Sunday 18 May 2008

This is the life.

3/5 - Breakfast on the beach, then a stroll along it to see what is what. There are some nice places along here, but I think I have the best deal by far. Some massage ladies came over and they were so amazed at my body, they started touching me up, well feeling my shoulders and patting belly. I don't think it was the muscle tone that impressed them. They are lovely and friendly and have beautiful smiley eyes. I stopped swooning and carried on to the end of the beach. I knew it was the end because of the big barbed wire fence. The last place on the beach is th poshest and probably has the worst spot, if nearest the town. I stopped for a coffee in their cafe on the beach. I queried the bill at 27,000 dong, 80p. It is usually about 6,000 for a coffee, the service charge was as much as the usual price. Guess where I wont be going again. There is no obvious path from the beach to the road to town, so I wandered through the hotel. It is very posh and has all the amenities, but a bit too posh for me and too costly probably. It has been raining all morning, but light enough to walk in. There's something nice about walking in warm rain. The town is almost completely geared up for tourists. I came in to book some diving, but there is a notice on the shop door saying it is out of season. It looks like I blew that one. There are a couple of other dive shops in town that are still open, but Rainbow divers has a good reputation, so I'll play it safe. The sign outside one of the shops says visiblity is 6 metres, so it would be hard work possibly. The internet shop was next door, so I popped in. It was like kindergarden, screaming kids running around bashing keyboards. They only bashed mine once, then the Grandad look took over, no more hassle. I was glad to get out of there away from the noise. They are gaming mad here and shout at each other as they go along.
Ad-hoc motos stop to offer their services, but they are opportunists, they don't carry a 2nd helmet.
I stopped off to phone the kids, with perfect timing, as the heavens opened and it stopped when I left. Some school kids joined me on the walk back, practicing their English and no doubt taking the mickey in Vietnamese. They are very polite and have a good laugh, which is generally the way over here.
I ducked through another hotel to get back to the beach, also a very nice place. The beach is smashing and I got a dab on walking in the drizzle, so I dumped my gear and took a dip. There's hardly a soul on the beach, it's very tranquil here, apart from the sea. After my bit of exercise I had an excuse for a beer, not that one is needed, I'm on holiday STILL. I even had a curry too. It is similar to Cambodian curry, very coconutty and very nice. A German lass left a few minutes ago and then reappeared, fretting over a bunch of dogs on the beach, so I did my Sir Galahad bit and offered to walk her back. Another character for my pscytzophrenia portfolio. (I'm going to have to learn how to spell.) She was afraid of the dark too, so being Mr Efficient, another character, I took out my torch, if I'd been Mr Clever-Efficient, I'd have offered to walk her back to her place, which is set back from the beach, hence the need for the torch, but I couldn't chat a lass up in a brothel, so I handed over my torch. She is trustworthy, I'll get it back. I stood on something on the way back and got stung, that'll teach me to be so clever. It was a good excuse to have a painkiller in the bar before heading for the hammock and a read before crashing out.