Too Darned Hot

As we left Saigon yesterday afternoon, we spotted a forlorn pile of boxes left on the quayside.  Had we forgotten to load them?  Were the contents surplus to requirements?  Who knows?  Our friend Jane simply hopes that one of them doesn’t contain the Sancerre replenishments!

Today it is hot.  The Captain assures us it’s only 29C but in reality, without a breeze, it feels much hotter than that.

We are sailing off the southern coast of Vietnam and are about to turn the corner into the Gulf of Thailand.  The water is shallow here and we see quite a few fishing boats from time to time.  We’ve been to listen to a lecture about the Khmer Empire and stayed awake for most of it

Before we know it, it’s lunchtime and the promise of a Thai Market grill is tempting.  My hero opts for some green chicken curry – so steamy my camera fogged up!

I choose the freshly prepared Pad Thai, getting a cooking lesson into the bargain as the chef adds a bit of this and a bit of that to create a delicious dish for me.

Normally, these tables would be full of people enjoying lunch, a cold beer and a chat.  But today, we all scurry inside to enjoy our hot curries in the cool air conditioned restaurant.  It’s only the staff who are there outside in the heat, working on the grill or running for drinks.  Even our sweet ice cream server is dreaming of a cold shower and for once it’s not only we delicate European flowers who can’t take the heat but the South East Asian staff are mopping their brows too.

“Oh Madam”, said Darle, the delightful young staff member from Myanmar with whom we always exchange a cheery Mingalabar, “it really is too horrible hot”.

In spite of all that, as I walk past the rows of empty sun loungers, I notice that there’s one person soaking up the rays regardless.