I got up at a more reasonable time this morning and realised I never went back
to the office to sort out my booking (by the time I was up yesterday, the office
was closed).
The two ladies in the office made joking comments about how long I had slept for
but were very friendly and gave me information about the area.
I also got a surprise welcome breakfast with fresh fruit and yogurt. The service
lady that brought it also commented about my rather large sleep in and while I
was eating at the outdoor setting outside my room I met maintenance guy, Johnny,
who also laughed about my all day sleep in! Everyone there knew! Haha!
Now that it was daylight, I realised just how close the water is, the shore was literally across the road! That also explained why it was so easy to hear the waves crashing from my room last night!
I ended up chatting with Johnny for ages and caught then the bus into town center. I discovered where the bank and ATMs are, got cash out and walked around for a bit to familiarise myself with the area. There were a few cafes, touristy shops, a chemist, a phone place and two grocery places and all really close to the beach (everything is close to the beach here!)
Even though I wanted to avoid the internet, I was curious about how much a local
SIM card would cost so I had a quick look at the local phone shop.
It worked out to be around $25 with no included credit, then data is an
additional $10/100MB or $25/300MB, but sticking to my guns I decided I didn’t
want to spend that much on internet when my main goal was to relax,
disconnecting from normal life is probably a healthier choice.
Earlier that morning, Johnny mentioned my clock was probably not correct, but he
didn’t have a clock on him at the time. My phone was still in flight mode, so I
did something I haven’t had to do in at least a decade, I asked someone for the
time! It’s amazing how I’m so used to having access to any piece of information
I want at the touch of a button in this information age that it strangely felt
good to be disconnected for a while.
I checked what time the bus was going to depart, the next one was an
anticlockwise bus (they only have the two routes) which would be the fastest
way back to the hotel, so I quickly got some groceries and meat and caught the
headed back to the hotel.
The bus drivers were both entertaining, singing songs and cracking jokes the whole way. He warned us not to go swimming for the next two days, when someone asked why he said because we’ll get wet!
I sat by the pool and read my book for a while and as it started getting darker I continued reading inside, made a sandwich and ate a pack of burger rings! Definitely in holiday mode!
Also, without the internet I found I was ready for bed earlier than usual too, so I got an early night and reflected on my relaxing day.