Day 94

I was up at 1:00am watching the Cohen testimony and imagined myself waking later than normal but I shook my slumbers at 6:30am and ran five miles along the streets and the boardwalk. It reminds me of my youth when I worked twelve hour darkroom sessions and ran five miles on the Chicago lakefront path.

Although I paid $5 for a pineapple, I am under budget for the week :

2/22	weekly start - 2,050,000d	2/23	food stall - 130,000d = $5.71
	bike taxi 120,000d = $5.27		food stall - 25,000d = $1.10
	bus - 50,000d = $2.20		food shop - 85,000d = $3.58
	airport food - 80,000d = $3.52		79 Mart - 41,000d = $1.80
	Total = 250,00d = $10.99		total - 281,000d = $12.35
	2,050,000 - 250,000 = 1,800,000d		1,800,000 - 281,000 = 1,519,000d

2/24	fruit smoothie - 30,000d = $1.32
	fruit - 40,000d = $1.76
	restaurant - 75,000d = $3.30
	minimart - 105,000d = $4.61
	food stall - 15,000d = $.66
	total = 265,000d = $11.65
	1,519,000 - 265,000 = 1,254,000d

2/25	Check into Home Vu AirBnb	2/26	VinMart - 148,000d = $6.50
	food stall - 40,000d = $1.76		Pineapple - 120,000d = $5.27
	minimart - 63,000d = $2.77		Garlic - 2,000d = $.09
	VinMart - 366,000d = $16.08		Tomatoes - 5000d = $.22
	total - 469,00d = $20.61		Orange - 5000d = $.22
	1,254,000 - 469,000 = 785,000d		Food stall - 20,000d = $.88
			total = 300,000d = $13.18
			785,000 - 300,000 = 485,000d

2/27	Food stall - 20,000d = $.88	2/28	Food stall - 20,000d = $.88
	VinMart - 121,000d = $5.32		coconut - 20,0000d = $.88
	Total - 141,100d = $6.20		total - 40,000d = $1.76
	485,000 - 141,000 = 344,000d		344,000 - 40,000 = 304,000d
			weekly spent - 1,746,000d = $76

Day 93

A pleasant morning exercise session on the beach boardwalk.

In the afternoon I bought an egg sandwich at a food stall and then prepared a meal of pasta with tomato pesto garlic sauce. 

Day 92

Today I was victim to the short-change technique.

I started the day by waking at dawn and running five miles on the beach boardwalk. 

When I returned to the apartment I decided to scout the #18 airport bus. I walked a block to the bus stop and waited on the curb for twenty five minutes, observing with envy people squatting on their haunches in the shade of a nearby large tree. When the bus arrived I watched it stop and noted its color and sign, "Airport Bus." The cost is 50,000d.

As the bus drove off I decided to explore the nearby neighborhood and I stumbled into a bustling outdoor food market. As I sauntered from stall to stall a female vendor called to me and pointed to a whole cut pineapple. I approached her and asked the price. "20,000d."( $.88) I was unsure of myself as I handed her a 200,000d note, and as she handed me the change I saw a 100,000d note and a 50,000d note, along with a few smaller notes. When I returned to the apartment I realized the 100,000d note was actually a 10,000d note. Today I made a market lady smile.

Day 91

Today I checked out of the Azura Hotel at 11:45am and walked to Home Vu Apartments, which is where I am staying for the next week. 

Earlier in the day I woke at 5:30am and walked to the beach with the camera. I made photos of the sun rising over VinPearl Island and then did a pull-up and dip exercise circuit. 

I bought an egg sandwich for breakfast and then packed my things and waited for check-out. 

I arrived at Home Vu at 12:00pm and was expecting to drop off my bag and wait for 3:00pm check-in, but the kind receptionist allowed me to check in when I arrived. I offered her a 20,000d tip, but she refused it.

After unpacking I walked to VinMart, a western-style grocery in downtown Nha Trang. 

On the way to VinMart I was stopped by a tour guide named Minh, and as we spoke I recalled my positive experiences with Vincent from Sanur. 

At VinMart I bought pasta and a few other items, the cost higher than expected. 

I returned to the apartment and discovered I do not know how to operate the kitchen's induction stove. After watching a youtube video which taught me how to turn it on, I cooked the pasta for lunch.

The apartment has a large dining table which I can use for chess study. The HD Bank International Chess Tournament begins in ten days, March 7-13.

Day 90

It is difficult to know when to leave bed because the hotel room has no windows, but I woke at my usual time of 5:30am and ran to the beach boardwalk. I was surprised to find a large group of people enjoying the beach at that hour, all the more so because it is Sunday morning.

I ran half the boardwalk going north, turned south when reaching the endpoint, and then ran the full distance. The running calculator estimates I covered four miles, the shortest distance I have run in over a month, but which would have been a long run in Chiang Mai, when I began my journey in late November. I plan to run shorter distances while in Nha Trang because the boardwalk is crowded with people. 

The beach has pull-up and dip bars and I am rusty because I have not been working on the bars for the past month.

On the walk back to the hotel I bought an egg sandwich from a street cart for 15,000d ($.66). 

After eating and showering I decided to flesh out my airport transportation research by locating a bus stop for the #18, which goes from downtown Nha Trang to the airport in Cam Rahn. After exiting the hotel I walked fifty meters and found a #18 stop. 

After check-out tomorrow I will walk a mile to the AirBnB apartment. I decided to walk there today and as I wandered about I looked for other #18 stops, and found one a block from the AirBnB. 

Thinking ahead, I discovered that I can ride the #152 Saigon bus from the airport to my AirBnB in District 1, and take it back to the airport when leaving Vietnam. 

Day 89

Today I wandered the beach boardwalk of Nha Trang and the area near my hotel. 

I walked a mile to the AirBnB where I will be staying, it is next door to the Little Italy restaurant. 

Food is cheap. A can of Beck's beer is $.90 and a French bread sandwich $.60. I ate two sandwiches and snacks to recover from yesterdays caloric deficit. I drank fresh coconut water on the beach, cost $.90. I did not drink coconut water in Bali because the cost is $3 (compared to $1 in Thailand).

Day 88 (Part II) - Nha Trang, Vietnam

After saying goodbye to Eka I left the compound, walking down the alley with my pack on my back. When I reached the road I turned left and saw Vincent standing at his car, along with two others. 

Vincent had me sit in the front seat of his car and had one of his friends drive, while Vincent and his other friend took the back seat.  Along the way to the airport Vincent kept up a steady stream of conversation, talking of his home island where Komodo dragons and horse fighting are the main attractions. Vincent mentioned how Bali had become polluted and dirty, and that plastic bags are now prohibited on the island. On my runs to the Hindu Temple I noticed that the black sand beach was dirty with trash, more so than 2012.

The ride was pleasant and I said goodbye to Vincent and his friends. I wandered into the airport, had my passport stamped, completed check-in, and received my boarding pass. I did not have long to wait and was soon flying to Kuala Lumpur. The three hour flight went quickly and as I listened to music I scrolled through my photos, not only from this trip but from 2012, comparing places with a seven year gap pressed between the leaves. I had a two hour wait in Kuala Lumpur and as I walked the halls of the airport was startled to see females wearing hijabs. 

The flight to Saigon was pleasant, my seatmate being a middle aged Vietnamese woman who lives in China and who was returning to Vietnam to visit her sons. She was pleased to discover that I was traveling to Nha Trang because that is where she grew up, her "home town." Her son owns a cafe in Nha Trang called Snow Panda and she showed me pictures of it and suggested I eat there.

I exited the plane in Saigon and entered the long line at immigration, feeling winded. I searched for the e-visa desk but quickly became confused.  I saw a line for "visa application," which I interpreted to mean applying for a visa, or...was it something to do with the e-visa? Being unsure I asked a European man about it but he ignored my question. An Asian man who was standing nearby overheard and answered with "e-visa, yes, right line." I waited thirty minutes in line and as I approached the front I observed people sitting off to the side of the line, waiting for visa approval. When called to the desk they would pay $25 and have their photo taken. I passed a white man with a New York accent who was sitting in the waiting area and I tapped his shoulder and asked if this was the e-visa line, and he said "unfortunately yes." When I was called to the visa desk the official looked at my e-visa printout and immediately said "wrong line, go over there." I turned to look over there and saw a longer line than the one I had just waited in. I thought back to my first arrival in Bangkok in 2012, when I was turned away at immigration due to not filling in the departure card correctly. 

I stood in the new line patiently, trying to let go of the concern for missing my 8:00pm flight to Nha Trang. When I reached the visa booth the officer gave me a glare and spoke Vietnamese and I wondered if anything was wrong, but he quickly stamped my passport and waved me into Vietnam. 

When I walked away from immigration my head was drooping and I felt hunger. I found an atm machine and withdrew three million dong ($129)

I walked to gate 21 in the domestic terminal and waited to board the 8:00pm flight to Nha Trang. I dozed while sitting, and when I woke was hungry. There were three cafes nearby but the tables were filled and I was not confident about handling dong currency. I noticed a gift shop which was not crowded and I decided to buy a bread roll, a package of wafer cookies, and a can of pineapple juice. I began to feel better as I boarded the plane and within an hour landed in Nha Trang.

I did not need to clear immigration a second time, but I needed to choose between taking a taxi or bus into Nha Trang.  As I walked out of the airport I saw a bus stand and recognized the ticket woman from a youtube video I had watched two days prior. I decided to risk a nighttime bus ride and paid 50,000d ($2.20) for the twenty five mile ride into town.

When the bus entered the city I was unsure what stop to get off at. There was a European couple on the bus and when they rang the bell to depart I decided it was time to go. I stood on a busy street corner. It was Friday night and across the street was an open air bar with live music and dancing, purple and red strobe lights illuminating the passing traffic. 

A bicycle tuk tuk approached and I locked eyes with the driver and walked over to him. He did not speak English and I showed him a hand written map. He smiled and pulled a 100,000d ($4.40) note from his pocket, indicating the cost of the ride. I wondered how far the hotel was. I agreed to his price and took a seat in the tuk tuk. He pedaled up and down the street and I took deep breaths, the humid sea air pleasant and invigorating. I found myself smiling as we rode slowly up the festive street, and after three blocks he stopped the bicycle and pointed ahead. I shook my head no, this is not the place. He continued to point and I suddenly saw the neon sign for the Azura Hotel. With relief I thanked the driver with a 20,000d tip, and laughed at the irony of having paid $2.20 for a twenty five mile bus trip and $5.25 for a three block tricycle ride.

Day 88 (Part I)

I woke at dawn and packed my bag. I cleaned the room and left two books behind (Maugham and Krishnamurti). 

When I carried the trash bag to the disposal area I surprisingly saw Eka emerge from a nearby unit. She had apparently been waiting for me to pass because she gave me a small box of food and a bottle of water. I thanked her for her generous gift.

Day 87

I woke before the birds and was running the beach path as the sun began to ascend. My pace was steady and relaxed as I tried to remain focused in the moment, stopping at the eight mile marker. 

When I returned to the unit I soaked in the pool for thirty minutes. 

I had 100,000ir left to spend, which was enough for a single restaurant dish. I instead decided to buy pasta from Pepito market and prepare the final meal myself.

Throughout my twenty eight days in Sanur I routinely passed a tour guide named Vincent, whose office is one block distant from the compound. He is skilled at the hard sell and always greets me with a smile. I informed him this morning that tomorrow will be my final day in Bali and we agreed that he would drive me to the airport for 200,000ir.

Another budget push this week :

2/15	weekly start - 1,059,700ir ($76)
	new exchange rate - 13,968ir = $1
	Warung - 8,000ir = $.57
	Pepito - 69,500ir= $4.98
	Total - 77,500ir = $5.55
	1,059,700 - 77,500 = 982,200ir

2/16	kitta - 15,000ir = $1.07	2/17	Pepito - 67,500ir= $4.83
	Bakery - 18,000ir = $1.29		Total - 67,500ir = $4.83
	Hardy's - 167,400ir = $11.98		781,800 - 67,500 = 714,300ir
	Total - 200,400ir = $14.35
	982,200 - 200,400 = 781,800ir

2/18	Pepito = 142,200ir = $10.18	2/19	CocoMart - 66,200ir - $4.74
	restaurant - 69,000ir = $4.94		Warung - 8000ir - $.57
	kitta - 8300ir = $1.04		kitta - 15,000ir = $1.07
	Total - 219,50ir = $15.18		Total - 89,200ir = $6.38
	714,300 - 219,500 = 494,800ir		494,800 - 89,200 = 405,600ir

2/20	restaurant - 75,000ir = $5.37	2/21	taxi (Bali) - 200,000ir = $14.16
	kitta - 28,400ir = $2.03		Pepito - 102,200ir = $7.32
	Total - 103,400ir = $7.40		Total - 302,200ir = $21.64
	405,600 - 103,400 = 302,200ir		302,200 - 302,200 = 0

Day 86

Quiet day.

I woke later than normal and walked to Mertasari beach and did the exercise circuit. I then walked to Sindu Beach, wanting to see it in daylight. 

In the evening I stood in the pool and soaked for thirty minutes.

Tomorrow will be my final day in Bali. I leave Friday morning for Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Day 85

I left the unit at 1:45am carrying a headlamp in my hand. On the way to the beach path I passed dogs and toads while bats circled overhead. I ran as far as Sindhu Beach, then turned off the path and followed Danau Tamblingan Road for two miles. I passed more dogs whom I had to charm with a smile. I stopped running a mile from my unit, total distance four miles. 

As I walked the final mile a man on a scooter stopped at my side and asked if I wanted young pussy. I laughed and said I was too old to get it up. He laughed and tried to hard sell me, but I waved him on.

When I returned to the unit I stripped down to my swimming trunks and swam in the pool for thirty minutes. I stood in the warm water watching the moon hang in the sky, nerves alert and relaxed, wondering if I was awake or dreaming. 

Day 84

A full day on the bookends, and an unusual one in between. 

I woke at sunrise and walked to the beach with the camera.

In the afternoon the electricity blacked out. Without air conditioning the unit became hot and after a fitful nap I randomly wandered the streets, eventually stopping at Mertasari Beach as the sun began to set.

When I returned to the unit the electricity was still off. I was tired and hot, the room was dark. I lay in bed, sweltering. I could not sleep so I walked to a nearby Chinese restaurant. On the walk back to the unit it began to rain and the odors of the street intensified. 

Not wanting to sit in a hot, dark room, I set myself down on the front porch, eating Chinese carry-out while rain massaged my tired senses. The door of the unit adjacent mine opened, and a beautiful woman with blonde hair emerged. I asked if she could text Eka for me, but apparently she was aware of my situation because she walked to a nearby electrical box and manually reset the power. I thanked her and returned to my unit, relieved.

It is 1:00am and I am tempted to go outside for a night run. The solitude of darkness, body in rhythm with sea.

The Front Side of the Day

The Back Side of the Day