Saturday – August 15, 2026
Readers and sports fans of a certain age may associate this Spanish phrase with Roberto Durán, who famously uttered “no more” in his native tongue before quitting a World Championship welterweight boxing match in 1980.
This morning, I uttered “No más!”
Good judgment I sometimes lack. It was on full display as I headed to the upper deck to play pickleball in this soul-crushing heat and humidity. But even more surprising than my lack of good judgment is there were three others already there waiting for a fourth to arrive. After 40 minutes (and only 20 minutes of court time), I felt what I believed to be the early signs of heat exhaustion. I quit and headed inside to the air conditioning where I will spend the rest of the day. Three consecutive days in the steam bath otherwise known as Nha Trang was awesome but draining.
My day started out well. I slept better that most nights, probably aided by the several beers I consumed after getting back from town yesterday afternoon. I don’t drink that often or in the amounts I once did, but the thought of a cold beer while I was melting yesterday afternoon on the tender returning to the ship was too much to resist. And I have some difficulty stopping after that first one.
One of my new German friends on the boat joined me at breakfast and actually kept me from talking for over 30 minutes as she regaled me with some of the most fascinating travel stories (India, Nepal, Indonesia, Italy, Switzerland…) that I have ever heard… how her travels serendipitously led her to meet and spend significant time with the Tibetan master Lama Gangchen Ripoche. And she has hundreds of them! We will be spending a lot of time together, I hope.
And then stretch class at 8 (Thanks, Mark!) followed by more coffee and another fantastic conversation with another couple I met a few days ago. I simply can’t keep up with it all and can’t possibly document all the fabulous experiences I am having.
Quick detour… this came up in my old photos feed and was taken 9 years ago.
I spent my afternoon relaxing in my cabin and then made my way to the Observatory where I ran into my Doppelganger. This time I had my phone with me. Tom graciously agreed to a photo that would end up here in my blog. You be the judge. I can certainly see the resemblance once I see us next to each other in a photo. Although our birthdates are years apart, we were both born in April just four days apart.
I made my way up to deck 9 after dinner to watch us depart from Nha Trang. It’s the highest part of the boat… and you know how much I like heights. Despite a bit of uneasiness, it was magic. Enjoy:
Next stop is Chan May… another place I have never heard of prior to this trip. I expect it will be just as good or better than Nha Trang.
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