You are only as old as something or other

I felt really old in Coffee Bay. Though we didn't stay long, we were there long enough to return passports and moneybelts to 2 young German girls who had accidentally left them in the safe in Cintsa where we had also come from. Looking at their passports on the way up, we had noticed that both of them were born in the 1990's. As a child of the 70's, this was a slightly sobering discovery, as was the later discovery that for both of them this was their first ever trip: So much is out there for them to learn, see, discover and experience, and for a moment I was wistful of time when i was also so innocent, untraveled and full of anticipation.

The other thing that made me feel old was that the bar had several drinking games and rules (bar rules mean you can only hold a drink in your left hand, and offenders are picked up and have to down their drink after the piercing cry of 'buffalo' goes up). Most of the clientèle were young, drunk (or well on the way), excited, on one of their first trips away and wanted to party, and I just didn't feel it. Sure, I enjoy a party as much as the next person, but when i travel i want to see a place, experience it, learn about its culture and history, relax and talk to people - locals and other travelers – that actually have something interesting to say, and Coffee Bay was not really the place for such an old persons mindset.

I can't believe i really said that. Feck me, am i really getting so old and boring in my old age???

Oh, and despite a rumour going around, Kiki was not 'ere. Not that I saw, anyway. And that's enough for me.