hoi an

Hoi An.
I initially planned to stay in Hoi An for 2 nights, but when I leave tomorrow I will have been here six, its fair to say that while undoubtedly fallen for its charms, an underlying cold has also made me reluctant to push on unnecessarily. This has been recovery time

Hoi An is the very embodiment of shabby chic, scruffy and classy, distressed and beautiful.
It's central attraction is the old town with a busy yet lazy feel. Its tired looking 200 year old 2 and 3 storey buildings clothed in English mustard yellow are largely the vessels of top quality cafe's, restaurants offering cooking classes, and tailors ready to suit you out in top quality rags in a matter of hours, before sending them directly to your home if you happen to find yourself limited on space. I have them stumped with the notion that I no longer have a home.

Alongside and between you will also find the usual smattering of sumptuous temples, a busy food hall and bustling fish market at the edge of the river. There are also a large number of easy rider motorbikes here although it's a relief to only be offered trips to actual places nearby rather than mental trips or other vices. On the oft flooded river front, cruises are available for a few dollars navigating the islands and waterways around this old town. I have opted to walk and stay on land, I have a past record of accident injuries that I'm not looking to add to at this current time.

Along the quieter streets during the day and early evening speakers mounted on telegraph poles play elevator style music of hits past and present interspersed with public service tannoy announcements. Occasionally you get the awful feeling that you are in a nuclear bomb test area with the 5 minute warning bellowing the air over shopfront mannequins instead of the usual plastic American dream test dummies portrayed in many pictures and videos. I now know the location of every man size metal fridge located ln each of the main streets.

Dib dib dib.

It sometimes takes a little while to absorb the feel of a place, and to be absorbed by it also. The first few days here I wandered its narrow, lantern dressed streets and drank ginger tea, taking the time to people watch, locals, staff, tourists and the many street sellers trying to coax money from them. During that time i started to feel relaxed, even at home here and was able to get some photos i was happy with. I have taken a lot of dirge so far, so a few good pics wouldn't go amiss now. Focusing more on what makes a place tick over, its soul, people and driving heart seems to be what I find more engrossing, and I hope the pictures here start to better represent the feel and charm of this old town.

You get called handsome a lot in Hoi An, be you male, female, young or old. It comes just before "you want to buy a suit?", although "suit" can and will be substitued for any number of wares on offer, the conversation will still start with the same flattery. The difference here though is that even after its been made clear that you are not going to buy anything, the majority still want to carry on talking tto you about anything and everything, happy that you have taken the time to visit their town and I guess, hoping that when you see them next time, you may be more open to buying from them and not run off in the opposite direction. Everything is also done with a smile, again saying no with a courtious bow is often met and appeciated with a recipricated response. That smile sometimes takes a while to drop, a bit like when you get wind.

The Nhi Nhi hotel I am in is located just a short walk from the old centre, its beautiful staff are all curtious, helpful to the extreme and have made it an easy decision to stay on each time that I have been pondering whether its time to move on, although I do seem to be able to frustrate them a little with my insistance on walking everywhere rather than cycling. Its good to see I haven't lost my touch. The staff also make sure that they also use my name and whenever i return to the hotel I am always greeted by a cooling towel and glass of cold water, the one exception being on my first day where on my return I was invited to sit with all the staff around the table and join with them in a little birthday gathering the were having for one of the young ladies. They have done everything to make me feel welcome there. Its been a great place to rest up and recover before I eventually move on tomorrow. A stroke of luck really as I kind of picked the hotel based on the fact that it brought to mind the "knights who say Ni" that featured in monty pythons holy grail movie.

During my time here I have met some lovely people. Paddy and Bernadette from near Dublin just happen to eat in the same restaurants I did for 2 nights running, the first night was a brief encounter where as the second night they invited me to sit with them for a while and talk the night away. I have written in my book that I now owe Paddy and Bernadette a large tiger. I need to remember thats a beer, or things could get messy.
Michael and Claire, also from ireland are a young couple who I started talking to in a effort to divert the attention from a street seller who wouldn't loosen her sales patter whilst they were trying to eat. Unfortunately for them they then had to continue talking to me whilst they ate and I drank a beer. A nice young couple though who I think are having a great time over here
And then there was kurt from Germany.

So tomorrow I switch a few letters around and leave Hoi An, take a taxi to the airport 45 minutes away and get a plane to Hanoi which should take 1.15 hours. The equivalent train journey takes 15 - 17 hours and costs are not disimilair so it was an easy decision. When in Hanoi I have a couple of ideas on how to then move forward to Halong Bay, one of the reasons that Vietnam made it as a destination for me in the first place.

Kidding about kurt.
He was actually a top man, travelling on his own who I drank a couple of beers with whilst sheltering away from a particularly prolonged heavy downpour. He asked about my travel, how long I was travelling etc and then just blurted out "what was here name". It was a beautiful and funny moment that he couldn't apologise enough for. He then spent the next half hour praising what I was doing and how I was doing it, before paying for his beer and running off down the street in order to go and catch his train.