hoi an

(ửitten by cath)
Hoi An is a small port town along the coast in the central part of Vietnam. We "escaped" from the hustle and bustle of Saigon to spend a few restful days in Hoi An. We did a lot of relaxing and hanging out by the beach and pool. There's a river running through the town, with a lot of bars and cafes along it. The restaurant we ate dinner at the first night (Mango Rooms - all of their dishes incorporate mango in some way & it was deeelicious) made ice with mineral water. We were SO excited! Since we've arrived in Asia, we've had to avoid drinking anything with ice in it since we can't really drink the tap water here. It's been tough considering how hot it is & how many places have very enticing (and quite cheap) cocktails. So, you can imagine that we enjoyed our 'Mango Fandango' and 'Mango Mojito' drinks very much!

The first night we were there we went to a backpacker bar & met a German guy named Ralf who was travelling around the world for a year after selling the hostel he owned in Germany. He was quite inspiring (and entertaining) to talk to - though he did most of the talking himself...he made crazy hand motions, or facial contortions constantly - I guess a good tactic to communicate non-verbally, and it was at times difficult to not laugh out loud while chatting with him.

We also rented a scooter to get us around the few days we were there. Apparently it was more than twice as powerful as the scooter Matt had owned in DC, so he was quite excited & had no difficulties quickly adjusting to the erratic local traffic patterns. I just hung on and closed my eyes... ;-)

And, last but not least - believe it or not, there was a lot of shopping involved. The big draw of Hoi An is the countless expert tailors that have shops all over the town. You can have anything made - bring in a pic from a magazine, or pic something from one of the floor dummies, or bring something you already have to duplicate - they do it all, and for next to nothing! So - Matt is now the proud owner of two new suits made of "Dolce & Gabbana" and "Louis Vuitton" materials. I also had two suits made, in addition to quite a number of skirts, dresses and shirts...lol