The hotel we were staying at in Hoi an, despite difficulties in communicating, picked us up at the bus station which was nice. As soon as we got in the car, the guy was trying to get us to book tours with him and I was turned off immediately but gave him the benefit of the doubt, especially since the girl at the front desk was an absolute gem and she wore one of those beautiful traditional Vietnamese outfits....So cute. While waiting for our room, we booked some flights we had to take care of. The staff found out because we needed to get our passports back from them for the electronic booking, and they got mad! They seriously were annoyed we didnt book our flights home with them! When Marj turned her back at one point to look at something, the guy started to make faces at her like a 5 year old. At that point, I was just pissed and he lost all cred in my book. I sternly told him it was our business, none of his and that was enough. Then I looked at Marjie and said even more sternly, "this guy is pissing me off". He didn't bother us at all after that (I must say that everybody else who worked there, other than him, were an absolute pleasure and very helpful), but it was a welcome to the first of many attitudes we'd get in Hoi an, only when it came to exchange of money.
We walked to the Old Quarter in the afternoon, small little streets with shops, coffee stops and restaurants. All of the buildings were the same color of mustard yellow with vines and colorful flowers up the side....very aesthetically pleasing. We learned that it was a full moon, a big deal here, and there would be a lantern festival. Basically, the Old Quarter shuts off all the lights in the streets and shops while everything is lit by lanterns. After our afternoon walk through the beautiful streets, we couldn't wait to come back that evening.
Later that night on our walk to the Old Quarter, each home, shop, store, etc had a little table in front with candles, incense, flowers, snack foods and the like to pay homage and pray for good things for family and loved ones. It reminded me of these little Buddha station set-ups that every Thai home had: a Buddha statue, flowers, incense, candles, drinks and other snacks to pay respects to Buddha and offerings to the dead. Some would wai this station every night and some only on special occasions. Nonetheless, it was similar to what the Vietnamese were doing for the Lantern Festival, main difference being that the Vietnamese were doing it on the sidewalk whereas Thai's do it in their home or at the temple. They were also burning things like clothes, fake money and cigarettes. We weren't sure why, but we've learned that at funerals fake money is thrown on the walk to the burial ground (they bury, not burn, unlike the Thai's) and at memorial services they burn significant necessities like clothes and fake money for the dead in the after-life. So, I assume they were burning stuff for those who have already passed.
The Old quarter was beautiful as we suspected. We strolled around just taking it all in. A little girl approached us asking to buy these pretty boxes with candles inside that are sent off in the river that runs through Hoi an, for good wishes for loved ones. Again this was similar to a Thai Festival called Loy Kratong. Only difference is in Thailand, we'd make the beautiful "boxes" out of banana leaves and flowers, some were quite fancy, to hold the candle and then send off in the river. All for good luck, happiness and such for loved ones.
Walking around worked up an appetite and we stopped for dinner. I had seen this local Hoi an dish called Cao Lau. Vietnam is big on noodle dishes and this was a variation: noodles, veggies and pork (they used tofu instead for me....there is tofu everywhere here, its quite vegetarian friendly. I give credit to the vegetarian monks). Usually, the noodles are in a soup broth but this was in a light sauce, both sweet and savory and egg noodles were used instead of the typical rice or glass noodles, which was right up my alley. It was so delicious, and looked so delish that the couple next to me asked what I was eating as I had just shoveled a chopstick full of noodles in my mouth. I turned around to answer, noodles slapping me in the face, sucking them up real quick. It wasn't my most attractive moment and the couple chuckled a bit as I said, "can you tell I'm enjoying this?!" Have I informed you yet of my abnormal eating habits, abnormal to American standards that is? I rarely used utensils in Thailand as we ate with our hands and if I ever did use a utensil, it was spoon - we NEVER used forks. Since being in Vietnam, I've adopted chopsticks, maybe a spoon, but what I love most is the shoveling of food into the mouth that goes on, because that is how I eat. It's as though I fear someone is going to take it away from me....so just shovel it as quick as I can, and I fit right in. So, not only do I now need a biker, I need a biker who can openly accept my sub-standard American eating habits. It'd be really cool if he ate like me, but that's not a requirement. He just has to accept, that's all I need. Not too much to ask, right?
So we end up chatting with this great English couple, with Indian heritage but grew up in Kenya, such interesting lives. The girls dad owns an orphanage in India so we exchanged info, as that could be a potential something in my future. After they left, Marj and I were giggling about something, tears rolling down our faces when 2 guys sat in the same seats of the English couple. Aly was American, jack of all trades, and Marco a Swiss who was traveling before going on to grad school. I ended up going out with them to a bar called "good and cheap bar", once again, the bar cutting right to the chase, and had a great time swapping home country stories, traveling stories and our experiences in Vietnam....while drinking good and cheap Larue and Saigon beers. It was a good night.
The next two days Marj and I rented bikes and just biked in and out of town (I went back for the Cao Lau for breakfast one day, that's how good it was). Outside of town we biked through various local villages, biked to the beach to relax and just observed the regular way of life. I love food shopping so when we came into the fruit and veggie market, I had to stop. This is where we got the attitude that I was referring to earlier. If you asked a price and then said "no thank you" or told a salesperson who was on your ass to buy something that you were "just looking", you got a roll of the eyes, nasty noises thrown your way or verbal angst as well. You don't need to know the language to know when someone says something nasty about you. Regardless, I found some lovely ladies to buy my carrots and cucumbers from. My favorite part about this market was the garbage man. A the end of the day, he walked around pulling a wheelbarrow while everybody threw their trash bags in. I've seen garbage trucks everywhere here but the streets are so narrow and the truck can't fit, so garbage gets picked up in the market via wheelbarrow...super impressive. Both days were lovely, relaxing and enjoyable.
Our last night, before going out, I bought some food at the local minimart for the next day, a travel day. The people who owned it had been pleasant every time I went I there and I always said hello and thank you in Vietnamese. I guess they figured they could teach me a few more words because the husband began to teach me the words on my yogurt box. The whole family comes around the counter to help, I take out my note pad where I write all the new words I learn, and we had a little Vietnamese lesson. They were really cute and patient with my awful pronunciation, but it was a really nice moment for me. We have met many Vietnamese people who speak English very well because they are in the tourist business, but it's been hard to communicate with locals. It's very different from Philippines where we had in depth conversations with locals, and more like Thailand where no locals speak English. This moment with the minimart family was a way to share something, exchange kindness and laughs without a need of fluent language. It was really nice. Hoi an has been my favorite town/city so far in Vietnam. Easy riders will remain my most memorable experience, and Hoi an is my favorite place.
To save some money and to experience the local bus, which is always interesting, I found out how we could use public transport to get to the next place. The lady at the town information center kept putting me off because she said that the local bus was too inconvenient for me, that I must take the tourist bus. After some back and forth saying that's ok, I finally said, "Let's just say, for a minute, that I want things to be inconvenient, how can I get to the local bus stop?" She was not pleased with me and although she reluctantly answered all of my questions with an attitude I'd say exuded poor customer service, she did give me the info I wanted. I was really excited about figuring it all out and the next morning we were off.
The first bus was about one hour, which included the typical million stops to pick up randoms on the street. There was another white guy on the bus who had been dropped off by a Vietnamese friend of his and he told us she said it should cost us 20,000 dong ($1) per person. Every foreigner knows that almost everybody we encounter in a money exchange is trying to rip us off, so we thanked him for the info so we could be properly prepared to haggle. Low and behold, the bus attendant said it was 30,000 dong. We told him we called earlier (which is humorous in itself because nobody calls the local bus stop for prices in these parts) and were told it was 20,000. He laughed and said, "ok, ok, 25,000 dong because of your bags". We said "that's crazy, we are only paying 20,000". I handed him 40,000 for 2 people and he walked away without saying another word. When the perso trying to rip you off knows they are wrong, they typically give in quickly, especially when you hand them money - it's as though the handing over of money is the last word. Despite the constant scams and haggling in Vietnam, there are apparently serious fines against anybody who gets caught scamming foreigners, so the haggling usually doesn't last long.
We got off at the Danang bus station, 3rd largest city in the country, and went off in search of the 2nd bus we had to take to get us to the final location of Hue. We were instantly attacked by people trying to get us on their bus, pulling us, saying "cheap price" and showing me a 100,000 dong bill (to show me the cost) when I knew it should only cost 50,0000, yelling (in Vietnamese this is simple talking but sounds and feels like yelling to me) and basically overwhelming the crap out of us (this is a common experience exiting any bus in SE Asia....at least the places Ive been to). Did I mention I had gone out the night before and was on like 2 hours of sleep? Yeah, so this was slightly less than fun. We go to the ticket booth and it takes about 5 hours to communicate " 2 people to Hue" even with charades and the whole bit. It's like they are all in cahoots to confuse us. Finally someone says it 50,000 which I had read was a legit price. Then the lady says an extra 60,000 for our bags (bags go under the bus along with the Vietnamese people's bags, boxes, rice bags, etc) and I knew this was complete bullshit. I gave her one of my looks and just kept saying "no" like a broken record and finally they took our bags and we got man handled onto the bus. Then we realized we never got a ticket and I had internal anxiety for a hot second that they were going to say we didn't pay, but that feeling passed eventually, and that never happened. Just goes to show how your mind and body prepare for the crap that's most likely in the near future around here...it's exhausting!
We finally get out of the bus station, which took a while because nothing happens quickly here. Then we sit on the bus in the middle of the street for 30 minutes waiting for late comers, then take another 15 minutes going down the block at a speed so slow that could make someone go crazy, all while the bus driver held his hand on the horn to let everybody know the bus was coming. Most bus drivers I've encountered in SE Asia do this, just drive with their hand on the horn. Just one more thing that could drive someone to crazy-town. I also got "yelled" at because I wasn't sitting where the bus driver wanted me to sit so I had to schlep around to his satisfaction. Marj and I ended up hysterical laughing from the sheer ridiculousness of all that was going on. We arrived 3 hours later, having lost a few pounds in sweat (no a/c), saved a whopping $1.50, all for the experience of riding the local bus. And I do not regret it. This was so much better than the "convenient" (i.e. boring) tourist bus. We had made it to Hue.
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