Never a dull moment

in the fields

Everybody has their favorite sounds. Sometimes it can be the shrieking of seagulls over an ocean, or the ripple of a stream. I have a new favorite sound and I will start with that.

I was resting in a shaded spot on a small country trail in a Bamboo forest being calmed by the creaking of the giant Bamboo swaying in the wind. It had been a harrowing 15 minutes and I had just escaped a tough but humorous situation. It all started by me doing my usual exploratory rides. I found a road I had not noticed before and decided to give it a go. It narrowed with distance and ended in a fork. (sound like a classic fairy tale adventure so far?) I chose the lesser taken path and stopped to enjoy the scenery and the activities of the farmers combining the rice fields. Upon seeing me they waved and motioned for me to continue down the narrowing pathway. I did as they directed and came upon some men building a small house. It looked like the trail was ending and any more distance would take me into hard

Bowenarrow

 jungle trails so I decided to turn around. The men working on the house waved their hands and gestured that I should keep going. I assumed the trail must widen ahead or intersect with another road, so I took their advice and continued into the lions den!! The path ended at a house and 4 women came out to engage me…. OMG!! It turns out the father, brothers, and relatives had coaxed me along because the 4 farm girls did not have husbands. (Remind you of any Farmers daughters jokes?) It started with one coming out and playing with the hair on my arms, stroking and comparing her tiny frame to my big one. It was all fun and games until one by one the others joined us. I used the usual banter to let them know that one wife was enough and I did not need another. Well!! They would have none of that, and the four began doing their best to seduce me. They would all have me they said and were trying for me to give up th rings on my fingers as a commitment to them. I joked that I only had 3 rings so if I could not have all of them, I could have none of them. They plied their womanly charms in a fury of estrogen and I had to escape!! IT took a bit, but I was able to out peddle them to the shaded Bamboo.  

Preying for the dead

I had the pleasure of meeting another Trip Advisors contributor. He goes by the Alias Bowenarrow. He spent two nights at my place and we spent a little time together chatting. Some of you may know that he is the Advice expert for Mui Ne, a tourist area south of Nha Trang that is mostly beach Resorts and the like. I guess you could look at him as competition for the tourist dollar. Perhaps that is what I subconsciously had in mind when I took him to a secluded spot on an island not far away. We arrived and three vicious dogs attacked biting him in the leg. I stopped to let them finish off the job, but the cowardly animals skulked away not wanting to deal with anything that was not running away. Hopefully Bowenarrow can forgive me for this attempt at eliminating the competition.  I do think Nha Trang is probably a better beach destination  for most people, But for his young surfer water sport life……Mui Ne may is the place.

A good memory

All fun aside, he was a great guy and I look forward to continuing our friendship in the future.

My guests were treated to a part of Vietnam that very few see. I group of about 15 motorcycles roared up to the hotel at 11 pm a few nights ago. Leading them was a monk. They were here to set up on our sidewalk to prey for the young man that committed suicide 4 months ago. This is the ceremony took about half an hour and after burning paper clothing and incense, they were gone. 

Lastly…. Woe is me…. I have been feeding my pet Preying Mantis for 2 months now. I loved the little critter, but for some reason after only eating one fly after it shed its skin, it stopped eating. Today I found it dead still clinging on to a leaf. Oh the sorrow!! I came to realize that that little insect was the last good memory I had with Khuyen before she left.

Another great group

As I thought, she is so far non replaceable. We are struggling to find a person that can keep the hotel up to our standards for cleanliness. In the two months she has been gone, we have gone through 3 different people…. None of them even coming close to what she did. We recently hired a young woman who is related to us in a way doing the family a favor. Unfortunately now Mai is working the job with others. My poor wife…. We came here to slow down, not to speed up.

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