Hoi An

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Dimarts, 9 d’Agost – L’ultim dia a Ha noi

Ens hem llevat aquest mati sense saber que fariem si ens separariem per a fer 4 coses pel nostre compte o seguiriem junts. Sabiem que voliem comprar 4 cosetes, una altra ‘manta’ com la que vaig portar als nens a Lleida, I regals de lacat, que son molt tipics a Vietnam. Hem acabat comprant tantes coses que les hem hagut d’enviar per correu a Singapore, esperem que tot vagi be! Hem donat un tomb pel llac, fent un gelat a ‘Fanny’s’ que en angles fa molta gracia, no tant en catala, I hem intentat sense exit canviar Dong de Vietnam a Dollars Americans. Basicament, el pais funciona en una economia doble en Dong I US $ I no hi ha cap problema em canviar de US a Dong pero es impossible de Dong a US, be, es impossible legalment, per tant ho vam fer il.legalment, facil, no? Necessitem US per la frontera amb Laos que creuarem aviat.

Per la nit, hem trobat que la parella anglesa que vam coneixer esmorzant l’altre dia tambe es al nostre tren, pero al normal, nosaltres som als dos ultims vagons que son d’una companyia privada I el tren es en millor condicions que els normals vietnamites.

A les 7 de la tarda hem agafat el tren, que un cop mes passa pel mig de Hanoi I es forsa impresionant I hem anat cap al sud. Aquest viatge de 15 hores ens portara fins a Da Nang passant per Hue, tots dos al centre de Vietnam i on la guerra amb les Estats Units va ser mes dura i sanguinaria…

Aquest viatge m'ha fet pensar que possiblement si tot segueix com ho hem planejat aquesta sera la penultima nit que passarem dormint en un tren, la seguent sera de Bangkok a Penang, a Malaysia. No obstant, hem de creuar la frontera amb Laos i Tailandia en 1 dia, i potser haurem d'agafar un tren nocturn de Mukdahan a Bangkok.



Tuesday, 9th August – The ‘reunification’ railway.

After a very productive shopping spree in Hanoi which resulted in a large extra bag being added to our luggage (and a parcel shipped to Singapore), we left to catch another train. It looks like we're going to need to grow extra arms before we get home.

As we walked down the platform we passed the Vietnam Railways carriages and were very happy when we got to the Livitrans carriages and found our compartment. The luxurious photos on the ticket were not quite what we actually got, but it was still so much nicer than the other carriages looked. We even had small bottled of water, toothbrushes, and wet-wipes on the table, and noodles and tea and coffee brought round.

It seems that other travelers were not so happy with their berths, because many tried to upgrade to Livitrans once we got underway. One of them was a particularly annoying American woman who wondered why they hadn't been told about this nicer train. Thankfully she wasn't upgraded to our compartment. Unfortunately, the bunks are only comfortable for people under 5 ft 8, so I was fine, but Alex was really uncomfortable. Plus we had one of the attendants in our compartment, so we were disturbed quite a lot in the night. But it wouldn’t be long until we arrived in Danang. The view between Hue and Da Nang was fantastic though, good timing with the train as that was in the morning.



Dimecres, 10 d’Agost, nit de moviment I arrivada a Hoi An, un dels llocs mes bonics del pais

La nit ha esta dura, les vies de tren a Vietnam son massa estretes I els trens massa vells per a que el viatge sigui suau, a mes, per primer cop (I francament n’esperava mes) el llit no era prou llarg per a mi, o sigui que nit dura. Es curios que arribi un punt on trobi a faltar els trens rusos, xinesos i fins i tot els de Mongolia!

No obstant, el paisatje de Hue a Da nang en el tren es molt bonic i ha fet que la nit valgues la pena. Es passa per vora del mar veient grans paisatjes I muntanyes. A les 11 del mati hem arrivat a Da nang I ens esperava el conductor per a portar-nos a Hoi An, uns 40 minuts en el cotxe.

Hem arrivat a l’hotel I hem entrat a l’habitacio, petita pero molt bonica I ben situat no lluny del centre. Rapidament hem anat a buscar els nostres llocs favorits de la ciutat. La Claire I jo erem en 2 viatges amb l’escola paral.lels a Vietnam l’any passat, jo de nord a sud I ella de sud a nord, I vam coincidir unes hores a Hoi An, que va ser molt bonic, per tant es un lloc especial.

Despres de dinar hem anat a A-Dong silk. Un dels bons (I milers de) sastres a Hoi An. La Claire s’ha fet un pijama de seda, uns pantalons I dos vestits. Jo 3 parells de pantalons curts, dos parells de pantalons per la finea I 2 camises per la feina. Ens han pres les mesures I dema tocara emprovarnos-ho tot! Es increible que ho facin tot en 24 hores!!

Despres d’una migdiada a l’hotel hem sortit a sopar en un dels altres restaurants guapissims al costat del riu a Hoi An. Per la nit, tots els fanalets xinesos estan encesos i es precios.



Wednesday, 10th August – Return to Hoi An.

Despite a delayed arrival into Danang, we were promptly picked up and were on the road to Hoi An. As it turned out, it was quite a nice delay, because we were treated to a slow-motion scenic tour of the coastline and mountains - really beautiful! Unfortunately, the view from the car to Hoi An was not quite so beautiful. For miles along the beach there were building projects from loads of major hotel chains and even two golf courses. I think if we want to come back here, we’ll have to do it soon, before the hordes arrive. However, Hoi An has escaped the development so far and it is still as lovely as it was last year.

Our hotel is beautiful, but once we checked in, we hit the tailors. It looks like we’re going to have even more luggage for the last stretch of this journey! Time to grow more arms and legs! Goo Thankfully the cost is nowhere near as much as I spent last time. Dinner overlooking the river, with mojitos, capped off a lovely day.



Dijous, 11 d’Agost – compres, compres I mes compres

Avui ens tocava emprovar-nos la roba. Tota la roba que fan la fan en 24 hores I fet a mida, increible. No obstant, hi ha una part dels recordatoris de la boda (si, la nostra, ja se que es aviat pero anem recollint coses!) que podiem fer aqui. Unes boses per a regal, aixi que hem anat a un mercat I ens les faran per dema, si tot va be! Fa il.lusio!!

Despres de les bosses, l’amiga de la de les boses, que fa sabates, ens ha vingut a buscar I hem acabat fent-nos 5 cinturons de pell I jo unes sabates tambe a mida… no se on ho fotrem tot aixo! Es increible, el mercat local era com una especie de Facebook vietnamita! 5 minuts abans d'acabar cada compra, l'amiga venia a recollir-nos per a la seguent botiga! Finalment, hem escapat i hem anat a prendre algo I a emprovar-nos la roba. Normalment, aixo funciona de la seguent manera: unes 20 hores despres de medir-te vas a emprovar-te la roba I fer retocs, a mi m’han de tocar 2 dels parells de pantalons curts I les camises, a les 4 de la tarda ja ho tindran tot fet!

L’any que ve possiblement vindrem aqui amb els pares I la Begonya I el Toni I ja li he dit als pares que portin una maleta extra perque ma mare I la Begonya aqui faran mal!! :o) De moment ja tinc un parell de sastres bons per si volen fer-se roba, home i dona, una botiga que fa joies i on la Claire ha comprat coses, llocs on comprar roba (a metros) i un parell de restaurants que ens agraden! L'unic "problema" es que francament estic sorpres de la gran quantitat d'espanyols i catalans que hi ha per aqui! o sigui que no serem gaire unics l'any que ve!!


Thursday, 11th August – Hoi An shouldn’t have cash machines!

Today has meant even more expenditure, this time on shoes, belts and bags. By the time we leave, we’ll be fully accessorized. We’ve had our first fitting and the clothes are starting to take shape. I’m also very tempted to buy enough lanterns to fill our flat, and loads of fabric, even though I don’t know what to do with it.

We both know that the next 5 days will be tough travelling, so we’re eating great food, relaxing and making the most of the sights. Tomorrow we’ll be going to My Son for sunrise, but thankfully we’ll be back in time for the awesome breakfast at our hotel.

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