The first beautiful thing that caught my attention, as I walked in the historic downtown area of Hoi An, was the lanterns. Brightly colored lanterns are everywhere, along with offers of lantern making classes.
Numerous small coffee shops or eateries open up to the sidewalk, like this one. It’s so tempting to stop and we’ve checked out a number of places.
There are many tourists here. My son and his wife have been here for a week and a half and with the help of the internet have found the most sought out locations to have a drink or a meal. Of course, we are on a budget.
Perhaps I will try lantern making just for the cultural experience. On the full moon we plan to attend the lantern festival where boats with lanterns are launched on the river. I’ve seen photos of the stunning reflections on the water. I don’t have details so more on that later.
I can definitely see why people make this a destination. Besides the tourists I was also surprised by the number of scooters on the roads, many driven by women. I am told the scooters cost around $1000. There are also many bicycles and the cars are mostly ride share cars that you schedule to pick you up. I’ve been told to install the Grab app for this purpose.
When you come to a country where you have not been before, there are many small details to attend to. First of all, I had to get some local cash. My son knew the best place to go where there were not extra fees. I was surprised at the large denominations. 37,000 VND (Vietnam Dong) bought a papaya, for instance. A meal will be anywhere upwards of 100,000 VND which is roughly $3.00. We actually had a Banh Mi (sandwich) for 55,000 VND at Madame Khanh. It was exceptional. I wish I had a photo. As you can see, I generally can’t resist taking photos.
I love the adventurous spirit of my children. After the Ban Mi we walked down a dimly lit alley until we came to a coffee shop.
Next to the lanterns I’m impressed by the greenery. I love to get a whiff of the heavenly scent of jasmine as we walk. Bougainvillea and hibiscus are in bloom. Travel stimulates so many senses.
This was the coffee shop where we stopped and played a game of chess which I lost. Note the bamboo straw.
Besides getting local currency, one of the things to do is find out which drinking water is safe. We are told the water supplied in our room is purified. I also boiled some water but then forgot not to use tap water to brush my teeth.
Papaya is supposed to be one of the healthiest foods, digestively speaking. Surprisingly, I became sick afterward and haven’t been able to eat anything in addition to having body aches. But I am being well cared for and am over the worst of it. My son actually anticipated that I might have some down-time and for that reason asked me to extend my stay to four weeks. That was a bit of a stretch for me to think of, but it will give me a great opportunity to get a feel for the country.
It is Tuesday and I will hear the Canadian federal election results today. It is 4:11 pm in Vancouver, while here in Vietnam it is 6:11 am. A few more hours before we know in whose hands the leadership of our country will rest.