Rough Start…Ending in Sunshine
Rain, Rain, Go Away…
Days of rain from Girona kept this gloom around me and followed me to a few frustrating events. After being indecisive about whether to stay or go in Girona, I finally decide to leave and make my usual planning for accommodations at my next destination. So, when does being a frugal backpacker goes wrong? When you make a choice on a place based on decent(“average”) reviews and an inexpensive price. Using Booking.com, I found a place away from the city and tourist areas. As it turns out, it was a poor choice for a backpacker as it was a 20Euro ride(from the only taxi in town) to the establishment from “town”. Way too pricey! This is after wandering the entire town(where you could stand on one end of town and see the other end in the distance). After checking in and relaxing in my room while a storm pours outside, I immediately changed plans and decided to try my luck into the tourist town of L’Estartit the next day… plus, I heard that it had good SCUBA diving!
Cloud Still Hangs Over Me
This time I decided I would find a place to stay by popping my head(and backpack) into establishments and checking out if it would suit me. I had a rough idea from a bit of research I had done about where to stay but didn’t want to commit until I was happy. Santa Anna is what I settled on after finding my SCUBA shop. I drop off my things in my room and run to my 1st dive time. La-Sierna Dive Shop looked promising on its website… but looks can be deceiving. As I have only about 8 dives under my belt, I was hoping for more guidance. No preliminary debriefing. No one told me what to do with my equipment(load it on the truck?), who to follow, what to expect, or even a hello. So I asked a couple from Australia for some prompting, who as it turned out, knew no more than I!
I finally meet my email contact who tells me who I am paired with. And then the worse is yet to come! The weather was bad and water was rough. I get in the water and am immediately thrown around like broken buoy in a storm. I felt out of control and scared! My dive master told me to put my regulator on the surface and promised me that it would not be as bad underwater. But it was too late! I had already lost focus and panicky. The visibility was horrible. The 1st 5 meters were rough and we had to go down using the rope of the anchor. When we got close to the bottom, I managed to forget almost everything! Sank to the sea floor and killing whatever my fins could touch! Some how during this mad destruction of sanity… I loose my weights on my belt. This all lead to my dive master to have to hold my hand(literally) through the rest of the dive. It seemed to comfort me and allow me to get comfortable again while trying to enjoy what I was seeing. He was quiet nice to me as we returned to solid ground. Said he would not see me for my 2nd dive. Another dive? F*&#@ No! Instead of spending more money on another miserable experience… I decided to have a nice bath and relax in my private room!
Berlin in L’Estartit
Thankfully, I had a private room with good internet access, a nice TV, clean bathroom, and small balcony I would enjoy my simple meals. The manager/owner was so kind and seemed to be able to exude some kindness and read my need for hospitality. After a nice talk with her, she introduced me to her son who was interested in traveling the way I did. It was great to be in a place where I have a local companion. He and his golden retriever, Berlin, toured me around the quiet spots of L’Estartit. Hiking to a beautiful outlook onto L’Estartit, swimming with Berlin, and having nice conversation over nice meals. So nice, I was convinced to stay 2 days longer!
