Early on Sunday morning 31 July, we piled onto our bus for the relatively short journey southwards, to the seaside town of Hoi An. The four-hour drive took us over the scenic Hai Van Pass - its dramatic bends and spectacular views of the sea reminded us a little of Chapman's Peak Drive (for the Capies among you). Of course, there had to be a photo-stop at the top of the pass, and Brian warned us that the viewpoint is awash with very insistent hawkers.
So, when we got out the bus at the top of the pass, Rich and I headed straight up the hill on a small track, watched only by cows, while the rest of our group were mobbed by hawkers down below. Clever!!! And we got the best views too.
En route, we made another short stop - a marble showroom at Danang. Even though the 'marble mountains' in the area have long been mined out, the town is still home to many marble workshops. The massive outdoor show garden we visited is a monument to kitch... cavorting dolphins, life-size Grecian figures, massive pot-bellied Buddhas and the like. I took the opportunity to purchase my kitch gift - a green tiger statuette... yuck!
We arrived in Hoi An at midday, and made the usual orientation walk into town. It's a pretty place crammed with art galleries, bistros and tailors' shops. The French-colonial, wooden-shuttered buildings that line the narrow streets have a quaintly dilapidated air about them. The town is located on a river estuary, so fishing is the traditional livelihood of the people - the many colourful fishing boats and a particularly malodorous fish-market in the centre of town testify to this. However, by the look of things, tourism is now the main industry - all the shops and tailors are geared to take advantage the influx of foreign money, as are the hundreds of hawkers who cruise the streets and the beach, hoping to sell simple souvenirs and sweets.
In the late afternoon, Rich and I got into our swimsuits, grabbed two bikes provided by the hotel, and pedaled down to the beach about 5km out of town, called Cau Dai. It's a nice stretch of white sand, fringed by palms and looking out over a pair of islands out in the bay... though it's nowhere near as pretty as the beaches we had seen and enjoyed in Thailand, and was very busy.
We took a dip in the pleasantly refreshing ocean (colder than Thailand) and settled down with our books.... but alas, we soon realised there's NO PEACE to be had on Cau Dai! Insistent hawkers swarmed around us, trying desperately to flog sweets, drinks and silly souvenirs. Their whining plea is quite amusing, actually: "Hello, hello. You buy, you buy? Maybe now? Maybe later?" (some of them perceptively added "Maybe never?") The other classic conversation initiator, a favourite of young child hawkers, is: "Hello, where you from?" If you answer the question, you've had it...the poor little mite will follow you around like a shadow. The best thing to do, we soon discovered, is to say "No, thank you" once, very politely, and then ignore them. It's quite sad to see people eking out a living in such a frustrating way - they must get plenty of verbal abuse - but they probably feel it pays.
The next morning, Rich had an early start - he had booked a morning's estuary fishing when we arrived, and set off excitedly. I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with a few other members of the group and hopped on a bike again, this time crossing the small bridge in town to check out Cam Nam, a rural island in the river estuary. Thinking it might be nice for Rich to see too, I returned to town and took a look around the many galleries and craft shops. After Rich returned from his river fishing, at about noon, the two of us hopped back on bikes and returned to Cam Nam together, for a leisurely lunch and some more exploring. We certainly didn't expect what happened next...
Cycling along a sandy footpath with Rich ahead of me, the river on the one side and dense shrubbery on the other, I suddenly saw Rich leap off his bike and literally toss it aside. He then started jumping up and down, lifting his feet really high as if treading water in the air, while shouting in a most unmanly way... what a sight!!! I was astonished, as you can imagine, and had know idea what was happening. A few seconds later he calmed down, but was still wide-eyed and hyperventilating as he told me what had happened: a long, thin, black snake had crossed his path and got caught up in the spokes of his bike wheel. It tried to strike at thim, and at that point he tossed the bike aside. The snake slithered free, but it immediately turned around and headed straight back for him. That's when the prancing and screaming happened.... phew, what a scary close encounter! I can tell you the poor chap was pretty shaken up for a while afterwards!
We headed back to the beach for a calming swim (braving the pesky hawkers seemed small beer compared to the snake!) and wandered back for our final night out in Hoi An. On the way into town, a few folk from our group collected the new tailored clothing, bags and shoes they'd had made at Hoi An's famously well-priced tailors' shops. We'd resisted the temptation to have anything made - anyway, where would we pack a suit or cocktail dress, and when would we wear it? Little things like these have reminded us that we are effectively homeless for nine months. The enormity of our trip is slowly sinking in.
Hoi An Hotels
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