Hoi An

The flight from Hanoi to Hue was interesting only in the fact that it was a turbo-prop. A very smooth ride though.

The 4 hours bus ride to Hoi An from Hue was pretty bad. Seats are so small and tight, I pretty much glued to the person next to me and my knee right against the seat in front of me. Also there was no AC in the 90 degree humid weather. Of course we got charged super high foreigner price for a very bad ride.

The weather in Hoi An was sunny blue sky with puffy white clouds, very nice despite the heat.

Hoi An is a small and much quieter town, I ended up spending 4 days here instead of 2. There are many cafe and resturants along the dock. Also many clothing and artisian shops to wonder about. Many artists worked right in the shops, painters, carvers, latern makers, tailors, etc. I really enjoyed the place. There are aslo some old restored houses to visit (the price of admission is super expensive and restricted), plus old Chinese provencial assembly halls. There were large Chinese immigrants/traders from few hundered years ago, some still remain. And many people here are 7-8th generations Chinese from Fujin and Canton Provinces. I even spoke Mandrin with one person in Fujin Assembly Hall.

Many tourists pass the day by sitting in a cafe having a drink. There is even a French pastry place that offer relatively expensive but very good dessert!

The one thing bad about Hoi An, and Vietnam in general is the constant hassle by the motobike and shop keepers as you walk along the streets. No sooner have you say no to one, another will ask the same question like: are you interested in motorbike, water, food, etc. It gets on my nerve sometime (on top of constantly being overcharged). The greed and annoyance of the Vietnam people definitely lived up to the reports from other travelers.

Couple incidents here really got me mad. one was the couple people tell me to go home when I angrily refused motorbikers' repeated offers. Another is the CD buring incident where I wanted to burn some CDs as back-up for my travel photos, after putting up with 6 hours of continueing slow and failed burn, the guy has the nerve to ask me to pay for the bad photo CDs. He said only a folder out the 3 was bad, so I should pay him! I walked out on him, and I can hear him cursed in Vietnamese behind. Anyway I got my CD burned at a photo shop for higher price but much faster (just about an hour). I even cleaned 41 virus from my portable hard drive! Anyway I did feel sorry for losing my temper at the first shop, so with CDs in hand, I went back to the first shop and gave him 10,000 Dong for his trouble and ask him to destroy the bad CD (which he already did).

I went to the near by ancient Champa Kingdom ruins at My Son on the 2nd day and it was very interesting. It is a hindu complex similar to Ankor Wat, but older I think. Much of the ruins were destroyed by American bombing during Vietnam war as the guide mention serveral times during the tour.

O, yes. I got couple suits made for about $110, probably over paid, but still cheap compare to US. I also bought some small gifts here and there for family and friends back home. I went to the post office just now and sent all these by sea to US. It probably will take 2-3 month to get to US (if it does not get lost or stolen). Sorry the Christmas gift might be a little late this year. Although I probably will buy more in Thailand and Bali and hand carry those home.....

I met up with Shane (Ireland) here, we had lunch and dinner together and I showed him where I got my cloth done. Although he wasn't too happy with the bag he got.....

Everday here was clear blue sky by afternoon. But today is very hot due to clear sky from the start instead of overcast and there is little wind. So I might head to the beach in the afternoon, just to check it out.

Tomorrow morning I'll head to Hue for imperial Vietnam ruins.

I'll have to leave Vietnam by the 20th when my Visa expires, I think I will have couple days to spare before that happens.....