Retail Therapy (Girl For A Day)

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Incredibly, the day dawned without rain once again. Given that less than 48 hours earlier we were evacuating from our hotel, we were more than happy to accept overcast skies for the day.

We had breakfast in the Grasslands Hotel and looked at booking flights to our next destination Nha Trang. The average speed of cars, busses and rail in Vietnam is somewhere around the 45kph mark so the 600 odd kilometres seemed a little too daunting on land. The Vietnam Airlines site was offering Da Nang to Nha Trang at D1,300,000 – well less than NZ$90… it was a decision easily made. The hotel booked us a taxi at US$7.50 each.

We decided to rent a motorbike again and figured that, since we knew where to find one that had very recently been serviced, we should see if our bike from the previous day was available. We were pleased to see it sitting on the roadside ready for rental although the 3/4 tank full of gas we’d left in it had disappeared. Our lady put in a few litres to get it just over 1/4 full.

‘We dropped into the shop where I’d bought my prescription sunglasses so Jo could buy some of her own and I went next door to the barbers for a much needed cut throat shave (U$3).

Jo bought a pair of sunglasses and a pair of regular specs and I thought it may be a good idea to get a backup pair for myself. The D3,000,000 (NS$200) bill for all three pairs is less than I paid for the one pair I’ve had for the last few years.

Heading towards the river, we were astonished to see that the river had receded right back to lower than it was when we’d arrived in Hoi An. The Riverside was open and the staff saw us peering inside to the (now dry) ground floor. They came out and told us we were welcome to move back in… we couldn’t resist the much handier location.

Our bike rental came in handy over the next hour or so as we both went back to Grasslands to pack then explained to the staff that we would be moving back to Riverside. They were excellent and made arrangements for us to pay for the one night and have the Riverside fix them up for the other one.

I ferried my backpack back first then returned for Jo and her backpack. If I do say so myself, I was getting to be quite an expert at dodging hawkers, market goers, cars and busses in the narrow streets of Hoi An.

We were given a room upstairs that was a little smaller than our first one but we were more than happy under the circumstances.

The girl at reception suggested a tailor (for commission no doubt) and immediately got on the phone. The lady said she’d open up the shop for us in 10 minutes. We used the time to buy souvenir T Shirts at US$2 each – the 4XL just fitted me but will likely be thrown out after the first wash once it shrinks the standard 2 1/3 sizes as is regulation for all cheap souvenir tees.

Back at Phong Cloth Shop, I handed over one of my most treasured possessions – a pair of long baggy purple skate shorts that I’d picked up in Los Angeles circa 1995. They’d served me now but the state of them was embarrassing – even more so than your average pair of long baggy purple skate shorts usually are.

I asked the lady if she could replicate them and she answered in the affirmative. We decided that US$70 was the right price for three pairs – purple, yellow and black. We didn’t have to pay until we’d seen the finished product, that she promised to have brought to us before our taxi to the airport left at midday the following day.

Jo wasn’t interested in anything much but I got a small understanding of the value of retail therapy to the psyche… I left stoked.

Next on the shopping list was shoes – I prepared for a long afternoon as Jo picked out styles, colours and prices.

It never happened.

Instead, Jo sat around warily as I picked out fabrics and styles at Than Thien Friendly Shop (no kidding – that’s the name). I opted, after much manly debate, on Chuck Taylor copies in bright purple and Doc Marten copies in dark purple. US$75 for both. Every part of my foot was measured and both feet were traced. Only the brave go there and the assistant deserved every cent of whatever her commission for that sale was. We could collect them at 1100 the following morning we were assured.

We had a reasonable lunch at a touristy place just on the outskirts of the older part of Hanoi. My caramalised pork was pretty good and the shrimp soup was a good size but was basically chicken and sweetcorn soup with three added shrimps. Jo’s chicken sandwich was the least Vietnamese order but the chips and aioli won plate of the meal as decided by both the judges.

After a quick stop at our hotel, we headed over the Cam Nam Bridge – or at least 3/4 of it. Having stopped for photos, history repeated and our bike refused to take throttle. I despairingly rolled it the 50 metres back to the hotel.

Just as I was about to walk it back the kilometre or so back to the rental place, it showed brief signs of life. I made the most of it and headed helmetless and Joless back through the streets of Hoi An.

I signed the problem to the lady and she offered a replacement. I took it all of 200 metres when the same thing happened although I was able to nurse it back to the hire shop. I gave up and walked back to Riverside.

We negotiated a US$10 rental of another bike from the hotel but I told our receptionist of our troubles and she assured me this one would be a good one… it was hers. While I wandered around the soon-to-be-rebuilt markets taking photos, the lady’s husband showed up with her bike. Jo tells me he didn’t look too happy about the whole thing.

We hit the road looking for a gas station and filled the bike up – D80,000 for a tank.

We spent the afternoon cruising the streets – a motorbike is the only way to see the small towns of Vietnam and the freedom to do what we wanted was fantastic. The collection of our new glasses that would have been a 10 minute walk each way was a 2 minute ride. Once again, the optometrist had excelled himself and we left happy.

Along the eastern border of the old town is a Japanese covered bridge from the 1590s that we stopped at. As seems to be the case with most places of note in Hoi An there was a small area for praying in the middle of it. The bridge only spanned a river of around 5 metres or so and I suspected it too would have been underwater just a few days before.

As night fell we were hoping that the Full Moon Festival, in which lanterns are placed on the river to float downstream, was going to take place. Unfortunately the floods had denied us the opportunity to see it.

We finally gave in to the demands of a street vendor selling donuts and fried banana fritters at D10,000 a piece – both were not too bad for street food and at less than a dollar a piece was pretty good value.

We found a nifty sidewalk cafe that had sprung up on a corner lit only dimly by a streetlight where Jo had White Rose – a soft wonton with pork served with a sweet sauce – five for D25,000 (NZ$1.65). I ordered a seafood pancake that was more pancake than seafood. A single shrimp in each of three 10 cm round egg heavy pancakes justifying the seafood logo. Jo’s was so good we ordered an extra plate. We had a 333 beer each and paid D130,000 – less than NZ$10.

We walked slowly back through the streets to our hotel. I paused to take a few more photos and Jo paused to buy a lantern light shade at D70,000 (NZ4.65) – she was due something having put up with my shopping spree earlier.

We were back riverside by 1900 and I spent a few hours on the balcony updating the blog and checking news from home.

Shopping – I may be a convert.

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