If you read my stuff you are no doubt already very aware that I complain about the noise in this city of Da Nang frequently. I don't know what can be done about that because it just seems to be part of the culture that everything needs to be really loud.
It is difficult to find some peace but lately I have been waking up early and on one day I decided that instead of starting to work right away I was going to take Nadi (my dog) on a long walk to the beach somewhere and we found a wonderful beach access area that is just perfect for us.
The beach in Da Nang is a bit tricky with a dog because while you are allowed to bring your dog down here, the various officials are kind of fussy about what you do with them once you are there. The official rule is that your dog has to be leashed and muzzled in order to be at the beach and I comply with the leash but not the muzzle. The one time that some over-zealous security guard who dreams of being a real policeman one day told me to put on her muzzle, which I do not own, we just left.
Early in the morning though, these guys are not yet working and there is a rather remote beach access that isn't used by many people that we can walk down a path and get to an area that isn't used by many people.
This particular beach access doesn't even look like Da Nang and most of the visitors here probably don't even know that this little road exists. When we got to the beach end of it, Nadi started to perk up because like a lot of dogs, she absolutely loves the beach but the leash kind of holds her back from what she really wants to do.
I checked around a bit and then ordered an overpriced beach coffee and then released her from her bonds only to have her just sit there in the shade with me. She is so well-behaved.
There is nothing special about this latte, and to westerners out there that are about to hear me complain about it costing $2, you will probably want to slap me. But that is an overpriced coffee for this area: It is about double what it should and would cost elsewhere but we are on the beach, and that is what it costs.
After I had my morning fuel, we went down the beach for a walk as Nadi became less and less shy about the very small waves that were coming in.
It wasn't long before she was running at high speed in both direction or "doing zoomies" and i like to call them, and then she does this thing where she liked to dig her head into the sand and get as dirty as possible.
I'm pretty sure that she doesn't understand how waves work because she will lie down including put her face on the ground like she is going to relax, then act all surprised when some water comes crashing into her. She isn't afraid of water, but she just likes to be around it, not in it.
The entire time we were down there, which was around 730 - 830, there was almost no one else around and the various stalls and coffee stands on the beach hadn't yet ruined the atmosphere by blasting music yet. Don't worry, this is still Vietnam, they will be doing that by 9.
It wasn't until this day that I realized that this particular portion of the beach is actually very quiet and not used by many people during the morning, and I will definitely be coming back here with Nadi in the future. It is just a bit of a double-edged sword because although she loves it, she gets SOOO MUCH SAND on her fur that it takes ages for me to get it all off of her once we get back home.
I will have to figure out a better way of getting her cleaned off because while I am happy to make her happy, I do not like the cleanup process to take an hour once we get back. Since Nadi hates baths, it isn't really possible for us to give her one every single time that we go down there but I may have to just bite the bullet and do it anyway for the sake of her happiness. I enjoy being down there as well and of course a lot of people like dogs so there were plenty of people that wanted to pet her.
Nadi is a strange dog though as she doesn't really yearn for human touch, even the touch from me. If you were to meet her she would probably say hello for a second or two and then just run off. She simply isn't interested in sticking around if you don't have any food.
In that way, she is more like a cat than a dog.
Today, Nadi is at her least favorite place in the world: The doggy groomers. I am at home alone right now and just like always I am kind of hit by the absence of my doggy friend. She is 11 years old so one of these days every day is going to be like this. I don't like to think about that but it does enter my mind.
I think this notion of mine should be just another reason for me to get her down to the beach as much as I can. There will come a day when I will be down there alone, and that will be even more heartbreaking.