Hoi An

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A good sleep at my homestay - Rice Village - in the hamlet of Vong Nhi - just outside Hoi An town. I promised the staff I would stay here on this visit as I failed to stay here during my previous visit. Today would be a quiet day - visiting friends in the village and arranging for a rental moto to get around on. I also had to check on the apartment we are renting for 2.5 months - to make sure everything is OK. You have to be careful with Vietnamese when dealing with them direct as sometimes things "change". In the afternoon I visit the apartment and see the owner who lives next door to the apartment. There are several other family members at his house. At this time I was visiting without my local friend and interpreter Chau - but I was just letting them know I would be around the next day with money for them for the first months rental (01-31 July). Lots of chatter back and forth between family members - and I am informed by a niece that the apartment is no longer available - it's been rented to a Japanese couple who have taken it for 6 months. Great!!! What do I do now?? I checked with friend Chau before I issued my air ticket to make sure everything was in order - which at the time it was. It appears that just a couple of days before my visit - the Japanese couple viewed the apartment and said they wanted to take it. It's a 1-bedroom upstairs and has a nice patio - and this is the reason why we wanted it. Anyways - lots of confusion, language problems - so I got the owner to call friend Chau to tell he what's happening. I was scheduled to meet Chau the next day - so now I would find out what the situation was. I was not looking forward to spending 2.5 months in a homestay and I knew Kathie would not be happy about this either. Oh well - what's better than a good challenge? I thought I would be too old for this stuff - but I kept my cool, smiled a lot and pretended that I was not upset. Inside I was quite upset!!!! I retreated back to the homestay then plucked up the courage to message Kathie and tell her there was a little problem. Then I went across the laneway and had a beer and some food with my friend Minh and his parents Chi and Thanh. They run a little front yard bar and eatery for the locals. Only Minh speaks English - and it's fun trying to communicate with his parents. After that - headed to bed - wondering what the next day would bring.

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