Holy Hoi An

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Holy Hoi An! What a beautiful place in the middle of Vietnam, right on the coast. Maybe France's popularity in the US is low, but I feel that we are reaping some of the benefits of their imperialist past in Vietnam. A few reasons:

1. Bakers. In China, anything bread or cake is very light, dry, and needs to be accompanied by a sip of water with every bite. They don't really know how to make anything other than angel food cake (at least it seems). Not the case in Vietnam. Just ask our bellies. An avid runner might think we are carb loading for a big race. Not the case either. Baquettes and cakes run rampid in Vietnam. How glorious! We have eaten more baquettes in 1 day than 1 year in China. With a hot baquette in hand, they mix in various meats, spices, cilantro, cucumbers, cheese, tomatoes, peanut butter, basically anything. And it tastes great.

2. coffee. Vietnam is the third largest exporter of coffee. Who knew? They love a strong espresso, many times mixed with condensed milk and ice. MMMMM. Coffee is taken any time of the day, all for a very low price.

3. Architecture. It has been really interesting to see the mix of French and Chinese architecture everywhere. In Hanoi and Hoi An, a lot of buildings look run down. The colors are still very vibrant, deep yellows mixed with whites, green, blue. Buildings show there age here, paint chipping and all, and it looks beautiful. The buildings are very tall and very skinny, with beautiful front balconies and doorways. I took a picture of my favorite one at night time.

4. Tailoring. I don't know if this was influenced by France or what, but Hoi An was a city of master tailors. We each planned on buying 1 custom tailored suit. The shopping list ended up a little bit different: 4 suits, 2 winter coats, 10 pants, 3 dresses, and 2 skirts. Hmmm. OH well, we paid pennies on the dollar and I think they look pretty good. Tailors can make a suit for you in less than a couple hours if you are in a rush. Unbelievable. We met some Aussies who come to Hoi An often only to get a new wardrobe every year. They bring an empty suitcase and fill it up.

It is pretty incredible. Each store has one of those 400 page JC Penny catalogues. They claim that they can make anything in the magazine. Just point and they make it. I saw the furniture section of the magazine. Just curious, I asked the owner if she could make me an entertainment set. She said her husband was a carpenter and can make anything I require.

So, we had 4 days here, going to multiple fittings, strolling about town, hitting the beach, and eating some delicious foods. Overall, a quaint little city. In the next few days, we plan on going to the Central Highlands. A bit away from the coast and nearer the jungle, snakes be damned.

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Photos

Hoi An
Beautiful Sunset

Japanese Bridge
From the 1600s. They had some influence as well.

Striking A Pose
We have been renting bikes to mosey about town!

Palm Trees
I have never been so happy to see them. Even if they were implanted here (why else would they be perfectly spaced?)

Rice paper
These are used to make fresh spring roll wraps, with meat, veggies, mint, banana. MMMM good!

Portable Soup Stand
What's the deal with the kindergarten student chairs? A question we failed to answer throughout Vietnam.

Market
We woke up early to see the morning market, something very common in every city. We bought some fresh ground cinnamon, lemongrass, a pound of coffee, 2 traditional Vietnamese coffee brewing cupts, a small bag of tea, and a bag of safron, all for about $8!

Vietnamese apples
They eat these with chili powder, salt, and pepper.

Rice Field
The most vibrant green we have ever seen.

Planting Rice
Ely jumped in the mud and learned how to plant rice with the locals. They laughed at how slow Ely was; they were like machines!

A ridiculous shopping spree
Just couldn't help ourselves.

Best Food of the trip
Their was no menu, you had no choice of what to order. But, what came was wonderful. Take a piece of rice paper, then add a spring roll, teryaki pork, green banana, lettuce, mint, pickled veggie, then wrap and dip in peanut sauce. MMM