Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An

On Tuesday morning we took a train from Hue further south to Danang and then got a taxi from Danang across to Hoi An. Hoi An is the tailoring capital of Vietnam which might be why there are loads more tourists here than in other parts of Vietnam.

Tim is still providing the locals with endless entertainment. When we got the train from Hue to Danang, we were the only non-Vietnamese people on our carriage, and as such, Megan was comfortably the second tallest on the carriage. The locals found it fascinating that Tim (aka Giant Man) could stow his pack on the rails above the seat without standing on a box! But then again, the pack was twice the size of most of the people.

We took it easy on Tuesday, strolling through the markets looking for bargains and trying to improve our pool skills over a beer, we are still well out of practice!!! Megan made a special new friend in the markets, a crazy old woman who tried to entice us down some dark alley to her tailor shop...for the next hour she kept magically re-appearing on some new street corner just when we thought we had lost her. She popped up again the following day (Wednesday) - we think she might have kind of magical powers. Apperation, for the HP fans.

Meanwhile a man in another shop told Tim he was very handsome and that he must be intelligent because men with beards are intelligent, he then listed off Fidel Castro, Lenin and Ho Chi Minh as proof...esteemed company indeed!

On Wednesday we went our separate ways as Megan wanted to line up some work suits and shirts. After being measured from literally every angle, there is a dark grey suit and a couple of shirts in the pipeline. Oh, and two pairs of silk pyjamas and a pair of shoes (see photo of snazzy red shoes below). Spending money is all too easy here...

We are staying in a beautiful hotel which had a really nice pool. We think will be spending most of tomorrow there (ie staying out of the shops). We have also found a really, really good restaurant which we will be going back to tonight, along with a group of 10 Australians who loved it as much as we did! That's all for now, keep up with the comments and emails, they are very amusing!

On Tuesday night Tim got harassed by a six year old who was trying to sell us useful items such as wooden whistles in the shape of animals. After he told her he was neither a referee nor a traffic cop (ie did not need the whistle) she got all pitiful and told him she needed the money from the whistles to eat. When we asked where her watch came from, she called Tim a furry monkey man!! Still, at least we haven't been called a "happy Buddha" as a bald, rotund Englishman walking in front of us got named by some women sitting on the street. That is the joy of Vietnam really, no one seems to get offended by anything. People regularly ask us if we are married and tell us we are "beautiful couple"!

Wednesday involved sitting by the pool, taking a leisurely bike ride to the beach and drinking $2 cocktails. Megan has also invested in another pair of shoes and another suit, bringing the running total to 2 suits (each three pieces), 2 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of pyjamas for about $200 give or take. I'd work it out more accurately but the cocktails are taking over...

The other humorous moment of the day occurred out at the beach. We were ushered into a bike parking lot and charged around 5,000 dong (which is about 50 cents NZ...Colin loves that shit). When we returned after a stroll on the beach and a cold drink, we found a large British man yelling in the street, screaming for justice, saying that the parking lot attendants were stealing our money...we suppose he had a point, as the parking lot attendants made it seem as though it was compulsory to park your bikes in their shed and pay the fee, although this was not the case. However, at the end of the day, the 50 cent fee for looking after the bikes for 2 hours seemed OK to us...and we ended up getting a few minutes free entertainment in the form of a large Pommy guy going off in the middle of the street and getting spoken to by Vietnamese police...

Beard update: as at Day 18 the beard is looking well formed, some silver hairs coming through, although, as we have been well informed, that is a sign of intelligence and handsomeness. It is with much difficulty that we bring you this blog, under the influence of many big bottles of Tiger beer and cocktails (which are very, very cheap...almost too cheap). Tim is thinking of losing the beard and entering the Kingdom of Thailand with a Merv Hughes handlebars moustache...please place your votes whether he should do this or keep the entire beard.

Pool at
hotel in
Hoi An











Vietnam-
ese girls in
traditional
robes










Tim at
the beach













The
beard
















Relaxing
in Hoi An















Large
cold
Tiger














Tailor
made
red shoes











Art
shop












Hoi
An















Gecko