2/3/10 - day 83.

woke up feeling predictably awful at about 6am. slept on and off til about half 10 then went for fruit salad breakfast. there was a lad drinking a beer while i was waiting for my food. thought thats a bit early for a tuesday morning. then i noticed to other lads with bottle of rum, pouring themselves big glasses of the stuff. i was nearly sick at the sight of it. i looked away to an even more odd sight. a security guard whipping a razor out of his pocket and start shaving. no water, no foam, no mirror, like it was just a normal thing to be doing when you've got a spare minute and you're standing in the street!

went for a lie down on the beach where i got startled (and by that i mean i nearly soiled myself) by a large crab crawling on my foot while i was dozing. the beach was pretty empty, the waves were crazy, there was a nice breeze and nobody else was about. i didnt go in the sea as countless people have told me how dangerous it is and that it claims lives every year. not being a strong swimmer, i thought it not worth the risk. i think this is the reason a lot of the hotels in monterrico have their own swimming pool.

after soaking up some rays i went for a wander through the main drag. its basically just one road, took about 15 minutes to walk down so not exactly big. there's just a few shops, a few comedors and hotels. i stopped at one of the comedors to eat. at many of the little ones, you dont ask for a menu, you just ask what they are doing today as its usually only like 2 or 3 things. in this case, it was just one. fish, chips and salad. i went with it. when i saw her carrying a dead about, i realised my error. i was gonna be given a fish with everything still intact, which im not a fan of. sure enough, it arrived with a tail, fins and a head on it. it was actually really nice, and i felt i tackled it admirably.

went back to the beach til it got dark then turned in for an early night, feeling pretty wiped after last night.