We woke up this morning with great intentions of walking the 7km Chewang Beach.

I had been awake since about 2:00 am thanks to our afternoon nap yesterday and my newly acquired bug bites. I am really getting tired of these bugs feasting on me. Only positive thing is that I only got 2 bites yesterday. Either the bugs weren’t bad, the bugs didn’t like me yesterday or I’m building up an immunity to them. It was only 2 days ago that the last 5 bites stopped itching and I finally had a good night sleep. Wish I could find something to help with the itch. The day I got the 5 bites my son’s comment was “I wish I could say it will get better, but it won’t”. Thanks a lot Paden! Enough about my bug bites.

After breakfast we gathered our stuff, including our quick dry towels for the beach and headed out for our walk along the 7km beach. Should have known it wouldn’t be good when we somehow missed the cutoff to the beach. We walked for about 15 minutes before we both thought, this seems kind of far. The turn off should have been long before now. So we turned around and headed back towards the hotel. Found another beach access road and took it. Got to the beach and the tide was still pretty high. Took our flip flops off and headed off down the beach. I can’t say this is my favourite beach by a long shot. It doesn’t seem to be maintained by the hotels along it and there was ‘stuff’ along the beach. Not much garbage but seaweed, black wood like shavings and what looked like bricks. We were wondering if it was the breakwater wall falling apart. Also hundreds of tiny fish that I was afraid of stepping on and squishing. They looked like the fish that you see in the tanks that eat the dead skin off your feet. Something Doug wants to try before we leave. We walked until we came to the first corner and then decided to turn back.

It was only 10:00 am and so hot and humid. The weather forecast was calling for rain this morning, but they were wrong again. The humidity was a killer. Once we got past the breakwater wall, the ocean and beach cleared right up. Beautiful white, clean sand, but there was still no shade. All the loungers that were in the shade. Most belonged to hotels along the beach and were for hotel guests only. Below can’t imagine carrying these to sell all day long. The guy is to the right of them. He was taking a break. He’s usually under them.

We walked a little further and then packed it in. Just too sunny, hot and humid. And we’re too old to enjoy that now. Back to our hotel, but not before stopping for a vanilla Iced Cap at Starbucks. Doug, monkeying around with his friends.

We dropped off our quick dry towels and picked up my sarong and shawl. We could see a spiral from our hotel and it looks like the top of a temple. Doug really wanted to locate this as we knew it had to be close. Couldn’t find it on the maps anywhere. Today maps.me actually located a pagoda in that location. I wasn’t sure about this outing as the spiral was on the top of a hill which meant a walk up the hill to get to it.

However maps.me showed it as being 1.6 km away. Not far really…..unless it it a thousand degrees outside. Okay, I exaggerate a little. It was only a hundred and something. I know because at 6:00 pm it was still 44C (111F). So we get to the side street where the pagoda is.

This is one steep hill and almost in full sun. Doug kept coaxing me. Just walk from shade spot to shade spot and take a rest. That is what we did for the 1/2 km up, up, up. Thought I would die before getting to the top, but I made it! The view from up here was spectacular. You could see the sea, the islands and the airport was right there. Watched a few planes take off. Pictures once again don’t do it justice. So many butterflies up here. So beautiful. Happy he made me do it. LOL. The first picture is the airport runway.

The pagoda was under renovation and the whole interior was in the process of be repainting all the murals. There were so many artists working on it. When we were inside they were on their lunch break.

We took our time walking down the hill, but that was easy breezy compared to going up. Passed a few youngins walking up and they were finding it difficult in the heat.

Back at the hotel we spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry before heading out to the night market for dinner. It still amazes us how everything is gone from the market area during the day and at night it is so fill of stalls and people. We both choose chicken doners. That is what they call donairs here. They were pretty darn good.

Thought we might try some other street food but we were stuffed after our doners. We have got to be the first two back in the hotel every night. Just can’t stay out at night after being in the heat all day. It’s even hot at night. It is currently 9:52 pm and is still 41C.

Tomorrow is a travel day and we have to start packing.