A Taxi Ride at night

A wedding was taking place right by the small dock where we pulled ashore. Tony brazenly walked up and asked someone where the nearest store was and we wandered around till we found it.

While they stocked up on food and booze, I called Alan and found I had a message from Laisa. So I called her, and found out it was her birthday. Would I like to come and hang out with her and her cousins? Sure.

So after we went back to the boat, I told the Birmies that I had a hot date that night. They decided to stay aboard and drink gin and tonic instead of going ashore and partying with the natives. No problem. Tony offered me his nicest shirt, which Vic decided smelled worse clean than my dirty one (the mildew smell went away after a swim and sun dry.) But it was too small in the shoulders anyway.

I caught a taxi to town ($10) from the Sheraton and was supposed to meet Laisa at 9. She wasn't there, and it was a sketchy part of town and I didn't feel like waiting around, so I spent another $10 to get to Nasoso village. There, no one seemed to know who she was (she'd just moved there a week before) but they all remembered her sister Suzie's wedding from a couple weeks before.

There were plenty of people to ask, because the taxi driver managed to put his front tires in a ditch from which I could not extricate him. With enough guys, we lifted the front end back onto the road and I went back to town with him.

I'd left my wallet, and just brought some cash in case I got mugged, so I'd forgotted Laisa's phone number. I took a couple of guesses, but no luck. Oh well. I ended up spending $40 for a taxi ride. That would have gotten me to Suva and with enough change left over for dinner. I also spent $10 on a telecard for less than 10 minutes.

Lessons: don't catch taxis at expensive resorts, and don't give your phone away that you got for just that purpose.