October 8 - Vietnam: Hoi An
This sucks. Let's go back to New York and get jobs instead.
We woke up at 4:30, put on swim suits, grabbed the day pack, hopped on Mrs. Thuy's motorbike and sped off to the beach for sunrise. Wow. Incredible.
At 5:00 AM the beach was hardly deserted. Many local Vietnamese were there to swim, exercise, and run along the beach. And we saw the most interesting thing - many people were being buried in the sand! There were quite a few grandmothers whose grandsons dug the hole, helped them into it, and then buried them beneath the sand. We found out later that this is supposed to be good for your back and your circulation. Who knew?
Sunrise was absolutely lovely, and the beach began to clear out around 6:00. Our breakfast was french bread with peanut butter and jelly, and we ate it in the warm sun. After a while we were almost the only people on the beach. I turned to Jon and said, "This sucks. Let's go back to New York and get jobs instead".
But our peace and quiet wouldn't last forever. We were approached by two girls - Anna and Mimi - selling necklaces. Since we were the only tourists on the beach, they sat and chatted with us for a while and tried to talk us into buying their stuff. While this was happening, Jon realized that we'd left the hotel without any money at all so he ran back to the motorbike and went back to the hotel. Anna and Mimi decided to come back later when we had some money.
So I sat out on the sand and napped for a bit, watching the people set up their chairs and umbrellas. Apparently, there are specific people who have specific chairs and umbrellas and consequently have their own "beach turf". This explains why - when we arrived at the beach yesterday - we were bombarded with people who wanted us to sit in their chairs. They don't make money off the chairs, but do off the drinks and food we order from them. So I waited until our little man and precious old lady from yesterday came and set up their chairs. Then I sat down, basically telling them that we'd be their customers for the day. The old woman was ecstatic when she saw me, and came over and patted my stomach and said, "You eat breakfast?!?!" I told her that we had, but that I wanted a bottle of water and maybe we would order lunch later. I also told her that I waited for her especially and she smiled so big and her wrinkled face scrunched up beneath her conical hat.
Jon came back soon after and we settled in. Then he decided to go for a run before it got too hot. Of course, this was at 7:30 and it was already incredibly hot. So when he finished his run we both went for a swim in the wonderful water. There were a few other tourists who had shown up, but the six of us had the entire beach to ourselves and it was lovely.
Jon Goes for a Run Along the Beach in Hoi An (special appearance by Jon: run #9)
Finally, I'm going for a run for the second time in three days! After the tough run along the beach two days ago I've decided to run earlier in the day before it gets too hot. Nothing truly noteworthy occurred along the run but it was scenic and it was a run...
We stayed until 11:00, which is when the heat really started to get to us as did our stomachs. We ended up not ordering lunch from our little old lady because her food prices were expensive. But we paid her for the drinks we'd ordered, smiled and waved good-bye. Then we hopped on the motorbike and went back to the hotel, where we went for a dip in the pool, showered, and went to lunch at Ly Cafe 22 (again).
Around Hoi An
We went to Mrs Thuy's to try on our stuff again and to make some re-adjustments. Then we decided to drive around Hoi An to see some of the sights. There's not much to see in Hoi An except the beach and various tailor shops. But there is a beautiful covered bridge called the "Japanese Bridge". It was built by the Japanese community in 1593 to link them with the Chinese quarters across the stream. The roof was built to provide cover from rain and sun. It was beautifully constructed, and definitely looked Japanese in style.
After taking pictures of the bridge, Jon and I drove around the riverbank. But the sun was getting too strong, so we drove back to the hotel where we chilled out in the air conditioning. Next thing I knew it was 5:00 and I had been asleep for 3 hours.
Dinner and Mrs Thuy's
Back to Mrs. Thuy's for our final fittings, but Jon changed his mind about the length of his pants so one more adjustment was needed. So we sat and chatted with Mrs Thuy for a while and thanked her profusely for the use of her motorbike (which, by the way, was a gift from her husband who went all the way to Danang to buy it for her!). We looked at her photo album of her family and then said our good-byes. We went to Ly Cafe 22 for our last dinner in Hoi An and also because their wantons are SO GOOD. But the place was packed and the guy told us to come back in an hour.
To pass the time, we went to Treat's for happy hour and ran into Sue again. She gave us the low-down on what to do in Saigon and we chatted about Vietnam for a while. Then Sue had to leave to meet someone for dinner, and Jon and I headed back to Ly Cafe 22 for a scrumptious dinner. And then we walked back to the hotel, packed, and went to sleep.