Hoi An, Vietnam: Days 29, 30, 31

Day 29: Arrival, Under The Coconut Tree Home Stay, Beach, Soul Kitchen

Hoi An may be the easiest to write about because I did a whole lot of nothing...

Early morning flight from Da Lat to Da Nang, shared a taxi from Da Nang to Hoi An, and checked into the laid back Under The Coconut Tree Home Stay.

I immediately dropped my bags and hit the beach. Minutes later, I joined a volleyball game. After that, lounged in my favorite hammock of the trip, drank pineapple juice while meeting new friends from UK, returned to play on the beach.

Thank night, several UK plus Netherlands and Brazil and I meandered down the road to Soul Kitchen. A picture perfect hut overlooking the dark beach, set with a couch and chairs and tables waited for us to dine on it. While eating tuna tartar and a fresh tomato and cucumber salad, the waves crashed on the beach to my left while a French singer lead the band off to the right. Life is good.

Day 30: Beach, Kimny's Tailoring, Banh My Phuong, An Bang Beach Village 

I immediately rolled out of bed and onto the beach at 6am. Expecting to find it quiet, instead I found it buzzing with locals. Competitive Saturday morning volleyball and soccer matches carried on in the sand. Young and old played in the water and stretched on the shore in the cool morning air. I saw no other foreigner on my walk.

Back Under the Coconut Tree, I ate chocolate banana pancakes before hopping on a scooter with the Netherlands into town. Jack from Da Lat had recommended his sister to make clothing, which is the thing to do in Hoi An. We set out to find Kimny's. We could not have been more impressed. Immediately they brought us water bottles and ipads. We sat and searched through categories of clothing: women's causal, women's dresses, women's pants, etc... they helped us find exactly what we wanted, then brought booklets of material to choose. After measuring, we were on our way with fittings scheduled for the following day. Could not have been easier.

I quickly searched a place to grab lunch and found Banh My Phuong nearby. For only 20,000 dong you get a nice full Banh Mi.

Back to the hostel, back to the beach, back to volleyball.

That evening, the group of us had dinner at An Bang Beach Village, maybe a 1 mine wall away. Drinks and fresh fish and spring rolls, another solid night. Afterwards, I headed back to the beach, wanting to take a little night walk. I discovered locals catching tiny crabs that scurried away from their flashlights. Laying down in a beach chair, I gazed up at the stars. I could stay my whole trip right here.

Day 31: Sunrise 10 Mile Walk, Funeral Procession, Fittings, Night Market, Hoi An Hospital

Waking before my 5am alarm, I again crawled out of bed and straight back to the beach. The locals who were out at 6am yesterday, also occupied the sands this Sunday morning. It had stormed overnight, so the clouds created impressive formations, enhancing the sunrise, reflecting soft pink into the sky.

My walk this morning actually had a purpose: find the "Hidden Beach." Little did I know, it hides in plain sight. I end up walking 5 miles away from my hostel in search of said beach. I ended up away from all things tourist, on some boat pier.

Turning around, I began my return walk, feet blistering in my flip flops (the sands ended after maybe 3 miles), when I found myself in the middle of a funeral procession. This is actually the 2nd one I've seen (the first was a small one in Da Lat). People on their motorbikes carried a long green stem with small purple or while colored flowers on it. The coffin sat in the back of a highly decorated truck with people dressed in white robes over their cloths with white headbands. Two buses of people brought up the rear. The second of which stopped and picked me up, telling me they'd take me to the beach. Grateful feet said yes. I hopped on and waved to all the men dressed in white robes with the white tied on their heads. They offered me something that looked like a steamed bun, but I declined. A common question Vietnamese men have asked me is "Do you have," or "Where is your boyfriend?" Before asking your name or where you're from. Very forward, in the least threatening way possible. Even in a funeral, these men were no different.

Dropping me off at the very end of the beach, I waved goodbye, and finished the 3 miles on the sand back to the hostel, stopping for a swim.

Back in town for our first fitting, they blew my mind in shoeing practically finished clothing. The length of the dress we planned on playing with, and that was literally the only thing that needed to be done other than finishing touches to make everything look polished.

Back to hostel to be lazy for awhile  (grabbed 2 more sandwiches from the same place to take with us!)

That evening, we went into town to see the Night Market and grab dinner. I learned how to drive the motorbike!

The Night Market in Hoi An is by far the best I've seen anywhere. First of all, Old Hoi An is adorable. Nothing is above ground floor, all shops have a similar look, but filled with colorful products. A covered Japonese Bridge leads one way and a longer, fish decorated bridge leads you to the market. Lanterns, jewelry, clothing, food, there is nothing they do not sell. Wide open, well lit streets, full of color, sets this apart from the narrow, crowded, fake products of the Night Market in Hong Kong.

We had dinner at a pub before I returned to the hostel and the rest continued their night.

I ended up going with a friend to the hospital that night. He had taken a bad spill on the motorbike two nights before, but had not wanted to go. I guess at this point, with clear signs of infection, I'm he was ready.

Front desk staff had left for the night, so I got back on my motorbike to go to the bars down the road to ask a taxi to come help us. There are two hospitals in Hoi An - one had a very bad review, the other had none. We chose the latter.

It ended up being an excellent choice. The doctor spoke a bit of English, the tools were clean, and the doctor wore gloves and thoroughly cleaned UK's wounds.

There were several interesting differences from Western hospitals. Everyone wore flip flops, no one wore hair nets or face mask. The doctor was the only one who wore gloves. They gave UK and X ray, but didn't have body protection. A cigarette butt lay in the hallways on the way to the X ray room.

A glove-less nurse opened a new syringe, filling it with both medications: antibiotics and anti swelling. It took quite a while to inject the whole thing. At the end of the visit, sending him home with antibiotics and cleaning products, the entire endeavour cost $58 US. Can't beat that.

Day 32 : I packed, picked up my finished clothing, and took a train and bus to my next destination.