Happy Halloween, everyone! đ Our day started off with a pretty spooky breakfast. This morning was our grand debut in the pickleball round robin â a historic event only slightly overshadowed by the weatherâs decision to throw its own surprise water festival. Luckily, we found refuge in âair-conditionedâ indoor courts. And by âair-conditioned,â I mean the Vietnamese version: a couple of floor fans whispering âyouâre doing great, sweetieâ while we slowly melted into human puddles. Two hours later, we looked like weâd played the finals of Wimbledon in a typhoon â drenched, slippery, and deeply reconsidering our life choices. To top it off, Bram and I managed to land ourselves in the group of the four worst-scoring players. A proud athletic moment, really. We like to think we were just giving everyone else a confidence boost. On the bright side, we did get a free sauna session out of it!
Post-match, we waddled to a restaurant in our soggy glory to rehydrate, refuel, and pretend we were elite athletes instead of sweaty tourists clinging to pickleball paddles. Thatâs when we ate âBun Chaâfor the first time â smoky pork, fresh herbs, noodles, the whole dream. It was so good that I briefly considered never going home again.
After a quick shower back at the hotel (to return from amphibian form), we headed off for full-body massages. The group was split into a womenâs and menâs room â and let me tell you, those tiny Vietnamese masseuses are deceptively powerful. Within minutes, we were relaxed, oily, and questioning all of our previous definitions of âfirm pressure.â Feeling reborn, ( and a little sore0 we set out for what was described as a âshort strollâ to a Michelin-starred restaurant called âTam ViâSpoiler: âshortâ was a lie. It turned into a rain-soaked marathon, and since none of us thought to bring raincoats, we arrived looking like a gang of drowned rats in fancy dining chairs. Thankfully, the food (again!) was spectacular â and our fearless leader, Janey, gave us a crash course on how to eat like locals. Mercifully, our trusty little bus came to rescue us afterward, sparing us another aquatic adventure. We rolled back to the hotel sank into our food comas, and drifted off dreaming of Bun Cha, massages, and maybeâjust maybeâdry socks. Tomorrow: HaLong Bay! (Assuming we can wake up before sunrise.)
This blog is a contribution of Barbara Arnold. Follow her travel adventures on https://www.polarsteps.com/DBarbaraArnold/21929835-philippines-and-vietnam?s=b1a5f906-fcce-4aef-9241-f234d939d981&referral=true