Fun and Frustration

Did you ever have one of those days that are hell and a joy at the same time? It was such a day yesterday. It all started out with another power outage. I awoke about 6:30 am sweating bullets. I turned on a fan, but there was no power. The generator was not running. I am getting tired of this!! Every time things seem on the verge of running well, Vietnam happens. I missed the blog yesterday because of the generator not starting, and my poor but understanding customers had no way to cool down in the heat of the day. The mechanic was tired of coming to repair the conked out machine and suggested that we get a refund and that was exactly what I tried. No dice…… I left the hotel all angry at the brand new compressor not starting, after all, just a few weeks ago I had a person replace a broken spark plug. I cannot

 recall the details, but there was mass confusion and I was able to escape to my regular routine. I arranged for all of the hotel guests to meet ant a smoothie shop for a great fruit drink, but for some reason for the first time that I experienced, they were without power, and their front door is electric. I met Carl at a closed shop and had to wait for my guests to arrive just to be disappointed that it was closed. We decided to go up to the food court in the only close resemblance to a shopping mall. Everybody seemed happy to oblige and the day got a bit better. We parted ways and Carl and I went for a bicycle ride into the country. We had a destination in mind. There

are gates about 14 Km from NhaTrang that I was told was the original city. This has to be checked out in my mind, sooooo, off we went. Carl and I spent the majority of the day winding down small alleyways looking for some evidence of the Ancient NhaTrang behind these walls. We had a lot of fun responding to the eager and amazed children, and the big grinning waves from the women that took double takes as we passed. It was a nice ride. The heat of the afternoon sun was wearing on us and we were forced to stop and get some shade and some cold drinks. The roadside place we stopped soon began to fill with people and we were engaged in joyful

 conversation with the local people. It was a bit late when we headed back to NhaTrang, and there were a few stops to relieve our sore old bodies. What we discovered in the old city will be covered in another blog. Tired and sweaty I was, but my day is not over yet. My night receptionist Tin, hands me the remote for the new TV and asks why? I try the remote, and the manual buttons, but my TV will not turn on. Hmmmmm, first the generator and then the TV. Both of them new and on warranty thank goodness. AAArrrgghHHH!!

Luckily for me there is a couple from Singapore that I like very much that deserved a Bia Hoi experience. We walked down the road and settled ourselves into our small plastic chairs. It was a pleasant experience sharing stories with them. They are fresh out of school and are doing some travelling before getting into the working world. I sincerely hope a good future for them.

Sorry….. not much about tourism in Vietnam today, but more about my day. The power outages here have become much worse and the whole city is shut down tomorrow. Maybe it is a good thing for me…. The hotel is getting much busier and I am running around constantly. If I cannot post tomorrow, maybe that will give me a chance to slow down, or even edit this blog.