Day 151 – 30 December 2009: Hoi An boat trip & onwards to Nah Trang

In the morning, Laurie and I go to the market in Hoi An for some food. I have some nice chewy smoked tofu and spring rolls, the latter of which are actually Vietnamese in origin.

The market stalls have everything from food to souvenirs to mechanical parts. I buy some bracelets, but a popular souvenir is snake wine. The vintage of this wine is not apparent, but the dead cobra in each bottle certainly is. For those of a more demanding nature, there is the option of an added tarantula with the snake in the bottle. The walkways in the market are narrow and full, but this doesn’t stop some of the locals driving their mopeds down its alleys. The market traders are not always friendly, particularly the fruit sellers, who seem to take attempts to barter as an insult.

  

After visiting the market, we pass some boats offering their services and, after negotiating a price of 80k Dong (about £3), we take to the water, despite Laurie being paranoid that we’ll sink. Along the river moving out into a delta, there are lots of villa type houses which, if they were slightly bigger, wouldn’t look out of place on the Florida intercoastal canals, but instead of yachts moored up on the bank, there are lots of old wooden fishing boats, so I presume that these houses belong to the local fishermen. What you wouldn’t see on the Florida intercoastal is a petrol station next door to one of the villas, as well as some older decaying buildings amongst the more deluxe looking houses. Also, you wouldn’t find cows grazing on island marshes.

After the boat trip, we take another wander around the old town. It is still charming, but the buildings are more, umm, mouldier than in the dark of the evening.

Laurie has had a dress, trousers and a skirt done by the tailors near our hotel, which she picks up after needing a couple of re-fittings. All told, they cost her $50 (£35). Lots of the UK to Oz group have had suits, trousers or dresses made here for sending home, but Dutchman Joost is the only person I know who would ever get a pair of tailor made swimming trunks.

With Laurie leaving the group to meet her boyfriend Gary in Saigon, the rest of us catch a hired overnight bus to take us to Nah Trang. Thankfully, there is lots of spare space on this one, so it is not too uncomfortable.