Hoi An

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The bus ride was brutal, as the bus driver felt the need to honk the horn approximately every 2 minutes, for 18 hours straight, and our longest break topped off around 8 minutes long. We were tired, hungry and a little bit grumpy arriving in Hoi An the next afternoon, but we knew we had nothing in our near future other than good food and the beach. So, we grabbed a bite to eat, found a hostel and laid on the beach to take in the last of the afternoon sun.

After the beach we took some MUCH needed showers and decided to check out the town. We walked through the markets, where I was able to replace the black flip-flops I lost in Vang Vieng (not with any nearly as nice, but cheap and cute nonetheless) and then we went out to eat. The beach and eating were the highlights of Hoi An for me. We sat down in a wicker table setting just off the street and Cameron and I split an amazing meal. It was a set menu of delicious seafood dishes. It started off with White Rose, which is a kind of thick rice paper made into the shape of a rose with meat in the middle and formed to have petals. Then came fried wonton, followed by a plate full of fried pork and shrimp spring rolls with soy sauce for dipping. Next was a noodle dish with calamari and then a whole grilled white fish, which I let Cameron tear apart mostly, because he minded the dirty job less than I did. Although I did pop it's eye out and freak Maren and Bryan out with it a couple of times when they least expected it, which was good fun. Once we devoured the white fish, our meal was finished off with a good sized fresh fruit plate of pineapple, banana, and this fruit they have over here that's best described as the love child of an apple and a pear. All of this, along with some beers and White Russians, came out to roughly $12, which is a bit outrageous I must admit, because we usually pay a third of that for a night's stay in each of our hostels. But it was worth splurging for! :-)

So $6 per person later we were full and happy as can be and we walked along the river taking in the view of Hoi An at night. It's a very cool little town with large lit up figures in the middle of the river. We walked towards the music and lights...there was a large concert going on, so we were hoping for a musical experience, but it, of course, turned out to be yet another crappy band covering American 90's hits. This band, "The Terribles," was especially bad, so we saw and heard and promptly left. It seemed like the whole town was at the concert, so without much to do, the lack of sleep from the night bus and full belly's, bed seemed like as good an option as any. We made our way back to our hostel and parted ways with plans for the beach the next morning.

It felt good to sleep in and be a bit lazy, since we're always on the move from city to city, so we got up a bit later than usual and enjoyed breakfast. I went to use the internet and was happily surprised to have a Happy Valentine's Day message from the fella (someone other than my mom for once! yay! I love you Mom.) and probably failed to blog at the time, then decided to do a bit of shopping before heading to the beach. Now Hoi An is known for being the place in Vietnam for having things custom made. I could not pass this up. I found quite possibly the ugliest boots I've ever seen and I fell in love with them. I had my own version of them made just for my feet and somehow they actually turned out even uglier, but I love them. While I was having boots made, Cameron became a complete and total Polo shirt addict. He bought a ton and went back later than night for more...I actually had to pull him away from the store. I think he ended up paying this one lady's rent for at least the next 3 months.

So as my boots were being made it was back to the beach. We took the motorbike taxi's this time, which is always a bit more fun than regular taxis. We had lunch at a restaurant just off the beach with an ocean view and once again, it was amazing! Cameron and I split 6 grilled Tiger Prawns, a freshly grilled Crab and steamed rice. Tearing this meal apart was as much fun as eating it and we spent a good hour and a half eating! We spent some more time laying out, then motorbike taxied back to town for a quick dinner, then off to the airport for our flight to Saigon. I wouldn't have minded spending more time in Hoi An, but there's just so much to do and see! And it's dangerous, because I'd probably have a few more pairs of boots, silk pajamas and a gown made for me if I'd stayed any longer. I got out just in time!

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Photos

Hanoi to Hoi An
Sleeper Bus

Hoi An
River Flower

Hoi An
"The Terribles"

Hoi An
My moterbike taxi driver was pretty chill.

Hoi An
The beach!

Hoi An
Amazing meal.

Hoi An
Really, on the phone while driving a moterbike with someone on the back?!

Comments

[melanie]

i was hoping to see a pic of your "ugly boots" lol

[enlightenedtravels]

haha! i will get them up eventually!!