Hoi An

15^th October

Yesterday we headed south for a day out to Hoi An, a large town specialises in tailoring. You can have any shoes or clothes you could think of, tailor made for you. Fatal.

We got Hoa, the guest house owner to organise us a cab to Hoi An. Half way to Hoi An the driver’s mobile rang. Pulling over to the side of the road, he chatted away for a bit. Due to events previously experienced, we were pretty suspicious and wondered what plot had been hatched this time and how much it would cost us.

The driver came back to the cab and told us to get out of the car. We do as he says. He opens the bonnet, buries his head inside it and has a faff around. Is he looking for a gun? A machete? Is there a dead body in there already? He says “there is a problem” then tells us to get back in the car. To our surprise, he drives off! We were astonished that it was resolved so easily for a change.

Hoi An is much more lively and more charming than anywhere else we have been so far. Granted, there are more people so it is slightly more western and touristy in comparison to Laos for example but there is such a lovely, relaxing, friendly vibe. The remaining architecture is of French design and the river winds itself sleepily through the town. This, mingled with the hundreds of swinging Vietnamese lanterns and day to day local customs, has created a delightful, quaint town.

The streets are lined with little family-run tailors and shoe shops, where they measure your feet and hand create you shoes over-night.

Other craft shops are dotted around, selling custom art, trinkets, silk etc… Colourful lanterns adorn every street and all along the river. Such a pretty sight.

The bars and restaurants are all attractive affairs, serving Japanese, Vietnamese and Western foods and even have happy hours from 6-9pm in most places.

The guide book says Hoi An is like ‘walking inside a museum piece and enchants people with its beauty and accessible history‘. It was a trading port on the river Thu Bon since 17th century. There is an ‘old town’ which is a Unesco World heritage site and is full of historic buildings and architecture. A small fee is charged to enter the old town to assist with preserving the buildings.

We whiled away the afternoon strolling around the town, taking in the atmosphere. We had lunch in a place called the ‘Banana cafe’, which sold, to my delight, mozzarella and tomato salad!

As we are completely de-sensitised to things now, it was no surprise when we went upstairs to the toilet in Banana café and were greeted with a lady plucking the armpit hair from her friend, with tweezers. This sight was indeed unusual, but not astonishing.

The Vietnamese are (so far) such a friendly, relaxed and happy people. They are extremely welcoming and always interested to talk to you and learn about you, as we are with them. From what we have seen so far, the place just has a convivial, chilled out vibe, whereas Laos always felt a bit on edge. I find the Vietnamese people very much like the Philippinos. The landscape so far is quite barren, not as luscious as Laos, but then we haven’t travelled far and maybe it rains more in Laos.

We had kebabs for dinner, middle eastern style. We have noticed when you order food in Asia, it is best not to expect to actually eat all at the same time. Food is very rarely brought to the table all together. One meal may come, then two, and maybe 10 or 15 minutes later the last meal might come. There is no room for English manners – waiting until all meals have been served is not an option. Everything would be cold. Which in fact, is how a lot of the food arrives!

As we headed back to China beach from Hoi An, the taxi driver serenaded us with a tortuous rendition of Yesterday on repeat and we sang along. As Hoi An was so lovely, we have decided to move on there for the next few days.

16th

We have moved on to Hoi An and are staying at a small basic hotel called An Phu hotel. Pete and Victor from trekking are also there. It has air con and a pool and is aprox $12 a night. We are moving up in the world here!

We spent the day milling around the town, getting our bearings and ate at a gorgeous restaurant called Brother’s cafe on the rivers edge. It was deceptive from the outside, but once through the doors it was gorgeous. Built in the grounds of a beautiful old French building. The gardens were very well tended and luscious. I had tempura prawns, which, although about 3 times as much as we’d usually pay for lunch, were fabulous.