Hubby slept like a log, and I wasn't far behind him, the most comfortable and relaxed we've been in quite a while. Wonderful! We headed downstairs looking for the breakfast and found it just up the street at one of the restaurants, with another really nice buffet, lots of local fare but also lots of Western choices as well. We loaded up on food, then headed over to the stable for our 10:00 ride. The leader was a young man who had worked there for 12 years, and in additional to leading the trail rides, he apparently also taught riding lessons. Hubby was put up on a bay horse names Felicia with a hornless Australian saddle, while I was put on a palomino named Bonita, with an English saddle. It's been years since I've been in an English saddle, so I thought it might be a challenge! But it worked out, though I felt I had to have my stirrups shorter than I usually like them (more appropriate for English), and it really hurt my knee after a while. I'm not quite sure why they chose these two horses, though, because they didn't seem to get along, and though there wasn't any actual kicking, there was lots of posturing and flattening of ears whenever Bonita tried to get next to or in front of Felicia. We rode around the round pen for about 10 minutes just to demonstrate we were experienced and to get to know the horses, then we set off down the road toward the golf club. We thought that we would be spending more time in the wilderness (probably because it was called "The Jungle Ride," but about 65% of it was along the road getting from one forest trail to another. Still, it was time on the back of a horse, and as I've said many times (along with many others), those hours are never wasted! The ride was just about two hours long, and all arrived back at the stable safe and sound, always a good thing! Afterward, we go into our bathing suits and sat out by the pool for a while, but the water was too cold to enjoy, and the air handlers were a bit noisy behind us, and there were two guys swinging machetes at the bamboo border around the pool, so eventually we went back up to our comfy room until cocktail hour, when we went down to the bar and had a couple of Singapore Slings (when in Rome, right?), the first alcohol besides beer I've had in a long time. I had ordered a Guinness at the Italian restaurant last night, and it was served from a can, and it just didn't taste right, so I decided I'd pass on that. Hubby has decided his Tiger beer reminiscing had been well satisfied (tastes fine when your 22, not so much when you're 82) and splurged with me. We stayed there until the French restaurant across the street opened at 6:30, then went over there and enjoyed a fabulous meal. We were the only ones in the place, and again, there were only a few people wandering the streets, which really surprised us. Almost like a ghost town. I guess if you used your imagination, and considered that this was a French town after WWII that needed some maintenance and cleaning up, yet the people were still too scared to come out, you could justify it. A reach, I know, but hey, whatever it takes! Anyway, it was a lovely dinner (though the sound track was a bit weird, old American music mostly from the 70's, starting with Linda Ronstadt's Desperado and the like), but I felt sorry for the waiter, who spent almost the entire evening folding dozens of napkins at a table on the back wall. At one point, we had a Filipino trio come out and serenade us with oldies for a few tunes as well before they made the rounds at the other restaurants. We luxuriated over dinner before taking a walk through town and ending up back at our room, more relaxed than we'd been in a long time. Love that we're starting to wind down a bit, with two nights at each place. As much as I enjoy driving, it's time for the chauffeur and logistics expert to emjoy HER vacation!
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