Day 39: 17/7/13
(This was finished in April 2014, so it may not be 100% accurate!!)
We didn't have to meet until 2 this afternoon so we had a while to chill this morning. I was still up around 9 though. I went to check on Hannah and Steff early enough to see if Hannah had been okay during the night but there was no answer so they gathered they were sleeping. I decided to go down to the pool and write the blog while I was down there, but I knocked one more time before going down and sure enough, they answered.
Hannah seemed way better even though she said she didn't feel an awful lot better. She was talking and laughing and smiling though and there had been none of that last night. She was told she was low in calcium as well as having a cold so Steff and I went to the shop to buy her some yogurts and crackers and things that she might eat. There was a little shop next door but it was really dingy and the smell out of the freezer was not good so we thought it would be better to go somewhere else!! We went back to reception to ask where the supermarket was and they don't have one here!! They gave us directions to a mini mart and it took us about twenty minutes to find it but they had all we needed. We left Hannah alone then to get some rest and Steff, Ann-Marie and I went in search of some food. We were told there was a coffee shop beside the hotel but it was closed so we had to eat in the hotel instead. Steff ordered squid and they said they didn't have it, but then they changed their mind and said they'd get it and one of the staff got up on her bike and headed off to the market to buy the squid for her!! There was noone else in the restaurant only us and a few more from our group that joined us. The food took ages- I don't think they are used to midday customers!! It tasted good though when it finally arrived.
By the time we were finished it was time to meet up for our bicycle tour.
We cycled a little way to the river where we it a boat trip along the Rivera. It was nice sailing along looking at all the other boats and buildings. Our guide wasn't on the boat because some people hadn't gone on the boat trip and he was cycling with them around to where we would land. The driver of the boat had no English. At one stage he started pointing for us all to get our cameras and he sailed off down a tributary. We were wondering what he was at! Next thing we see a little old man in one of those basin/tub kind of canoes. It really just looks like a big bowl! He was bouncing it up and down on the water to make himself travel and he was able to sail faster than our boat with an engine! He pulled up alongside us so that people could get in for a spin. He had hats for them to wear and oars aswell so they could sail a bit. He kept bending down then so you could barely see him so it would look in a photo like they were sailing by themselves! He was roaring laughing and singing the whole time!! A few of the group had a go, including Ann-Marie. Of course at the end he wanted money for the spin! I have a feeling that we weren't supposed to meet this man at all! But he took his chance when he could!!
We got off the boat then and got back on the bike. We were cycling through the countryside where there were loads of flowers and rice fields and people working. Then for some of the cycle we were on big wide new roads with loads of traffic and big buildings! We had to cross roads and everything and it was mad! You just have to keep cycling but it's difficult when there's cars whizzing around!!
We got to the beach anyway and there were people cooking a barbecue for us. A few people went swimming but I didn't bother. I went for a walk along the beach taking in the view. There were some islands on the horizon and there were little boats dotted along the water, like the little tub yerman on the river had been in. It looked get picturesque. We all sat together then and ate they food they had cooked for us. We had some crab cakes or something but they tasted lovely! Two of the lads hadn't paid for the food, they must have been concerned about finances or something. They weren't planning on eating, but then not all of us ate everything so they got our leftovers and had plenty to eat for free!
We cycled back to the hotel after that anyway and it seems we had cycled a total of 12k, but it didn't feel like it at all!
When we got back some people were going to the tailors to collect the clothes they had gotten made. I hadn't got any so I went in to check on the patient. She was up watching tv and able to chat a bit better than this morning even though she still didn't feel right. Hopefully by tomorrow she'll be back to herself.
We sat chatting and watching tv for a while. Ann-Marie joined us when she came back from the tailors and brought Hannah's jacket for her to try on, but it was a bit too big! She felt like Dr Who in the coat! Most of the people need some sort of alterations anyway.
A lot of the group went to the bar around 9:30 tonight but we gave it a miss. There's a temple tour at 7:30 in the morning so a quiet night was needed. I spent a while saving photos onto the computer as I hadnt done it in a good few days- a few hundred photos later!!
There was a Gecko in the room tonight- you get used to seeing them around, but the thought of them crawling around while you're asleep is not great!