A free day, a day of pure being, so to speak. Nothing to do, no plans, no reservations to make, nothing that needs to be thought through. Probably hard to bear, but let’s see what these empty 24 hours will deliver.
Cackling
Shall we start with the breakfast? Not a bad idea, because there’s no better start of a new day than sitting in front of a richly laden stone table, in the shade of some wind-blown palm trees, surrounded by the cackling and cawing of chickens, ducks and something that looks like turkeys (the plumage is so disheveled and in some places simply missing that a correct identification is hardly possible).
Breakfast in Mui Ne
I get exactly what I ordered: fried eggs, assorted fruits (mangos, dragonfruit, bananas, melons, pineapple), a baguette (French heritage) with butter and marmalade (no, for once not red/chemical stuff, but whole strawberries with - indeed - strawberry flavor), plus coffee with condensed milk, just the way I like it (the fillings do a pirouette in my mouth from sheer sweetness) and as a highlight - pure pressed mango juice ("no Ice, no Water, please").
There is simply no better way to start a day ...
Feet in the sea
In the late afternoon I finally get my feet into the sea, the first time in four years, and it’s another emotion that cannot be replaced by anything else. The long walk along the beach leads from the already mentioned dirty places to cleaner regions, where the major resorts are located with their strangely out of place looking facilities. Along the beach, delineated by panels (in Vietnamese, English and Russian), the usual rows of beach chairs and sun umbrellas, covering all kinds of formless, creamy-glossy, pink to red-roasted bodies, sitting or lying in more or less comfortable positions.
What strikes me with some delay is the absolute lack of books. No book, no newspaper, nothing remotely looking like letters. Well, there are two possibilities: either these people read only eBooks (as most sun-bathers have their eyes fixed on their smartphones or tablets), or they simply do NOT read at all (I hope they at least could, if they wanted).
Boredom
The occasional boredom that inevitably sets in after a few hours is quite beneficial and provokes – if used correctly – a lot of creativity (or maybe just a vague feeling of having missed something).
I have come to the conclusion that boredom is an emotion which is not cultivated anymore the way it deserves. „Slowpoke“ is an insult, the ultimate insult, absolutely deadly for young people. In the opposite sense, I spend the afternoon in the midst of boundless energy-free, drift-free, wonderful boredom, and not even Harold Fry, whose journey to Scotland fascinates me more than anything else, can stop me from doing absolutely nothing.
The majestic aesthetics of disappearance
If it's not the brain, then it's the stomach, and towards evening, the sun is already gliding towards the horizon, I set out to find something to eat, but first it's about marveling at the sunset, this daily wonder, once again. I find the ideal spot, right by the sea, and at this point the afternoon wind whips up the waves into monsters always missing me by a hair's breadth.
A Chinese couple joins me, and together we watch the sun sink, further and further, faster and faster, and the closer you look, the better you recognize the rotation of the earth, the earth's sphere, slowly rising and placing itself over the sun. In the past, when people still believed the earth as a flat disk, this was the edge of the world, where everything ends in an infinite abyss.
Every sunset causes a melancholy sadness, but also the promise of a new morning ...
Dinner out
After having observed the sun finally sinking into the sea, my desperately growling stomach drives me into a smoke-filled Vietnamese restaurant nearby but its only offer is goat meat so I’m prompted to an immediate escape. In a small dining restaurant I order Vietnamese specialties (whose name I cannot remember, but it tastes delicious) and while slowly eating, I’m observing noisy guests, sitting at the tables opposite me. Their idiom is easily to decipher as well as their arrogant and pretentious behavior.
Invasion of the Barbarians
A characteristic of traveling (or vacationing) is that one likes to blaspheme extensively about other peoples, nationalities, languages, mentalities. Depending on the destination, it is either the Germans (early morning occupation of the deck chairs) or the English (drunk), the Swiss ( humorless and conservative), the Americans (ignorant) or the Chinese and Japanese (always in groups and with cameras instead of eyes).
Observing the guests at the neighboring tables triggers precisely those generalizations that I would like to avoid, but which have their own seductive power. I immediately start to make judgments and evaluations according to my own personal standards. In my mind, adjectives such as vulgar, rude, arrogant, unfriendly are formulated, and I wonder what has happened to the accepted standards of communication, politeness and respect.
P.S. Matching Song: Emerson, Lake and Palmer - The Barbarian
And here the journey continues ...
