After a few more hectic days on the move, I’ve had some time to stay in one place and relax a bit in Hoi An, a beautiful World Heritage Town about halfway down the coast of Vietnam. However, as Hoi An has a flourishing reputation for having nice, cheap(er) clothes tailor-made in just days, and there are around 500 tailor shops alone, it can be more overwhelming than relaxing. These are the times when I am reminded that I am just not a shopper, especially when there are seemingly limitless options. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
After a nice couple of days taking in Hanoi, I booked myself on a two day one night trip to see the famous Halong Bay—at least one of those spots that is famous on the backpack trail that you basically have to go to or will probably hear several times along the way (at least) how you missed out, although the tour packages are inevitably mediocre. Not to mention that I had heard more than one horror story of the solo traveler being stuck on a boat with only couples. Ugh, how very Brigitte Jones. So I splurged on a slightly more expensive but nicer boat through the backpackers place I was staying at and guaranteeing me some young company, including three British chaps I’d met in Hanoi who’d come from China.
The trip actually ended up being as nice as it seemed to promise—a relatively luxury boat with nice ensuite bathrooms, a rooftop deck lounge area, and a white linen dining room. The food wasn’t half-bad either—a real triumph in these scenarios—with lots of good seafood (my first crab in a long time, a great treat for a MD gal!). In the afternoon we cruised along the bay taking just one small section of the massive bay that contains thousands of limestone cliff islands that make for spectacular vistas over the water. We took a hike to an enormous cave, and then we took a kayak excursion into a low cave that brought us into a ring of limestone cliffs. A lovely isolated spot (except for the other tourists of course, ha!) and a great chance to test the echo. The weather cleared up nicely in the afternoon and we all went for a refreshing swim and jumps off the boat. That evening, after another multicourse meal, the youth of the boat (everyone excepting one older couple who must have regretted their booking a bit) gathered to drink smuggled vodka in water bottles—yes, we had reached the classy portion of the evening.
The next day, most of the other people departed for Cat Ba Island to say on the tour for another day. I instead opted to head back to Hanoi and catch the sleeper bus down to Hoi An via Hue to play catch-up with my new friend Lucy who had gone there a few days earlier. And let me say, these sleeper buses are nice! It’s hard to think back to those rickety, decrepit buses of my autumn journeys across Africa. These are almost luxury with fully reclining seats, and as I’m quite short, not bad for me in the leg room department. There were horrendous rains and floods as we left Hanoi, slowing us down, so we arrived in Hue, an old royal city, a couple hours late, leaving a couple hours to take in the city. I checked out the old citadel which sadly had been destroyed by bombings during the wars, and enjoyed the small bustling city stretched out along the Perfume River. After another afternoon bus, I arrived to the sheer comfort of Hoi An. Lucy had found us a lovely hotel room complete with AC, bathtub, TV, swimming pool, and free internet and breakfast. I settled in quickly.
I’ve spent the past five days wandering the beautiful old streets of Hoi An and along the river, which is reminiscent of Luang Prabang with its beautiful French influence architecture and tile roofs. I took bike rides to the local beach which is really lovely and feasted on some friend soft shell crab and coconut. And yes, I went shopping. I tried to control myself, but as I will be in Boston in just two months following my tropical year, a new coat was definitely in order. And while quality is always up for debate, the prices just can’t be beat really. There’s also some great (cheap!) dining (a whole three course meal with beer for $1..50—I kid you not!), and local specialties such as Cau Lau, a delicious pork and thick noodle dish with
lettuce, mint, and fried croutons. We've also been hitting the town at night and even made it long enough for a stroll through the market at dawn which always brings with it many exciting discoveries--can you believe snozzcumbers (see Roald Dahl's The BFG, only one of the best book of all times) really exist?? They do in the market of Hoi An!!
We even took a cooking course this morning from a lovely woman who runs a café across the street from our hotel and learned to make five dishes: cau lau, papaya salad with pork and shrimp, chicken with lemongrass wrapped in banana leaf, fish in spicy ginger sauce, eggplant stuffed with pork and mushrooms, all delicious!
Now it’s time to board the sleeper bus again to continue the travels south to the beach resort town of Nha Trang where I hope to do some diving, etc. With just a few weeks left, reality is setting in! My tickets to Hong Kong are booked, my flight home is booked—it’s only a matter of (just a little) time now. And I received my first “assignment from BU, so it is definitely time to make the most of my dwindling freedom!
After a nice couple of days taking in Hanoi, I booked myself on a two day one night trip to see the famous Halong Bay—at least one of those spots that is famous on the backpack trail that you basically have to go to or will probably hear several times along the way (at least) how you missed out, although the tour packages are inevitably mediocre. Not to mention that I had heard more than one horror story of the solo traveler being stuck on a boat with only couples. Ugh, how very Brigitte Jones. So I splurged on a slightly more expensive but nicer boat through the backpackers place I was staying at and guaranteeing me some young company, including three British chaps I’d met in Hanoi who’d come from China.
The trip actually ended up being as nice as it seemed to promise—a relatively luxury boat with nice ensuite bathrooms, a rooftop deck lounge area, and a white linen dining room. The food wasn’t half-bad either—a real triumph in these scenarios—with lots of good seafood (my first crab in a long time, a great treat for a MD gal!). In the afternoon we cruised along the bay taking just one small section of the massive bay that contains thousands of limestone cliff islands that make for spectacular vistas over the water. We took a hike to an enormous cave, and then we took a kayak excursion into a low cave that brought us into a ring of limestone cliffs. A lovely isolated spot (except for the other tourists of course, ha!) and a great chance to test the echo. The weather cleared up nicely in the afternoon and we all went for a refreshing swim and jumps off the boat. That evening, after another multicourse meal, the youth of the boat (everyone excepting one older couple who must have regretted their booking a bit) gathered to drink smuggled vodka in water bottles—yes, we had reached the classy portion of the evening.The next day, most of the other people departed for Cat Ba Island to say on the tour for another day. I instead opted to head back to Hanoi and catch the sleeper bus down to Hoi An via Hue to play catch-up with my new friend Lucy who had gone there a few days earlier. And let me say, these sleeper buses are nice! It’s hard to think back to those rickety, decrepit buses of my autumn journeys across Africa. These are almost luxury with fully reclining seats, and as I’m quite short, not bad for me in the leg room department. There were horrendous rains and floods as we left Hanoi, slowing us down, so we arrived in Hue, an old royal city, a couple hours late, leaving a couple hours to take in the city. I checked out the old citadel which sadly had been destroyed by bombings during the wars, and enjoyed the small bustling city stretched out along the Perfume River. After another afternoon bus, I arrived to the sheer comfort of Hoi An. Lucy had found us a lovely hotel room complete with AC, bathtub, TV, swimming pool, and free internet and breakfast. I settled in quickly.
I’ve spent the past five days wandering the beautiful old streets of Hoi An and along the river, which is reminiscent of Luang Prabang with its beautiful French influence architecture and tile roofs. I took bike rides to the local beach which is really lovely and feasted on some friend soft shell crab and coconut. And yes, I went shopping. I tried to control myself, but as I will be in Boston in just two months following my tropical year, a new coat was definitely in order. And while quality is always up for debate, the prices just can’t be beat really. There’s also some great (cheap!) dining (a whole three course meal with beer for $1..50—I kid you not!), and local specialties such as Cau Lau, a delicious pork and thick noodle dish with
lettuce, mint, and fried croutons. We've also been hitting the town at night and even made it long enough for a stroll through the market at dawn which always brings with it many exciting discoveries--can you believe snozzcumbers (see Roald Dahl's The BFG, only one of the best book of all times) really exist?? They do in the market of Hoi An!!We even took a cooking course this morning from a lovely woman who runs a café across the street from our hotel and learned to make five dishes: cau lau, papaya salad with pork and shrimp, chicken with lemongrass wrapped in banana leaf, fish in spicy ginger sauce, eggplant stuffed with pork and mushrooms, all delicious!
Now it’s time to board the sleeper bus again to continue the travels south to the beach resort town of Nha Trang where I hope to do some diving, etc. With just a few weeks left, reality is setting in! My tickets to Hong Kong are booked, my flight home is booked—it’s only a matter of (just a little) time now. And I received my first “assignment from BU, so it is definitely time to make the most of my dwindling freedom!
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