Hoi An

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Brochure Text

Day 18-19 Hoi An: This morning drive over the Hai Van Pass to Hoi An, possibly stopping as well at Lang Co Beach. Just north of Hoi An is Danang, a major US military base during the war and site of an excellent museum documenting Cham art and history.

The picturesque port town of Hoi An, once known as Faifo, was an important trading town with strong south Chinese influence and connections. A walking tour of this living museum includes the Museum of History and Culture, the Tan Ky house, the Japanese bridge, the Fujian Assembly Hall and lunch at a riverside restaurant to sample some of the local delicacies. Hoi An is also a shopping mecca for tourists in the region - tailors can produce virtually anything overnight - clothing, silk lanterns, lacquer ware and other crafts abound.

Thursday 18th
After a good 9 hours sleep, up for breakfast (same same), then off to the Post Office to post off my second DVD and a couple more bits - don't want to be carrying them. I have more idea of the process now, but it still takes about 10 minutes. No time to go to the decent internet cafe (in the rapidly drying streets), so go to the one next to the hotel, which is expensive and a bit slow, but think I might be able to get a bit done there - not really though, and then she tries to charge me for the 5 minutes that the computer took to boot up (they keep the computers off to save electricity!) - so I paid what I thought (would have liked it to be nothing as didn't really achieve anything), and went and got the bags, as we piled onto the coach.

Another 5 hours or so expected on the coach, but after about 1.5 hours, we stop (for an early lunch) at the beach. I have my cold pizza on the bus, so get the swim things on and dive into the sea with the usual suspects for such things - Oliver, Nick and Cassandra. It tskes ages to get out to the big waves because the sea has a strong push back to the shore - and a tug down the beach, but we just keep an eye on it. Oliver and Nicky try to teach us to bodysurf, not sure I've quite got it, but is great fun jumping in the waves. We then go in, but decide want another photo opportunity, so Cassandra, who has dressed, comes down with me and takes about 30 of me - some are funny! Then queue up for the bathooms (no showers, but big western toilets), get change and back on the bus to savour pizza, and all the foreign goodies people have bought. Soon we're supposed to stop for a chance to climb a mountain for some views, but a) it's raining, and b) the driver doesn't stop anyway (they're pretty uncontrollable these Vietnamese drivers - they'll stop where they want, or where they'll get something free!

So, by 2.30, we're in Hoi An, wasn't execting that for another hour, but thought we were going through somewhere pretty touristy! Seem to be going down another Shoe Street, then we cross the bridge to Cam Nam Island, where we'll be staying at the Van Loi Hotel, which looks pretty nice. Kym apparently then rotates the single room, so I'll be sharing with Chris here, whilst Cassandra has the single, and in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), I'll have a single room for 2 nights... not that I'm that bothered, but it'll probably be nice. 3pm we meet in the lobby for orientation tour - not that Hoi An is big. Loads of people drop off their laundry (should be by the kg, but the woman charges high prices per bag. When Kym realises what is happening she say, no, don't leave it there, and most people take it up the road, apart from those whose washing is already getting wet! Kym then takes us through the market - beautiful colours there, and onto the Blue Dragon Restaurant where we can sign up for another cooking class tomorrow - decide that is a good option, try Vieetnamese compared to Thai cooking. We run into some more watery bits, and Kym gets stuck in the sticky mud, as we watch the old women trying to clear it away.

We then wander round the streets - this is the place to get clothes and shoes hand-made, and I decide might get a pair of knee-high boots and post them home, as can't get anything I particularly like in the UK. Find a suitable store, check the quality of the work, be as specific as I can about what I want, and we come to a price of $83 for 2 pairs, so hopefully they'll be OK. Need some jeans for next part of trip, so get some for $20 - will pick them all up tomorrow. Think this is less of a risk than the stupid jewel saga! Wander round a bit more, can't find an ATM which I need by this point, but see lots of internet cafes and book exchanges! Run into some of the others, head back for a shower, then meet Kym in the lobby to go to the Cargo Club Restaurant for dinner. Amazing looking menu - order White Rose, which apparently you can only get in Hoi An (shrimp wrapped in glutinous rice with something crunchy sprinkled on top), followed by spinach and goats cheese lasagne (and how nice was that!), looking for chocolate mousse for pudding, but Lynne has ordered the last one, so I order ice cream, then he comes and says there is another chocolate mousse, then when I say yes, checks and the ice cream has already been done. Well, I don't need both so obviously destined not to have chocolate mousse - maybe tomorrow! Tired by this point, so after reading a little more of History of Tractors in Ukrainian, sleep!

Friday 19th
This hotel is noisy! We're on the front (nice view from balcony though), and everything starts moving probably about 5am! Chris also gets up pretty early but doesn't really disturb me. I hear a load of shouting about 7.30am and realise that Chris has left the room door wide open when she goes out, so get up to shut that and decide suppose better get up. Shower, and to the 5th Floor for breakfast - very excited to see muesli and cows milk (yes, it's UHT, but!) so that's great, then come down to the lobby to play with the internet, and I'm still here (it's rpetty slow though!). It's now 10am, think will go for a wander for an hour, before cookery class 11-1, then planning to cycle to the beach for another swim, and then go and pick up boots and jeans before dinner - and I guess that's the day pretty much done, and we only have until 11.30 tomorrow before flying to Saigon (better pack properly).

Wandered through the market, bought a shell bracelet, took some photos, spent 5 minutes trying to get sachets of body wash as they do plenty of shampoo, but they kept offering me bottles, so I ran away before they could drag me further. Got to the cooking class for 11, where we could pick any 3 things from the menu, so long as it wasn't White Rose (secret recipe "only one family" - but every restaurant seems to serve it!), so I went for fried pork spring roll, caramel pork in a clay pot with steamed rice, and battered beef (I was hoping this would be like shredded beef). The spring rolls were tasty so noted down the ingredients for that, and the caramel pork was delicious. The battered beef was not great - literally batter, strips of beef, and fry, but hey! By 1.30 we're all finished, and I see a top I really like in one of the shops (contemporary-Asian Burgandy silk) for $15, and they can make it by this evening - it won't be lined or anything, but I was planning on getting a second nice top for Australia, so there we are!

Wander round for some photos, then back to the hotel for 3.30pm. The bicycle man seems to have lots of bikes, so I go back 10 minutes later and he's let all the bikes out to a group bar one which he says is "very nice bike, very good bike", but the brakes are squishy and it's pretty old (although we referred to it as authentic!). Andy and Tammy, you would have been so jealous - I meant to get a photo of me with it, but it's too special! So, as a group we cycled to the beach - took about 1/2 hour, and the minute we got to the beach we were surrounded by toothless old ladies who wanted to sell us anything and everything, and just squatted next to the group. Kym said you just have to ignore them! Chris, Oliver, Nick & I all head into the sea.. bathers/togs/swimsuit, whatever you want to call it, already on. More great waves and underto, don't bash my chin on the sea-bed this time. Tried with the waterproof camera, but think that won't have worked, but Kym got a couple of great shots, so later... On the way back, find chilled Mars Bars (about 60p), so that makes up for the minor homesickness felt when woke up this morning. Back on the bikes, back through the town, back to shower off the sand, and back out for the fittings.

I go for the shirt first, not quite ready, so onto the jeans. Those are hilarious - massively big around the waist, and the crotch is around about mid-thigh, but "no problem, no problem, come back 9am". Then onto the boots with trepidation. The black wedge boots are fine, but just need some fitting adjustments, the red boots are nothing like their picture (and I bought them for the unusual heel, no such thing... he even takes me on his moto to his friend who supplies the heels and we look through everything - so I'll stick with the ones on there!) - so we have a big discussion and he agrees to remake by 7am. I say I'll be back to check the black ones before 9pm! Back for the shirt, try it on - pretty shapeless, but 5 minutes later she's adjusted it and finished it and it's pretty nice. Won't wear it tonight though, just more washing - and she says it can be machine washed! Back to the hotel, run into the guys on their way to dinner, so turn round - and it's just round the corner from where the boot fittings are. Still full from cookery class, so order a blue-cheese pizza, eat half and keep rest for tomorrow. Nip out mid-way to check the black boots... still need more adjustments, but should be OK for the morning! We head down to Tam Tam's the Bakery for a drink/pudding, but just have a lemon sorbet - my, that was sharp, but good. Some stay on for more drinks, but I head back with a couple of others for a late-night swim - glad I wasn't on my own, 'cos some Asian guy drunkenly approached me and I had to hide behind everyone else... Oh well, pack up as much as possible and sleep, ready for my early start!

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Hoi An
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