A Viscious Cycle.

Things didn't go as planned. I left at 8:30 and returned a very tired and roasted woman at 3:30. While the ride provided stunning scenery: papaya trees, mountains encircled by clouds, stunning blue waters and fairly empty roads, it was exhausting both physically and mentally. I reached the midway point of my ride around 10:30. I pulled off to stock up on bottled water and ended up chatting with a lovely family. Imelda is a mom of two, Kenneth and MaryGrace. She talked Kenneth, who is studying to be a nurse, to show me some magic tricks. He was amazing!!! I wish I could have recorded it. We ended up chatting for about 30 or so minutes and it was a nice break. It turns out Imelda lives in the town I'm staying in. She even offered me a ride back in her van if I was too tired and she wrote down her cell phone for me. I cycled onwards until reaching the beach area. There were several unmanned wooden catamarans along the beach, half of them dipping into the blue-green waters. It was quite a stunning place. The water was so warm. I dipped my feet and then noticed a middle-aged man had appeared near my bike and bag. I went over and we chatted for a bit. He, too, offered me a ride home. He invited me to his house on the beach for some coconut milk and to avoid the midday sun and to hang with his family, but my danger-stranger instinct was buzzing and I politely declined. He seemed nice enough, don't get me wrong. But I just felt weird about it and was leaning toward taking Imelda up on her offer.

As I cycled back, I knew I was beat. I was looking forward to putting my ego aside and accept Imelda's offer. But I'm fairly certain I rode right past her van without seeing it. I kept telling myself it was just around the next bend, the next hill, but after an hour had passed, I knew I had missed it. So, I sucked it up (and had some Gu thank goodness for that!) and cycled the whole way back. The heat was brutal. It was like cycling in an oven. I took lots of stops in the shade. During one break, a pedestrian struck up a conversation with me. He asked the usual questions: Where are you from? How long have you been here? How long will you stay? Where are you going? Are you traveling alone? He also asked me my age (not uncommon here to get asked that). I told him to guess and he said 13, then 20. Hmmmmm, my guess is he's not too good with the numbers. It was a pleasant conversation and gave me the break I needed. And while I had sunblock with me and did reply -- I swear I did -- but this morning, I awoke to sunburnt shoulders, hands and face. Ouch!

Needless to say, I opted to take it easy today. A hard thing for me to do -- I always feel the urge to keep going and exploring and doing. But after what I put my body through, I have to give it a day of rest. It's the least I can do!

GROOVESPOOK:
One of my molars fell out.

written by  Groovespook on July 4, 2010 from Sorsogon, Philippines
from the travel blog: Nuttter and Groovespook go Philippine island hopping
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