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Published: November 17th 2006
This country is lovely - it really is. The places we've seen are really interesting - there's so much strong culture here, and loads of intruguing history. The food is excellent. But we've made our decision - we have to leave.
It's not even the people themselves - those we've stopped to talk to have, in general, been very friendly. I think the problem lies somewhere deep in the culture itself - in the very mindset of the local population. The agressive salesmanship here is proving too much to cope with - it's infuriating when we realise that this morning Jen and I were approached no less than 10 times in the 25 minutes one or both of us was sat outside a cafe this morning eating breakfast. When you shake your head and say "no", they come right up to you to show you their wares and start waving them around at you. Blanking them completely is mildly more effective. It seems that saying "no" labels you as a potential target if they only harass you enough. Some of them even have the cheek to act offended when you don't buy anything.
Last night, after a somewhat stressful
time at the post office trying to post some things home, we made our decision. It was Jen's idea, but I'd be lying if I said it hadn't already occured to me. Vietnam makes us miss laid-back Laos and Thailand, so we've organised plane tickets to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) for US$30, the alternative being 5 days on a bus. From there we'll take a 10 hour bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
And of Hoi An itself? Like I said, Vietnam is a lovely place. We've explored the old quarter, which has a lot of French-influenced architecture and plenty of Chinese assembly halls for different dialects of Chinese merchants who live(d) here.
We spent yesterday on a beautiful, serene beach in sun loungers that were provided for free as long as we were content to pay slightly extortionate prices for our lunch and drinks. The South China Sea is very warm. The waves were small enough not to be too dangerous (unless you pushed your luck like Jen did when she got thrown about too much trying to ride a really big one) but big enough to provide a little excitement. As it was all expensive
anyway, I decided to push the proverbial boat out a bit and went for the fresh crab in tamarind sauce for lunch. Not a lot of meat on it of course, and difficult to get to under the hard, spiney shell, but it was absolutely delicious.
The day would have been a lot more relaxing if the shore wasn't heavily patrolled by old ladies with rattan baskets of fruit, cigarettes and other assorted small goods who followed the usual Vietnamese code of conduct in their attempts to sell them to us.
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Helen
non-member comment
lanterns
love the lanterns - hint hint !!