Am I backpacking or on a luxury holiday? I seem to have forgotten...

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DANGER! DANGER! Those on a tight budget should not go to Hoi An! Especially those that might be tempted with tailor made clothing... I took the forbidden fruit in a big way, spending about $200 USD on new custom made clothes. Who says you don't need a wool coat and party dress when backpacking in Vietnam? Among many other things... I had to break the code of conduct with backpackers, and actually bought a suitcase to fit my new goods. With the expectation that I won't be moving around quite so much in the near future, I thought it was okay.

So what else was there to do in Hoi An? Well, this beautiful little city is like a Vietnam meets China and France mosaic. Walking around the city along the river side, admiring the French colonial architecture, fishing villages and rice fields were among my favourite things to do here. I also took a Vietnamese cooking class, which left me a whiz of anything requiring rice paper. Of course we can't forget the pedicure, beach and laying poolside in my hotel. Yes, that's right I stayed in a hotel with a pool for $10 a night. I will definitely miss these little luxuries when I part with Asia.

After 5 days, my umpteen different bags and I boarded the bus for an 18 hour ride, complete with our own cockadoodling rooster to Hanoi to bring in the Chinese New Year (Tet). It was a long haul, but hey, I'm used to that!

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Photos

A citizen of Hoi An
His face was just so full of character, I couldn't resist taking his picture.

The Japanese Bridge
Despite the Vietnamese, Chinese and French influences, they still managed to find room to build a Japanese bridge.

A Common Site
The women are always seen walking around with a bamboo pole and two baskets, selling their goods. Don't forget the pointy hats!

Rice Paper out to dry
They dry everything in the sun from chiles to fish to rice paper. It makes for manoevering around the sidewalks very interesting.