OnTheRoad

OK, after about two weeks, I've finally extracted myself from Nha Trang. I kept finding other reasons to stay and delaying for just a day or two more... I think I changed my ticket dates four or five times overall!

I had a great time with my friend Vien and his family out in the country. It wasn't too far from Nha Trang, but was surrounded by beautiful rice fields and hills. We toured all over the show, to streams, dams, waterfalls and lakes and I got to experience the authentic lifestyle of the country. Pretty laid back, early to bed and early to rise, good food, family styles. We ate with a couple of central dishes, a few dipping bowls with fish sauce and chilli and a big arse bowl of rice. Each person had a small bowl of rice which is refilled from the central one, and you just eat from the communual main ones. A few interesting meals, the highlight was one that involved a bit of work. We roved through the rice fields, knee deep in mud, collecting the larger snails. Back at the house, they were cleaned, then steamed with lemongrass and eaten in a dip of fish sauce, chilli and ginger. Photos will be up later :D I also managed to consume a fair bit of Xeo (Rice Wine) and dog along the way, together with untold mountains of coffee.

The bus journey to Hoi An from Nha Trang is an 11 hour overnight marathon, which leaves me still feeling a little tired a couple of days later. In future, I would use a train instead for this leg, it's worth paying a lot more to avoid it.

Hoi An is one place which seems to be highly recommended by almost all travellers. The old city is still quite authentic and there are serious controls in place (or so I'm told) to keep it that way, with a lot of restoration work going on.

Getting around can initially be a little confusing. The busses thoughtfully drop you off near a bunch of hotels a long way away from the middle of town and,given that everyone (including Lonely Planet and the city administration) seems to use some idealised map which insists roads that have close to 90 degree turns are really straight, it can be hard to locate yourself. They've renamed a few of the streets as well, which further adds to the confusion. Once you've oriented yourself, it's pretty straightforward.

There are a million and one tailors here. I understand that they're quite good, in the main, so I'm considering getting some stuff made, but I don't have any of my favourite clothing here to copy and I've no idea how they do working from pictures. Just bear in mind as you walk the streets that 90, of everyone who comes up and pulls the "Hello, where you going? Where you from? How long you been Hoi An? What's your name?" patter are going to ask you to come see their clothing store. The other 10, are going to ask if you want to come on a motorbike tour. Those that don't do moto tours, just short hops around town, skip the patter and just use the "Hello, moto?" technique, elegant in its simplicity, if not its effectiveness. I'm amazed they keep trying, I haven't seen a single western tourist on a motorbike in more than 24 hours.

I'm out of town most of tomorrow, if everything goes to plan. Motorbike hire and a few sites to visit should keep me occupied. I'll try to get the photos updated tomorrow night, possibly tonight if I feel particularly motivated. Later all.