8/5/25
In the morning we waited for everyone so we could have breakfast with them. Alicia and Baptiste never showed up and the Vietnamese couple came early as they went cycling to see such wondrous things as a porcupine farm. It was a shame we couldn’t really communicate with them.
We ate a bowl of freshly made noodles with tofu. There was fruit served too. Then everyone else had to go and pack. They were all ‘backpackers’. So most were going a long way. We weren’t and we didn’t have much stuff with us. We sat reflecting on our experience for a bit before returning to our room and enjoying the elevated room, looking across to the karsts, once more. The position of the building felt symbolic. The village of floating houses lying below us.
A mini disaster struck. It was only a matter of time that the poor electrics had their way. The usb-c cable had melted to our power-bank. It had only been plugged in for 30 minutes. No more fast charging for us. We were last to the lobby because we had to fiddle with molten plastic. The bus was crammed. Jonathan had to sit in the front with Son, who promptly watched tiktok before falling asleep on him. We were the only ones getting off to go to Chay Lap. A pickup truck was waiting for us. We soon checked back into a mountain room and spent a while washing our clothes and then just milling around.
We played a game of pool. It was slow and painful. We really weren’t very good. Back in the room we collated our photos to share with the other group members. We didn’t do anything else really. We ate dinner just before 7pm. A mango salad and seitan pieces. It was tasty. The rest of the day rapidly vanished.
Surly They Won't Make It 