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Day 22: Hoi An we’re flying
Sitting in the business class lounge at Changi’s terminal 3, we’re half way home. One more flight, one more lot of customs, one more car ride and that’s it. Our own house, out own beds, doing our own washing and cleaning. Three weeks doesn’t seem like a long time in the whole scheme of things, and there are times when it certainly feels longer than others. It’s been a great trip, but we’re also glad to be heading home. Today started way too early, we had a car to the airport booked for 8am, so of course we slept badly. From around 6am there was music coming in from somewhere,…
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Day 21: Hoi An today, gone tomorrow
Our last day in Hoi An, and L’s birthday (age unspecified). We kicked off with our standard hotel breakfast, though I had to stop and post a picture as it seems, following yesterday’s pic, a significant amount of dragon fruit envy out there. I hadn’t realised as, other than looking absolutely alien on the outside, the inside edible part is somewhere between kiwifruit and watermelon, not a strong taste, and lots of little black seeds. We’ve been having it almost every day on our trip. We took a boat ride along the river, paddled by a woman who was certainly no spring chicken, but I’m not game to arm wrestle.…
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Day 20: Hoi An by a thread
Today we got our clothes. My masterpiece of a jacket fits great, and looks pretty special. It’s probably safe to say it’s a one-of-a-kind, as I doubt anyone else has been “inspired” enough to get a jacket in that material. Now I just need it to get cool enough to wear it. I also got a tie in the same fabric to match, and some awesome shirts, and a decent pair of pants. L also got the bulk of her clothes today, with just a couple of dresses coming tomorrow. This included the huge skirt, which the store owners have gone from incredibly dubious about to incredibly proud of (like…
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Day 19: Hoi An then a step to the right
A quiet start to the day, some lounging and relaxing as all our clothes fittings were scheduled for the afternoon. Again it was a stroll into the old town for lunch, where we found a place that had french fries so L could have a carb fix that wasn’t rice, as gluten free bread is nowhere to be found here. I went for the white rose, one of those local specialty dishes that is a must try yadda yadda, but I’m somewhat underwhelmed by. Basically it’s about a cubic centimetre of prawn filling in the centre of a rice flour wonton wrapper that is scrunched decoratively, sprinkled with fried garlic…
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Day 18: Hoi An you can believe it
Today was the first full day in Hoi An, and we certainly did consumerism proud. If you take away the whole UNESCO world heritage listing of the old town the business of Hoi An is business, specifically making stuff: clothes, jewellery, glasses, more clothes, and other shiny things. The hotel breakfast is okay, nothing too flash but enough to take the edge off. From here it’s about 500m to where all the main stuff is, but there are a few shops on the way to get essentials (water, rice cookers, beer, massage) if needed. We took a slightly different way into town today, and found a neighbourhood of cafes, all…
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Day 17: Hanoi and Hoi An, a tale of two anagram cities
We kicked off our last day in Hanoi with the standard hotel breakfast, before plunging forth into mid-morning traffic in search of S****ucks, so L could add the special Vietnam mug to our collection (I was also tempted to get the Hanoi mug, as it’s bright orange on the inside, and we don’t have any that colour, but I’m not sure I’d want a coffee in a mug that colour, either). Mug purchased, we meandered back through a few stores to see what we could find (obligatory Vietnam pun: in Hanoi it’s okay to Hang Bac, hyuk hyuk hyuk). We’d kind of discussed the whole Hanoi egg coffee thing, and…
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Day 16: Hanoi today, Hoi An tomorrow
Our last full day in Hanoi. I read an article recently that of all tourists to Vietnam, only 10-20% return for another visit. And we’ve seen the signs of this in the reactions of locals — many are surprised to hear that we’ve been here before. I know the world is a big place, with so many wonderful sights still to be seen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if L and I come back again: the food is great, the people are friendly, the prices are generally reasonable, there’s still things to see here in Vietnam, and the weather is usually pretty good. This afternoon it rained. Not a huge…
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Day 15: Hanoi is quiet on new year’s day
Well, a little bit quieter anyway. Last night we looked over our balcony and the street was shoulder to shoulder, even the mopeds (which probably weren’t supposed to be on the “walking” street) were forced to a crawl. Today, we could see the street below. There were the usual street vendors, pho and bun cha for those starting the new year early. Our initial plans were to hit the fabric market, but inquiries with the hotel indicated not all stores would be open, so we’re putting this off until tomorrow. Instead, we took a stroll along part of the mosaic wall. Approximately 4km, covered in mosaics, and forming a barrier…
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Day 14: Hanoi, a noisy day
By the time I finish this post it’ll have gone midnight at home, banishing 2017 and starting 2018. Hanoi, an hour behind, will still be partying, the streets below will still be packed with revellers, and fireworks yet to start. The bit I’m still not sure about is that Vietnam has it’s own lunar new year, this year it’s 16 February, yet they are certainly turning it all on tonight. There are huge stages set up, lots of events, streets around the main lake are closed to traffic (other than little electric cars driven by kids, and I thought dodging scooters was bad enough). I just hope that when Tet…
