6/26 AAA, Day 13: Goodbye Vanuatu... Eventually, Hello Fiji... Kinda

This entire today consisted of trying to get out of this god damn country. I arrived at the airport a dutiful 2.5 hours early (1:30) only to discover that my flight to Fiji had been delayed "at least 4 hours minimum". Fuck! But I met a cat from Rhode Island who lives in Fiji, a fellow traveler who takes things in stride, so we did what any sensible person would do and went on a pilgrimage for alcohol. First off, the Port Vila International Airport sells alcohol, but the operation is so small that when planes aren't flying, nothing is open. And the bar knew our flight was delayed; apparently we were the only ones out of the loop. So we were directed to the Air Club Lounge down the road where we were informed that they used to have beer, but their fridge broke so they had to 'give it back', whatever that means. Not to be daunted, we walked a good two miles, with all our shit, back towards town until we found a Chinese convenience store. I asked my new friend Matt "Will six be enough for us?" He shrugged and I grabbed six beers. I paid for them and turned to find him standing behind me with six more. I just laughed and knew it would be a good day. After walking the two miles back in the god damn heat, we sat in the empty concourse and polished off all the beer in 4 hours. By then the bar was open so we could have another, and eventually the plane took off, only about 5 hours behind schedule. We arrived in Nadi, Fiji at 11:00, where my ride no longer existed, having expected me at 6:30. So Matt got me a taxi, and argued me a good price (great-- a place where everything is negotiable. It can be good fun, but that shit is exhausting) and I got to my hostel right about midnight, checked in, and fell asleep happy enough, minus the obese chick snoring in the bunk above me. Ah, hostel life! It's good to be back.

Drink Count: 10

P.S. On my way out of town, I dropped by the National Museum of Vanuatu, which took about 15 minutes to go through. Wanna see it? This is it. This is all of it.Drunk. The only way to deal with a 5 hour flight delay.