Monday 26 February 2024

Old Bank, Sunday

Sun 25th 0835 Sitting on bed in empty dorm.

It's grey and raining quite heavily. During night, to quote Crash Test Dummies, "the air conditioner sounds like rain falling" (and I had that song in my head), but I think the real rain only started recently.

Slept better but not great. The sheets feel a bit sticky (during the sheet-obtaining saga on first day Liam and Sebastien both came into dorm to sanity check and Liam observed that the bottom sheet didn't look like it had been changed, I couldn't see anything obviously to that effect but maybe it wasn't and this had added to discomfort). I seem to have vague muscle aches - mainly in hips - and at one point felt a tiny bit sick (prob due to poor diet). I am not massively worried at this point, maybe the bed is saggy, maybe it's a side effect of the modestly long hikes with L, etc, and while not feeling 100% I do feel better for having got up and going toilet.

Plan for today is still to walk over to Wizard beach, prob without phone (but we'll see) and prob wearing trunks as shorts but without any swimming gear as such - I swam at Polo a bit other day, Wizard is not safe and even if I were to trog round to Polo there felt enough currents and so forth that I don't really want to swim on my own even if I had no valuables to lose while in water. (Plus it's quite possible I will swim a bit during boat trip, of course.)

Obviously I half (quarter) wish I'd gone to Wizard yday and had today bumming mostly round hostel, given weather, but OTOH the path to Wizard is well made and if I'm wearing trunks I don't care much about mud anyway and I'm sure this is going to be quite a bit fresher. I'm not walking over in the rain tho.

I may (and was thinking this even before it rained, tho timing might vary) switch to the blue trousers I washed the other day (but not wear them on walk), then I can wash the black trousers and maybe once they're dry (perhaps in PC) have a look at sewing that left pocket zip up. Even without that, I want to do the best I can to have clean clothes when I leave here, as I have just the one night in David and at PC hostel I can only wash stuff crappily in shower as the sink is public. Underwear and tops aren't great in the shower but trousers are even bulkier and thus suckier. Prob said this half a dozen times over course of trip.

Fuck it, gonna do the trouser switch and wash now.

Oh, I turned ac up to 25C during night.

Alarm set for 0850 so I've woken up way ahead of it. Usual waking up "what time is it? half don't want to look" stuff during night. tho at least I knew today I had a slack day and had it been natural to sleep til 10 or whatever that would probably have been good for me given recent poor sleep.

0914 It's stopped raining and forecast is for spotty showers. Gut feeling is I might as well head over now.

Prob won't take a phone with me.

Keep meaning to mention there's a "Beverley's Hill Hotel" here which does make me smile when I walk past it.

I am not in a mega rush so I guess I will have a shower before I go, even if I probably end up having another one later too.

1711 On terrace with fruit punch (non alcoholic). I actually feel a tiny bit cold. It *is* coolish and a bit of a wind but slightly worrying. I went down to Wizard beach, prob there about two hours - had a beer (took with me) and six vanilla biscuits and watched surfers a bit and did think a bit but mind all over place (albeit overall positively). Milked it slightly but not as if I had much else to do.

At some point (prob before beach) I washed trousers as I said i would. Spent few hours in still just me dorm reading with ac on, which may possibly account for this vague chill.

To be blunt had huge dump on getting back from beach despite going this morning and it was pretty "decent" and I wondered if having that waiting to come out would explain very slight under weather feelings.

I wish I felt 100% but I don't feel terrible.

Missed a WA from Liam this morning asking if I happened to be around to get hold of his bag as he's back off to Isla Colon. No harm done - he sorted it himself within an hour - but shame I couldn't help.

All else being equal rough plan is to go next door to Danish about 6-630 for food, then come back here and (not nec in this order) pack, incl finally bringing shoes and other stuff down from upper balcony, bashing shoes off to try to clean now dried mud/sand off and having those three beers left in fridge. I won't force them down - worst case I'll take one or two with me or leave them for anyone else who wants them - but if I feel OK I will have them.

FTR there is a copy of Childcraft "Children Everywhere" on the shelf and I did read "Helmut in the City" the other day.

1849 At Danish, just hopefully ordered same as other day but with salad absolutely undressed. I lay down on bed a bit. Mixed warm-cold feelings. Nothing extreme or like I haven't experienced before but not ideal. I hope eating something "proper" will help.

Don't normally bring K1 out but main thing is one phone is at home and the other is with me, and it is literally next door to hotel and I felt reading on phone might be nice.

To state the obvious, while I am somewhat inclined to take this feeling as a today thing, it is of course possible the vaguely bad sleep over the last few nights have all been part of an ongoing minor illness.

I don't despair of the boat trip being ruined yet. I could well feel much better tomorrow morning. A day (two days actually) on the bus isn't ideal but at least (touch wood) it's not as if I've got diarrhea or am puking or anything.

Oh FTR saw those democratic revolution signs today and it looks like they are in Spanish not English. And the shirts prob associated with it have some other slogan, "yo something" maybe, not that.

1915 Back at hostel. Lights out upstairs and terrace virtually dark. Fetched trousers and set of uw down from upper balcony. Its fine. Food very good - lack of knife obviously systemic not accident, are you supposed to pick the pork chop up in your hands? I mostly inelegantly cut it with the side of the fork and held it up with the fork while tearing with teeth. USD7 and made it 8 with tip.

Felt tiny bit "wergh" while eating but nothing major.  Gonna sit here and read on phone a bit and see how I feel over next half hour or so before thinking about packing or having a beer. (I took my own bottle of water into Danish and sipped at a bit of that. Not offered a drink and didn't ask.)

FWIW while my guts feel a little off I'm not currently feeling cold. I feel mildly warm but that's probably genuine-ish.

Muscles in small of back hurt but I suspect that's from lying on front propped up on pillow looking at phone earlier.

1919 OK, forgot to get shoes. Will go get those and bang them now before it gets too late.

1924 Back on terrace. Shoes still filthy - I should probably have rinsed them in sink at some point (again) - but I'd rather have them dry but dirty tomorrow than soaking wet, esp given poss illness but even without that because it's less likely to make objectionable mess in bus etc. I suspect the remaining caked-on dirt/sand will gradually shake loose as I wear them and I can always give them a brief clean (dry or wet) later.

Plan is modulo illness to be up 9ish tomorrow for a 10ish departure. I hope to then be at Almirante by 11ish and assuming I don't have to wait ages for a bus I'd then hope to be in David 4ish. This gives a couple of hours of daylight as a safety margin, if it matters.

1934 Guts churning a bit. Gonna go lie down and/or see if I can go to bog.

2029 Lying down. Intermittent itches on fingers and ankles but I think these are irrelevant insect bites etc from beach - had hands in sand earlier, and been wearing flip flops and no socks a lot lately inc today.

2057 Cleaned teeth and will go to bed. Not really tired but a tiny bit. I feel 90%ish OK - against all evidence I feel kind of like I've over-eaten, but I don't think I have. The itchy stuff I think is minor and I'm just noticing it a bit because I don't feel 100%.

Bit of a shame not to have sat out (much) on terrace tonight with or without a beer but makes sense to have come and have a lie down I think.

Got AC on at 25C FWIW.

I am going to send this now before I forget.

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