Behind the scenes

We are staying in a homestay. There are subtle differences between the huts for tourists (2nd picture) and the huts of the owner and his family (1st picture). Can you spot the three main differences? I don't mean the stuff on the porch.

It's pretty simple. The tourist ones have windows, or more precisely shutters. They have a wooden door, not a cloth, and they are directly on the beach on stilts, whereas the owners place is back about 10m and not raised.

In more upmarket places, there are glass windows and more recently wi-fi (Starlink). What I don't know is what the toilets are like there. Here, the toilets are what the Chinese call tourist toilets, I.e. the type we know in the West, with the minor detail that there is no flush, but instead a very large bucket of water and a ladel. As far as I can tell, the locals don't use them, or they only go very early each day. Otherwise, I assume that would have spotted one there in the last 9 days . There are further indications of this , for example, they put the loo roll in the showered area and also the run-down look and feel of the conveniences. They are, after all, less than 4 years old.

It's humid here, and so after a while, clothes begin to smell a bit, and so Flo and I did a wash today. That involves filling a basin from the shower, adding a bit of soap, and then walking on them for a few minutes, a bit like grape pressing with your feet. After that, 2 or 3 rinses, and you're done for that part. But one more thing is needed, because clothes only dry in direct sun, otherwise they dry a bit, but remain humid. The sun, of course, moves, and so to get a result, we hang up the clothes 4 times in different places.Read more