Day 13 - Thursday 31st January

Although there was an optional tour this morning, we decided not to go. It was going to a tile factory, a rope factory and a Hindu temple. Instead we enjoyed a longer sleep. By the time we got to breakfast at 8:30am, the rest of our group were already there having their breakfast on a long table in the hotel restaurant.

Instead of the group outing, we decided to get a tuktuk into town. Brett and Mandy had decided to join us and so we met at reception at 10am. The staff organised two tuktuks for us and negotiated a price of 2000 rupees per couple for two hours. The drivers would stay with us for this time and take us from one destination to another.

The first stop was a souvenir shop near the bus depot. Here we looked at drums, brightly coloured baskets, a wall of elephants of various sizes, etc. They sold masks similar to the ones we'd seen a couple of days ago at the wood carvery but here they were much cheaper. The manager asked us to pay cash rather than using credit cards.

Next they took us to two different department stores and then to a supermarket.

On the way back to the hotel, our driver stopped to pick up his daughter from school - she looked about 5 years old. Then he dropped her home which was fairly close to our hotel. From the street, it looked like a nice home. Maybe tuktuk driving provides a good income.

Back in the hotel, we heard that the fishermen were on the beach pulling in their nets. So I grabbed my camera to take in the sights. There were two groups of men tugging on long nets that went for about 10m up the beach and about 20m (and probably much further) in the water out towards a fishing boat.

An English tourist told us that the whole process takes about two hours. After taking lots of photos, one of the groups of fishermen beckoned me over and let me help them pull in the nets.

For lunch, we decided to go to the bar instead of the restaurant. They have comfortable chairs on the terrace outside the bar overlooking the lawn, palm trees and beach.

Suellen and Bruce were already there. They'd ordered toasted club sandwiches whereas we went for beef burgers with chips. This was a pleasant change from the buffets we have had almost every day so far. I had a Tiger beer this time and Suzy had a fancy cocktail.

Neil came to see us several times about the arrangements for tomorrow - particularly the check-out time and the departure time for the trip to the airport.

He was still calling Suzy "Byrne" and so she decided to tell him that in Australia, we either say "Sue" or "Mrs Byrne". The good news is that he is starting to remember some of our names.

After lunch, we walked down to the beach to see how the fishermen were going only to find out that it was all over. Instead we walked along the beach looking for crabs. We saw one crab who seemed to be enjoying a surf. He was running into the surf and being washed back before trying it again and again.

In the afternoon, Suzy sat on a lounge under a large umbrella on the lawn looking out to sea. She sat there reading her book on her iPad.

In the evening, we sat on the balcony of our room to watch the sun set through the palm trees. When we went down to the bar at 7pm, most of the others in our tour group were already there.

Dinner was another buffet in the hotel restaurant.

Last night they were running out of wine and tonight the shortage was even greater. Rather than bringing a price list, they invited us down to the cellar to see the wines they had left. There were only three different reds and not many bottles of each. I decided to get the Merlot from Chile again.

We were back in our room by 10pm.