Hoi An, I think I love you...

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So here I am in Hoi An, where I have been staying at a fabulously luxurious hotel...well, luxurious for me! I have my own room, with a double bed, and the place has free breakfast and a pool - not that I have even jumped into it, although I really want to, because it is quite cold and it isn't really hot outside. Not cold like Hanoi was, but definitely not hot. I figure that after crazy cheap places in most of the other cities I have been, I deserve some luxury. If only for four nights! I really like Hoi An. I don't know what it is about Hoi An, but I think that most people end up really liking it. It is this tiny town that is basically all about tourism and preservation of the buildings. I met this girl from Britain in Chiang Mai - she had this really funny term that she described certain people as - I am probably not spelling this right, if it even has a spelling - but it is "travelly (pronounced like trawbelly) wabelly (like wahbelly) people." She described them as people who are "transformed by traveling," but not in a good way - you know, the kind of people who are kind of snobbish about how they travel because everything has to be AUTHENTIC, and they do things like wear tons of beat-up looking bracelets and tell people "Oh, you didn't do the RIGHT way." Anyway, those people might not like Hoi An. But I know that I am a tourist and I am perfectly okay with that. I appreciate the local people but I am also not naive enough to think that they all want to necessarily get to know me as a person. I know that the people in Hoi An are pretty much all working with the tourist trade, but they are still very warm, and the warmth seems to me to be quite genuine - I think that I have traveled around enough to be able to tell.

Okay, back to my experience in Hoi An. Although I did want to segway into something about Hanoi because I am excited about it. It is about getting around the traffic. I have included a picture, which I admit to be one I got on google rather than my own camera, of the kind of traffic that you see in Hanoi. I think that one out of every two people has a motorbike in Hanoi, and Hanoi has over six million people. So, one would say, how do you ever cross the street? It is kind of awesome. Hanoi really doesn't have a lot of stop lights, so if you waited for all the traffic to pass, you would die waiting for the traffic to clear. So, instead, you walk across the street. But very slowly. And you hold your hand out towards the motorbikers, and they DRIVE AROUND YOU! Don't run, or you will get hit by one. But if you walk slowly, it is like a dance of motorbikes all around you. I have to say, it is kind of a powerful feeling to cross a busy street like that and still feel totally safe! Even though motorbikes are still a big pain to deal with, I did quite enjoy my crossing the street experiences in Hanoi!

Okay, really back to my experience in Hoi An. I really enjoy this city. And it isn't just because I got five dresses, a three-piece suit and a jumper custom-made to me for an incredible price! There is just a peacefulness about Hoi An, a friendliness. Today, I rode my bike to the beach, and as I was sitting there, watching the gorgeous waves, this Vietnamese high school girl came up and just started talking to me. She was on a senior trip with her school and was just being friendly, saying hello. She even invited me to go play games with them - they were playing soccer and various group games. I love that. I have not done a whole lot each day in Hoi An - I have to go back to the tailor's a couple times each day to get fittings done - mostly I have spent the day walking or biking around, just looking at the city and enjoying it. Because Hoi An is a world heritage, you can purchase a ticket to see cultural points of interest. Yesterday I saw a really fun traditional music and dance show. And then this afternoon I went to an old preserved house, where they gave us tea and talked about the flooding that occurs each year where they have to take the hundred-year-old furniture and pull it up by pulleys up to the second floor! Last night I went to an Italian restaurant, where I had AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce and limoncello! And I actually finished it, unlike the last time I ordered it, which was in Buenos Aires in 2003!

So, I am off next to Nha Trang, which is a beach town. I am planning on spending a day or two there, visiting the beach and getting a thermal mud bath! Pretty excited about that, actually! Then down to Ho Chi Minh City for a day or two, then off to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat! I have heard, of course, AMAZING things about Angkor Wat, and I am sure it will not disappoint! I wish that I had more time, but I guess that is how all travelers feel, isn't it?

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