boarded my third plane at about 7am and, after taking off on time, I got given another nice Thai Airways meal; fruit salad, prawn spaghetti, a hot drink and a water. By 10am, Vietnamese time, I was in the very long immigration queue at Saigon airport. I met a nice couple in front of me in the queue who were in Vietnam for the first time and were on their honeymoon. They had the 45 day visa exemption which is available for UK passport holders. I had purchased a 90 day multiple entry visa online for $50 prior to coming to Vietnam and had it printed out ready. The man at immigration checked my 90 day visa and all was smooth with the stamp in to Vietnam, allowing me to remain in the country until the 5th June. Just 52 minutes later, I was outside in the humidity and hot sun. I got a taxi from the domestic terminal of the airport, which should have cost less, to the Common Inn in Thao Dien (District 2). I ended up paying 350,000vnd (£11.25) but at least it wasn’t as bad as the last trip where they tried to con me out of 2,000,000VND and we had to report it.
The check-in time at the Common Inn was 2pm but I was allowed in before noon, glad of a shower and a lay down. That evening, I met Andrea and some of her friends for margaritas and Mexican food at District Federal, in Thao Dien. The margaritas were great te food so tasty and we had a good laugh. It was a brilliant night, ending in watching a live band at Acoustic bar who finished the first half of their gig with an amazing rendition of Highway to Hell.
Unfortunately, there was a full power outage, from 7am, in Dalyan on Saturday 24th February but Jamie had sent me a warning about it. This gave me a good excuse that I would have to have breakfast from the market today. I got up and sorted out Norman and Edna, then made a cup of Yorkshire tea with Jamie’s whistling kettle on the gas hob! It seemed a bit cold so I got on the sofa with the dogs and a blanket while I drank my tea and caught up with a few online chores. I went to the weekly market and here’s what I bought (prices in lira);
Mushrooms 15 Potatoes 18 Bananas 55 Strawberries 100 Apples and Chestnuts 125 1 cheese and mushroom gözleme 75 Total spent 388 lira (£9.95)
I’d got talking to Cath and Keith while I was picking bananas out and unfortunately instead of the 5 I wanted to buy going in to my bag, I got a whole bunch of them. The gözleme had increased in price a bit more too, but I didn’t think 75 lira (£1.92) for breakfast was unreasonable. The walk home was sweaty and my bag was heavy. I had cucumber water and rose tea, some strawberries and the gözleme when I got back to Jamie’s. For lunch I just had a red apple and a litre of cucumber water. I sunbathed outside for a bit and even had to pop on some suncream as it was warm. By 4pm we were all back indoors cooling down and I was going to have a shower before the dog walk. I got in the shower but the water was cold and it turned out that, because of the power outage earlier, the boiler was off. I messaged Jamie so he could get the plumber out. I could’ve gone over to our apartment for a shower but I didn’t bother. We did the dog walk, avoided the pub or any alcohol and I had a sweet and sour chicken with rice for dinner. On the sofa I caught up with The Apprentice on TV and even Edna couldn’t believe how stupid some of the candidates were.
There was a bit of activity on Sunday 25th February; I was joining the Sunday walk which Carol (from Fat Club) had organised, the plumber was coming to fix the boiler and I was joining an online launch party with Lisa Johnson later. I didn’t have a cup of tea this morning as I needed to get Norman and Edna sorted and fed before I left for the Sunday walk. Norman knew it was a Sunday and was stood at the bottom of the stairs trying to get me to take him back to bobos. I nearly didn’t go on the walk because the plumber was coming at 1pm and I wasn’t sure we’d be back in time, given we were walking to the Sultaniye mud baths. Carol had confirmed we should be back in time so I’d agreed to meet at the Denizkızı ferry. I met Tina (from Fat Club) and her hubby, Paddy, at Tez bar at 9.30am and we walked the 20 minutes to the meeting point together. It was quite a turn out and I said hello to a few of the walkers as we got on the ferry to cross the river. The ferry was just 10 lira (26p) each way for a foot passenger which was a bargain for the short trip. Ghislaine loaned me the use of Honey, her 13 year old spaniel, who could certainly motor but did like to pee a lot. It was quite a hard walk for me and unfortunately we didn’t get to the mud baths until gone 11.30am. This meant that, because I had insisted that I be back by 1pm, the group couldn’t enjoy any time at the mudbaths. We all had a quick pee, I was the only woman to brave the squat toilet, as I was in practice for my travels next month.
The walk back was hard and we stopped off for a drink at Pirates and Skulls, a nice little cafe. I just had an orange juice and tried to get the correct information on the times of the ferries. I had a panic on as I possibly wouldn’t be back in time for the plumber or to let the dogs out after them being alone after almost 4 hours. I messaged Jamie to see if he could delay the plumber, paid the 70 lira (£1.79) for my orange juice and decided to go for the ferry anyway. Ausaf, Lyn, Debbie and Christine came too, leaving some of the group having a few bevvies. The ferry turned out to go back and forth without a timetable so we were in luck, as well as Christine coming to the rescue with her hubby, Jez, picking us up at the other side and dropping me at Jamie’s. I was more concerned with being late to let the dogs out but they were fine and snoozing away. I’d just let them out on the back garden when the plumber turned up and he fixed the boiler really quickly. Norman and Edna knew him so, of course, Edna had to get some male attention from the nice man! For lunch I had a chicken pasta dish while Norman wanted to know why I’d been on a walk with another dog! I felt a bit guilty and even worse when I had to do only a short dog walk with them because I could hardly walk myself. For dinner I had miso soup with egg noodles and lots of fruit salad. At 11pm I joined the launch party Facebook live with Lisa Johnson and a massive number of other people. It was really motivating and encouraged me to get on and start taking some action. I was really excited for next week’s free course and was glad my friend, Heather, had prompted me to get involved. Finding a job with my unique requirements and talents was going to prove difficult, but setting up in business might just suit me better. By bedtime I was still hungry and had to have a buttered crumpet with cheese and olives. This meant I was already on 174 syns for the week. I’d had a great day and had only spent 90 lira (£2.31) but tomorrow was my last full day with Norman and Edna.
I was back at Victory Road Villas again on Thursday 22nd June having the same as yesterday for breakfast; pho ga, fresh coconut and jasmine tea. It was delicious and easily my favourite breakfast – I would miss it when I left Vietnam. I had just 1 week left until my visa expired and I would be flying out of Saigon airport, heading for Rhodes! At 6am it was less than 30°C, by 8.30am it was hotting up but I really seemed to be finally getting a little more accustomed to it. I had a fruit salad with muesli and sugar free yoghurt before cycling home in 37°C, almost unfazed!
Here’s my bill from The Villa’s for my breakfast and lunch;
Jasmine tea 30,000 Fresh coconut 50,000 Pho Ga 75,000 Fruit, muesli, yoghurt 95,000 Total cost 250,000vnd (£8.25)
I worked from home in the afternoon but then got ready for my night out with several friends. I decided to wear Carol’s white dress again (no one noticed the pocket last time) and I popped Steve’s sunglasses in to my bag as I was off for sunset at the Phong Nha Farmstay. Bich, the owner, had booked me a taxi, for 200,000vnd (£6.60) each way, to pick me up at 5pm from the Glass House, I then picked up Kat from her house and Tatas from her’s. We’d all wore dresses so we looked nice and we were excited for sundowner cocktails at the Farmstay. This was my first visit this year so it was nice to be back and see everyone, including the lovely staff. Melissa and her family were there and it was great to see them again, the last time had been in Hoi An over a year ago. Bich came to join us and I got to briefly see Michael and Howie, Ben (their dad) was back in Australia. Andrew, Trang and a couple of extra kids were there to say hello and Hawk was visiting from Hoi An too. It was great to see everyone while drinking our 2 for 1 cocktails but I did feel like I couldn’t give everyone my full attention. I didn’t know it at the time but this was probably the last time I would see most of these friends this year. Gin and tonics were 50,000vnd (£1.65) for 2, my rum and coke was a little more at 65,000vnd (£2.15) so we had a few before going on to the wine. I ordered my favourite dish, the beef in bamboo, Tatas had a chicken salad and Kat chose the sausage sandwich and chips. Kat had a carrot cake for dessert and I had a spoon of it, Tatas had a chocolate brownie with ice cream which I resisted. Even though I’d put some weight back on, my new clothes still fit fine and I wanted it to stay that way.
For those wondering, here was our bill at the Phong Nha Farmstay with the prices in Dong;
4 X 2 for 1 G&T 200,000 2 X 2 for 1 R&C 130,000 Sausage sandwich 145,000 Chicken salad 120,000 Beef in Bamboo 210,000 Carrot cake 70,000 Brownie 120,000 1 bottle house wine 400,000 2 bottles (not house) wine 1,040,000 Total bill including service + tax/vat came to 2,812,425vnd (£92.81).
We didn’t leave until gone midnight, it had been a brilliant evening which would actually turn out to have been my leaving party!
I landed at 5.45am in Singapore on Sunday 14th May, 6 hours ahead of Greece and Turkey (8 hours ahead of the UK). Even though I’d had some sleep, it had been a bit uncomfy and I was not looking forward to my lay over in Singapore. I would ordinarily have hammered the lounge but the thought of drinking any alcohol made me feel sick. My next flight wasn’t until 1.25pm which meant I had about 7 hours to kill. I had a little rest in a quiet spot but wasn’t there long as a load of people came and sat next to me, making a noise. The amount of people who listen to their phone on high volume instead of having earphones in makes me so angry! I do not want to listen to it! I decided that I would go to a lounge in Changi airport to pass the time on and for a bit of peace. I didn’t drink any alcohol though, which was a first for me in an airport lounge. I just did 3 hours in there and ate some nice food before finding a reclined seat for a nap. I set my alarm and was about to drift off when the guy next to me decided he would have a very loud conversation on his phone, in the quiet area! At the gate for my flight from Singapore to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), the staff insisted that I put my hand luggage in the hold because the plane was full. This was annoying as I didn’t want to be waiting for luggage at the other end. I decided to take out all my essentials, including my laptop, in case the luggage went missing – I didn’t take any spare clothes out though. My third flight was uneventful and took less than 2 hours, landing in Saigon at 2pm. It took me 2 hours to get through the very lengthy queues at immigration. I had a little wobble when the official asked where my visa was, I told him I was entering on the 15 day visa exemption, he said “no” and pointed to the visa area, expecting me to go to buy a visa. I knew this was not the case and stood my ground, maybe he was confused or maybe they were trying to get people to spend money on visas they didn’t need. Anyway, after a few minutes, he let me through but by then the carousel for our luggage had been stopped and my case was not there. Great!
At around 4pm on Sunday 14th May, I found a baggage handler, in Saigon International airport, and tried to ask him where the cases from my Singapore flight were. He said ‘finished’, which was useful! The queue for the lost luggage was rather large so I grabbed a man with a lanyard who looked official, to explain my predicament. He asked if I had checked at the other end of the airport, I hadn’t (obviously) so off I toddled. I found my case sat in a corner, by itself, 10 carousels further along. Brilliant, I would have fresh clothes to wear now! As instructed by Captain Caveman previously, I went to the domestic terminal to get the taxi and managed to be more assertive than I was last time at this airport. He tried to tell me to get in a different taxi and I said no and chose the one I would get, for myself. It was extremely hot in Saigon and very humid, I was still dressed in jeggings and trainers! The taxi cost less than 250,000vnd and took less than half an hour to get to one of my favourite hotels, The Common Inn, where Captain Caveman was staying. When I arrived he was already there and had been on a mammouth cycle ride with a brewery stop off! I had the luxury of a hot shower (I’d not had one since Friday afternoon) and popped on a dress as we were in a rush to go out. We went to Mad Wine in Thao Dien and Captain Caveman said how happy he was that I was finally here, little did he know I nearly wasn’t! Our friend Andrea arrived, who’d also been on the cycle ride and she’d been a little tired afterwards so wasn’t joining us for dinner. Valerie arrived next for just a drink and we all had a wine or two to celebrate being back in Vietnam. It was really nice to see Andrea and Valerie and I was surprised that Captain Caveman had thought to organise a reunion rather than have a quiet night in – he was even happy to take photos and I knew Steve’s sunglasses would come in handy! There’s always a method in Captain Caveman’s madness though; our flight tomorrow had been changed! It had been brought forward to 8.30am, we needed to be at the airport by 7.30am so it would be an early get up and the promised shopping trip was no more. To further smooth the disappointment of us not being in Saigon very long and Captain Caveman having to be back at work tomorrow at 6pm, he had chose somewhere nice to dine tonight. To be honest, I could quite easily have gone straight to bed but Captain Caveman was going to be away for the first 4 days of me being in Phong Nha. We went to a place called Arto House in Thao Dien, District 2, which had been recommended by another of Captain Caveman’s cycling mates. We shared a burrata cheese starter which was amazing, then I had duck and Captain Caveman had pasta with lots of mushrooms. The food and the bottle of red wine we shared was so good and it was a great first meal in Vietnam. Our bill came to 1,567,500vnd (£51.73) including the bottle of nice wine. I noticed that Captain Caveman must no longer be suffering with his gout, like he was in December, because mushrooms and red wine are usually triggers for it. I hardly remember getting back to the Common Inn as I was starting to feel a bit of jet lag. Captain Caveman ordered the car to go to the airport for 5am the next day and we set out alarms. Tonight I would probably dream about sleep!
I wasn’t too impressed when my alarm went off at 5am on Wednesday 27th July. I got ready quickly and made sure I had everything I needed. I had given Captain Caveman some of my stuff to make my bag a bit lighter but I made sure I had snacks, spare clothes, a travel towel and pillow. I hoped I would get some more sleep during the journey and was pleased we had paid 1,000,000vnd (£35) for the sleeper bus, rather than the 850,000vnd for the mini-van. I arrived at the Lynn Visa office, the Danang pick up point, in plenty of time and saw people getting in the mini-van. No one checked who I was or spoke to me but, as Lynn herself got in the mini-van, she shouted to a group of us that her husband was on his way. Within a few minutes Lynn’s husband was there, as well as a bright yellow bus. I was the second person to get on and I chose the second seat, bottom deck, behind the driver, hoping to avoid sunlight on the way there. The bus wasn’t full but there were still plenty enough passengers and I wondered how quiet it would be. By 5.50am I was comfortably reclined in my seat and as ready as I would ever be for the journey. The bus itself was comfortable, it wasn’t the spangly new blue bus depicted on the Lynn Visa Facebook page but it was no worse than the usual sleeper buses around. It could have done with a bit of a clean in between trips as there were bits of food on my window ledge but there was a blanket provided for each passenger and the AC was wonderfully cool. We were due to set off at 6am and we did so exactly on time, Mr Lynn Visa had us all check that we had our passports and that our visas matched the details on the passports. He didn’t check any of our names or count us so I wondered if anyone may have missed the bus if they were late. I had a little nap and then woke up at 7.20am for the toilet stop and to see we were almost half way to Hue. I let Captain Caveman know my progress and went back to the bus, remembering to remove my shoes (it is expected to take your shoes off on sleeper buses) then more napping. We didn’t stop at Hue to pick anyone else up so I wondered if that may have been the (logistical) reason to charge Captain Caveman so much for a drop off there on our way. By 9.40am we had another toilet break at a nice service station then were passing through Dong Ha, making good progress to be at the Lao Bao border before lunch.
At 11.30am we were minutes away from the border crossing when Mr Lynn Visa announced that we would be stopping for our lunch break. Now, I know we are in Vietnam and it is customary for Vietnamese people to eat lunch early, but I wasn’t bothered about a stop for lunch. Everyone got in the queue and it looked like a meal of chicken, rice, veggies and tofu was on offer but I can’t comment on the price or taste of it as I had a banana which I brought with me. I took advantage of a toilet break, which weren’t bad at the restaurant and they had soap. I got back on the bus before the others to find one of the passengers was noisily eating crisps so I had a cracker and a GF chocolate cookie. Once everyone was back on the bus, we drove 2 minutes and got off again. It was hot as we walked with our passports and visas to the immigration desks. I got chatting to a couple of passengers as we waited inside the main building, which was very hot. After about an hour, we were sent to exit Vietnam in small groups, once we had been stamped out of Vietnam and had our passports back. There was a bit of a wait and I was one of the last to do the walk in the hot sun to the Laos entry point. One of our group had bad legs and really struggled, plus the sun was relentless and no shade at all. The walk was only about 10 minutes but I wish I’d brought a hat and suncream as I felt my face burning.
As I walked in to the small immigration office on the Laos side, Lynn Visa was at the counter assisting people. We had to show our passport and give $45 in clean notes to the official. We also gave Lynn Visa 100,000vnd for the Vietnamese exit stamp. It was hot and there was a second fan which had the plug cut off. Everyone was extremely sweaty and there were not enough chairs for people to sit down while they waited. For those people who didn’t have their passport-sized photos, as requested by Lynn Visa, you could pay $5 to the immigration and they would take one for you. This would have probably been a cheaper option for me, given that I got a taxi to and from a photo shop to get mine, but sometimes it’s good to just be prepared and means we weren’t waiting as long. When I gave my dollars the $1 and $2 notes were not new, so they wouldn’t take them and I ended up giving a $50 note for my Laos visa. If you don’t have dollars or they aren’t in good enough condition, they will allow you to pay in Vietnamese Dong and Lynn Visa did inform me of this before the trip. After waiting a while, we were again given passports back in various batches and were told we could take the walk back to the Vietnam immigration point. We were also told a few times not to put any money with our passports or visa and, if asked, not to give any money and to say we were with Lynn Visa for the visa run. Again, I was one of the last and I got chatting to a couple of the other passengers. We noticed a golf buggy vehicle outside and discovered for 10,000vnd (£0.35) we could get a ride between the immigration points. Well, I was pretty surprised that we weren’t told about this, considering Lynn Visa does this trip once or twice per week. When we asked Lynn Visa about it, she said she hadn’t recommended it because her preference is to walk. A few of us got on the golf buggy and went back, shocked that the lady with the bad leg had struggled when she could have had transport so cheaply. Once back at the Vietnamese entry/exit point we had another wait for our entry stamp, the one which was going to allow us to stay in Vietnam until 26th August.
By 2.50pm I was finally through immigration and back on Vietnamese soil for another 30 days. I checked my passport and visa stamp to ensure they were correct then walked to the bus. I decided to go look for a place to get a cold drink and a toilet break and found a lovely cafe hidden behind a big lorry. It was clean and only 15,000vnd (£0.53) for a cold green tea. While I was there I saw 2 English passengers from our bus who had not been able to complete their visa run so they were going to be trying again tomorrow. It was not long after 3pm when we were all back on the bus, except for those 2 passengers, and heading back. Everyone but me and 2 Irish girls were going back to Danang, I’d asked Mr Lynn Visa if he knew where in Hue we would get dropped off, so that I could ask Captain Caveman to arrange a taxi for me. He said he didn’t know so when Lynn Visa herself got on our bus, to travel back with us, I checked with her. She said they weren’t able to drop off in Hue city but it would be near by. I couldn’t get the exact location from her but I explained I didn’t have access to Grab and wanted to arrange for my other half to sort out my lift. At 4.50pm we were back at the nice services again and making good progress to be back in Hue before 7pm. I asked again about the location of the drop off but I still didn’t get to find out where it was, just reassurance from Lynn Visa it would be as near to Hue as possible and there would be taxis available from there. At 5.40pm I let Captain Caveman know I was 28km away from where he was and looked like I would get dropped off shortly. Unfortunately, the bus suddenly stopped 22km away from Hue on the main road and dropped us off outside a phone shop at around 6pm. There was me and the 2 young Irish girls with all their luggage, I messaged Captain Caveman with our location and he would get us a taxi. There were 2 old guys on motorbikes telling us they could take us to Hue for 200,000vnd (£7) each and it would be about a 30 minute drive. They had no spare helmets and we had too much luggage between us so I politely said ‘no thank you’. Captain Caveman called me to say he was having trouble getting us a car and to go in to the shop to ask them to call a taxi, I could hardly hear what he was saying because of the noise of the busy road. None of us were too happy that we had been dropped off so far away, with no real plan of how to get to Hue but eventually Anna, one of the Irish girls, got us a Grab taxi and we went to their accomodation. It cost another 250,000vnd to get to the centre of Hue from where Lynn Visa chose to drop us off. None of us were expecting the extra expense but we were glad that there was 3 of us to share the cost. The motorbike drivers continued hassling us quite a bit and it was stressing me out.
Captain Caveman decided to get a taxi to come to meet me, and my new travel buddies, at Hue Backpackers. By 8pm we were in the bar having a (much needed) cold drink and laughing about the whole fiasco. I was definitely glad I had not been alone at the drop off point, somewhere not that near to Hue. We were also fortunate that it was still light and the weather was incredibly dry and hot. Captain Caveman and I were meant to be going out for dinner but I no longer had time to go back to our homestay to change and had to do so in the toilet of the restaurant. I was hot, sweaty, hungry and tired as we got to La Jardin de la Carambole and we finally got to eat (my first meal of the day) at 9pm. We both had the French onion soup to start and the duck for main and it was very enjoyable. We had a nice bottle of white wine and it was good to have done the visa run successfully, despite the 14 hours it took from start to finish. After our meal, we got a taxi to our accommodation, The Purple Hue Homestay, where we had a ground floor room with a separate bathroom outside of the room and adjoining the communal kitchen. The place was nice but I hadn’t brought pyjamas and the bath towels were not big enough for Western women to cover everything up at once. The shower was very good, with toiletries provided and it felt good to finally be clean again. The bed was comfy with great pillows and I was fast asleep in no time. Tomorrow we would go back to Phong Nha again, where we’d be until the end of August.
joloyolo 