Lazy beach days on Otres 1 and 2

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Yesterday we went to the beach. We tried Mushroom Point first on recommendation but the sunbeds were round planks of wood for two. No good, we went next door and afternsetting ourselves guy came out waving a menu and said if we didn’t want food there and then (10.30am) we had to pay 2$ for each bed. No. We packed up in high dudgeon. The next place along was Mom’s Kitchen. Super comfy beds, nice relaxed atmosphere, cheap drinks, we spent the day there. Usual vendors of food etc. There was also an Indian guy in a turban, very smartly dressed in a pressed shirt, carrying a man bag and chatting with people. We’d seen him the day before. We asked the hotel what he was up to and apparently he chats, says he’ll tell your fortune and then asks for 40$. You’re all right, mate, we’d prefer it to be a surprise!

One less than pleasant sight was that of an older (than me) western guy in a string thong. We saw another today. Seriously, guys? We don’t need to see your wrinkled western arse in all its nasty glory, and neither do the local people, seeing that nudity is frowned upon here and definitely that was a nude situation. Eugh! The local woman even keep their arms completely covered, terrified of getting a tan. We are terrified of not getting one, but some parts are absolutely OK white.

We had tried to give our laundry in to the hotel, they said their service was a bit slow so we should take it over the road, same price and back in 24 hours. The guy there said we had to pay express service if we wanted it back by 10 tomorrow (double the price), normal service was 24 hours. As it was 9.30 we said that it was 24 hours, he said OK. Nothing to weigh it, I guessed probably 6kg but when I picked it up today the cost was only 3.25$, a bargain. It was a bit damp though. We got all our underwear back, which doesn’t always happen!

Yesterday evening we got a tuktuk to Otres 2 for 2$, it’s nearly 2 miles. We saw a huge area cleared and construction underway with double decker ship container-like buildings. A long row of them, bunk beds visible through the windows, so for workers. Grim! Apparently it is going to be for light industry. We found Ren Resort where my uni buddy Ann and her husband are staying. I was really super excited to see them. We worked out it had been 18 years, seems like 5 minutes. We had drinks at the bar on the beach and then went to eat at the Secret Garden This has very good reviews on Trip Advisor and was quite upmarket in appearance but the food was disappointing. Sam had a starter of prawns and crispy noodles, which was more prawn heads (5) than bodies (3), cunningly covered by the noodles aka deep fried hair! I had amok curry which gave me slightly accelerated digestionand in any cage was dull, hardly any vegetables. Prices were a bit higher, about 7$ for a main. We needed a tuktuk back but there were none to be seen. One of the waiters had a scout around and found one with someone asleep on the back seat, woke him up and kicked him out, 3$ for the return journey, hey ho! Better than walking.

Today it was a sunny day from the outset and we walked back to Otres 2 and met Ann and David halfway along the beach, they walked back to their place with us. The middle part between the 2 Otres beaches has beautiful white sand and is gorgeous to walk along. A few local families sitting under the trees. From one to the other was a 45 minute stroll. At Ren Resort the sunbeds were in high demand but Ann had bagged a couple and luckily we found 2 more. We had a lovely relaxing day catching up some more. I was sad to leave them.

Not sure that tonight will be as peaceful round here as it is barbecue night and we can hear the music already. Tomorrow we are going on a snorkelling day. Quite bargainous at 20$ including breakfast here at the hotel, which we usually pay for anyway, lunch and drinks, cliff jumping (no!) and a few snorkel stops.

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