just another day at the beach

We'd been warned. Sam Son is a tourist spot and gets busy, they told us, but on our first few visits the beaches were fairly empty. No more. Every time we go, it seems to get busier and busier. Even on Tuesday evening, the place was packed with hundreds of people fighting for their own spot on the beach and in the sea.

I finally relaxed my ban on renting any sort of flotation device and with the help of Etty's conversational Vietnamese skills, we rented two big inner tubes for us. And when I say "us" I use the term loosely; again, I sat on the beach guarding our belongings while Stuart, Audrey, Becky and Etty played in he incoming tide. I graded papers and fought off the stream of hawkers with a brisk "Khong" and a wave of my hand.

Then, as usual, the storm clouds came in. We'd been there for nearly an hour and a half, so it really was time to leave in order to get back for my meeting at 7:30pm. The immense dark clouds came over us a bit slower than last time, no fear-inducing black skies this time.

Audrey couldn't help but wonder what it was about Sam Son that resulted in storms nearly every time we vist. Ah, we're just lucky, that's all.