Traveling in South East Asia requires a great deal of flexibility. Take today: after escaping a seriously bad room (trust me, I’ve seen loads of basic rooms, this one was terrible), I suddenly had to adapt to completely new circumstances. The small room in an unremarkable city was replaced by a airy hut at a the edge of a coral reef filled see. The uncountable number of mosquitos in the room were replaced by similar numbers of fish. The noisy neighbors (don’t ask) were substituted by friendly locals.

To the inexperienced traveler this village at (literally) the end of a road would have been a massive shock, resulting in unrest, anxiety or even fear. But not me. I quickly adapted to the 29 degrees water in the ocean. With remarkable grace I ordered some fried bananas and a cold beer and installed myself in a comfy chair with a Philip K. Dick book.

Please folks, don’t try this without adequate supervision.