Hoi An
Trip Start
Mar 19, 2008
1
7
31
Trip End
Jun 05, 2008
Hoi an,
Vietnam
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
A few hours on a sleeper bus and we realised just how good we had it on the night train. At least trains don't beep, loudly, and swerve drastically every 10 minutes. Nevermind, we made it to Hoi An safely and made the mistake of taking off on foot to find a hotel. In this heat, with all your lifes possesions on your back, not to mention the average taxi price being about 50p, it is a very silly idea.
We settled on the Ving Hu'ng 3 hotel which looked quite nice through my sweat filled eyes. We got a great room by the roof top pool and suddenly the world seemed a wonderful place. And it got better, Hoi An has a beautiful old quarter which isn't open to general traffic (ie: no bikes, cars, buses) and it was miraculous to wander around streets and not fear for your life and look ten directions at once
Cute kid Hoi An
.It is a truely charming place. Friendly, cosy and exceptional food. The Cao Lau (basically pork, crouton and noodle soup) and White Rose local dishes were a particular delight. As it got dark Hoi An just got prettier and prettier. All the little paper lanterns and tidy houses all lighting up filling the streets with golden light. Ahhhh....
Our friends Ian and Kathleen from Ha Long were also in town so it was good to meet up, eat great food, drink cheap beer, chat and get frightened by huge rats with good company.
We decided this was the place for a few days of a stopover. It's also quite close to the Cham (ancient SE Asian civilisation who ran the region from the 4th century to the 13th) ruins of My Son. We took a trip out and ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the various ruined temples but really, it was just so hot that I squeeked in horrible places as I walked.
Lisa the agony aunt
Lisa managed to become a local agony aunt. We got stopped on the street by a young girl working in a lantern shop
Lisa the Agony Aunt
. I figured it was a sales pitch ("Where you from?") and wandered off to take pictures of drains or feet or something. Meanwhile Lisa was being sincerely asked whether or not this young lady should take up a Dutch man's offer of a flight to Amsterdam. He said he loved her after all - but she had slight "I worry he sell me" issues... Needless to say Lisa paid for her taxi to the airport.. Ah no, Lise set her straight - we hope - and the girl seemed really really pleased for the advice.Hoi An is also known for its tailors so - seeking revenge for my Singapore shopping extravaganza - Lisa took to the streets and haggled and bartered some great bargains.
Our last couple of days were spents cycling around the local area. It's completely flat but that didn't stop the sweats. That and a flat tyre. We went body surfing on China Beach with some nice Americans, Nate and Jenny (Photojournalists! I felt so inferior) and got chatting to a local artist called Vinh Nguyen who showed us around his house after I whupped him at pool. Yeah! Seriously though, he seemed to be quite famous. Very nice chap, but his stuff wasn't really our cup of tea.
So, it's onward again. This time a whistle stop tour through Nha Trang (after an early flight) and straight on to Da Lat. We've heard grim tales of Nha Trang and would rather not.
Comments
hey
sounds great paul - no news - I have been off work for 2 weeks - which is boring but hell , it's better than actually being in work.
I do a newsletter from my website now - so go to www.temple-bar.blogspot.com and sign up for the weekly news letter - that should keep you up todate.
So where next after 'Nam?