Phan Thiet Mar'12

The week after I came back from Saigon was fairly quiet. I did my usual stuff but stayed close to home. The following weekend I'd decided that I would go and stay in Mui Ne. I hadn't seen Ola since her birthday and it was time I made the effort to get over there. I've seen a lot of Sasha but it does require an effort on my part to get myself to Mui Ne despite the fact that it's only about twenty kms and I can take the local bus for less than 50p. On the Saturday morning I had coffee with Anh Chien, then put on my hoodie, cap and covered my hands and started the ride to Mui Ne. I'm becoming a bit Vietnamese as regards covering up when I am cycling but I knew that since I was cycling in the heat of the day, sunblock wouldn't be enough to protect me. The ride was fine, in fact it was easier than I had expected. I haven't done it in a long time and it was the first time that I'd done it alone. Sasha had booked me a room at a small guesthouse that is actually owned by the father of a former student. It was nice to see my student, Jack, again. I met Ola at the Sailing Club, bumping into Larissa on the way in. It was so nice to sit and chat with Ola, a fellow Brit. Although she does have her hands full with her four month old daughter, Charlotte. I was on my way out and stopped for a chat with Larissa again, she mentioned that she's looking for someone to run their kids club on the weekend, she said she would throw in meals and massages. I was tempted for a split second but then reality reasserted itself. I can't give up my weekends, not no way, no how.I know I would quickly come to resent not having a whole day off.I spent the afternoon with Sasha and her friend Meridith relaxing by a pool before heading to Sasha's and having some drinks. It was a good night out, we went to Ganesh for dinner and then to Funkey for some more drinks. It was really nice to have had a day with the girls. A lot of my spare time recently has been spent with guys and considering the amount of time I used to spend with Anna, I think it's unsettled me. I've not been really happy, maybe I'm missing Anna more than I realise and just because I'm busy doesn't mean I miss her any less, or the fact that I do enjoy having the house to myself. Anyway some feminine company was just what I needed. The following week was OK. I had coffee on the Monday with Hieu, a woman who works as a translator at Binh Thuan newspaper. She's lovely, but very pregnant. I seem to be surrounded by pregnant women at the moment, I think it makes me a little uncomfortable and I'm not sure why. I never felt uncomfortable when my friends were pregnant, although maybe I was and I just don't remember. I got some pool time in on my free Wednesday morning which is always nice. I don't get as many opportunities as I would like to lie beside a pool. Novotel is still busy at the weekends so I can't go then and the only time I have in the week is my Wednesday mornings. On Thursday night I took Carlo out for dinner, in part because it was his birthday the following Saturday and the other part was to say thank you for picking up where Jan left off and letting me use the pool. I took him to Sinbad in Mui Ne for a kebab, he loved it. We then met up with Sasha for a drink, it was a nice evening and he enjoyed himself. The weekend was quiet, I had a French CS'er, Gerald staying and I showed him around. I so rarely have an opportunity to do that as it seems as if most of my CS'ers come on a week day when I have work. Sasha and Meridith came over in the evening and with one of their Vietnamese friends, Vy, we went to 46 for dinner. We were then joined by Tan and went on to Bocano, which has just reopened. We partied hard there but that wasn't enough for Sasha and we popped over to TP club, we didn't stay long but went straight to MTV. I don't think we were there very long, but we partied hard there too. Sasha and Meridith had a good time I think, at least I hope so. I think Phan Thiet is a great place for a night out and I want all of my friends to see that too. We got a taxi back to my house and somehow managed to persuade the taxi driver to come in for a beer. Sunday was understandably a quiet day for me, I was in full recovery mode which included a visit to Win Cafe. Tuan dropped around to the house, he hadn't called as he has lost his phone. I took him to have dinner with Anh and Daniel on Bo Ke. Unfortunately the weekend didn't end on such a nice note. I got home and Gerald was sat in the living room in just his shorts. Then I went to bed but had to go back downstairs for my Kindle, the sitting room was in darkness so I figured that Gerald had gone to bed. That wasn't the case, he was sat in the living room with his computer, I turned on the light, realised he was naked, grabbed my Kindle, turned the light back off and then ran back upstairs!! I don't know what to say. The last Wednesday in the month was earmarked by school for a field trip to Madame Ngo's, the company owner, resort in Hom Rom. I didn't have to go but I wanted to go and take a look. I imagined something like the resort the students spent the day at in Kega last year. Oh how wrong was I. It was a resort but it was half built and to top it off it looked like building at stopped at least five years ago. The main building was a 3 story concrete shell complete with holes in the floor and no bannisters of any kind. The students were billeted in some of the half built villas, with plastic on a concrete base. Obviously there wasn't a swimming pool, let alone sun loungers. I was very disappointed and shocked. A majority of our students come from well off families, some of them living on gated estates or 4star resorts and we take them to an abandoned building site. It beggars belief, it really does. If I hadn't of seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it. I took photos, took part in some of the activities and then cut out at lunch time. I spent the afternoon at a real resort with a finished pool, Novotel. I had a Swedish CS couple stay on Thursday night, I didn't spend any time with them, I was committed to having dinner in Mui Ne with Sasha and Meredith. Meredith is moving to Hong Kong, so it was my last chance to say goodbye before she left. Although saying that she'll be in the U.S. at the end of the year so I may catch up with her then. Friday night I had another CS couple arrive, this time from Poland. They were going to stay over the weekend while I went to Nha Trang to see Denise. March hasn't been as busy for couch surfers as I'd expected and after this couple I don't have any more requests. Nice. I do enjoy having the house to myself. I had tried to say no to this couple but hadn't felt able to. I left early Saturday morning in one of the many transit vans that ply their trade between the two cities. This trip was different to others I've taken though, I actually thought I might die this time. Firstly the van left Phan Thiet pretty much full which has never happened to me before, I think this was because it was a three day weekend. Then part way into the trip it started to rain, softly at first and then increasingly heavily. We drove past a 3 lorry crash, not something you want to see at the best of times. I didn't know it at the time but there was a tropical storm coming in, the eye would pass within 20kms of Phan Thiet. Despite this the driver didn't slow down at all. To top it off at one time there were seven more passengers in the van than seats and then they let on 7 teenagers who had to stand. At one point the van stopped to pick up some more people but the van was so full the people refused to get on. I've never seen that before! These vans stuff people in willy nilly, there are no safety regulations. It's one of the reasons that I go with the Mailinh bus company when I go to Saigon, you get your own seat and you don't have to share it. Ever! I did arrive safely in Nha Trang and met up with Denise and some of her girlfriends for lunch. It was just as well I had a big lunch, I didn't have the chance for dinner and it was a heavy night. When I usually go out in PT I drink beer, Denise however drinks vodka, tequila, rum etc...and she does this on a regular basis.Needless to say it was a long night and I was not very well the next day. I need to take more care of myself when I got out with her, I don't have to drink what she does or as much as she does. It's OK to do my own thing when I hang out with her. As I said Sunday was pretty much spent in my hotel room, partly because I was recovering and partly because it was raining so heavily the roads had flooded. I had dinner with the girls but was back in my room by 10pm. I left after lunch on the Monday and as it had stopped raining the trip back felt a lot safer and was a lot quicker. I was happy to be back in good old PT.