Hoi An
Trip Start
May 18, 2005
1
20
25
Trip End
Jul 10, 2005
Hoi An,
Vietnam
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Lonely Planet says (being in Hoi An) "is like walking into a museum oiece ... enchants with its beauty and accessible history." We stayed about 8 blocks from the "old town" area - paid $15/night for triple room with free internet service that seldom worked. The old town area is all old (Chinese, French, Vietnamese, etc.) trader's houses of stucco and tile roofs. No space between houses and like other Vietnamese towns, blocks are pretty much solid with narrow lanes cutting through. Some houses are businesses and some are homes.
We had several things to eat that are famous in Hoi An: white rose, which is steamed shrimp dumplings; fried wonton with vegetables on top; and cau lau, a not so fantastic noodle dish. The pho is kind of sweet (like Kevin Dinh said it would be) with undistinguished broth (which, of course is most of the story). Pho in Saigon and Dallas better, for sure. Besides the charming old town - sorry, no photos - there is a beach about 5 kilometers from town. There is a little litter on the beach, but overall, a nice beach with clean water. Ahhh, to be back in the South China Sea/Pacific!
Today was the second day we've been to the beach. We took the little foam football I found near the school up the street from my home in Dallas. David, Jeff, and I tossed it around a few times, and then a man (clearly military) called for the ball. We played four-way catch in the surf for a good while and he drifted away. Then a 12 year-old called for the ball, "Yo! Yo!" and one of us tossed it to him. He tossed it back and another boy shouted, "Yo! Yo!" and pretty soon the ball was going every which way. Meanwhile, David drifted away and was playing kickball (like hacky-sack) with a rattan ball and 4 or 5 other young men. The football game kept going with 10-20 people in and out and by now a frisbee going as well. Major good times. The soldier and I shook hands and we split.
We rode our bikes back to town, Jeff on the worst bike in the world (I know because I rode it to the beach). When we were about 5 blocks from the hotel a young man and woman rode by on their moto and started teasing Jeff about his bike. Then the girl reached out her hand for Jeff's and they towed him (fast) for several blocks, laughing the whole way. "See you later!" There have been many such moments like this for us in VN - grace notes, so to say. Of course there are annoyances and so on, but on the balance, Vietnam has been very good.
