I stumbled across a bar called ' Before and Now' . It was featured in the lonely Planet guide. I got a seat on the street and ordered a drink. It was happy hour all night. It had great music. The walls were plastered in pop art portraits of everyone from Marx to Marilyn Munroe, plus Bono as superman.
I had a great evening reading my guide and watching the world go by. As it got later the bar started to fill. The noodles I had were delicious. At about 10.00pm and after five beers I was a bit squiffy so headed up the road to grab a cab. They are on a meter here so the likelihood of getting stuffed are much less. 10 minutes later I was collecting my key. The whole evening had cost £8.00. My type of night!
I was surprised when I was handed my bus ticket for the sleeper bus to Nha Trang on Friday. It it does actually depart.
The map on the web suggests that the flooding is also affecting Nha Trang. No point in worrying about it now. It is at least 48 hours away and I'm sure I could find an alternative way if the worst came to the worst. I had decided if it goes to certainly try the sleeper bus for this leg of the journey.
I may then try and get a train from Nha Trang to Saigon so I have experienced all modes of transport in Vietnam. Although I have already paid for the bus ticket it was only peanuts.
Both the next two legs are sleeper buses.
I had a bit of a late lie on Thursday. Partly because I was rather jaded from my night of excess. A no alcohol day today I think.
I had not really got a plan for the day. I would head into the old town, buy another ticket for five attractions ( I had lost the one I got yesterday!) I also needed to change some money. I had about £80 in english money and thought I might as well use that. It would probably last me till I get to Saigon and will save me using the ATM which I have a bit of a distrust of ( unsubstantiated at the moment). I would also have some breakfast In town and use the walk to blow away the cobwebs.
The receptionist at the hotel is a loverly girl, albeit a bit cheeky. As I was leaving my key she asked me if I wanted a lift into town. I said I would walk. She gave me a card for a tailors and made me promise I would go and have a look at some stage today.
I have seen some strange things on the back of motor scooters in this trip. Baskets of chickens, sheets of glass, piles of fishing baskets, a family of 6 people. Today I saw a girl with a double bed strapped to the back!
There is a road on the way into town that is pack with massage parlours. As you walk by you are bombarded by girls shouting you to go into their particular establishment. I said to one particular girl I would be walking back later.
Breakfast by the river. Liptons tea (every bit as ghastly as the coffee) bread, omelette and what purported to be fresh orange juice but wasn't.
I had another go at taking the photos of the two old dears selling fruit on the bridge (cost me a dollar).
After a walk round town I wandered towards the old market and took a tourist boat down the river. Hoi An is on an estuary, the trip took me down the estuary and into the South China Sea. Some of the beaches were loverly. One in particular stretches the 30km all the way to Danang.
There were locals out fishing on the river. Quite a skill casting out a circular net and each time it was retrieved it was full of fish.
The trip lasted a couple of hours. Remembering my promise to the receptionist I did stop buy the tailors and ordered a pair of shorts. The ones I had were quite heavy and given it would be hitting up and becoming humid the further south I went I thought it would be good to invest. I did a good bit of bartering and got a deal.
Lunch time.... Here and now, a couple of beers and a very healthy chicken salad. (even though it is a no alcohol day)
Most of the bars have free Wi Fi in Hoi An. While I was in Hanoi I had withdrawn 3 million Dong (about £100) when the receipt came out it suggested that I had withdrawn 8 million Dong. I checked my balance on the iPad and was relieved to see that the debit was in fact 3 rather than 8 million.
Deciding to walk back to the hotel I was again doing the 'massage run' one of the girls remembered me and shouted.
' you said later'
I relented, she agreed to do a $15 for $10.
As I was taking my clothes of she said
' You are a very handsome man' here we go I thought , I bet you say that to all the boys.
Despite a few 'close rubs' there was no 'hanky panicky and one hour later I emerged relaxed.
Before I left I gave her five dollars. You have to pay the main man and I doubt the girl would see a tip.
She was delighted, flung her arms around me and gave me a hug and a kiss.
' You will come back tomorrow and ask for me'
They never stop!!!!
Next to the massage parlours was a little bar, thirsty after the massage I stopped off for a drink and got chatting to a Irish guy from Dalkey, near Dublin. He was travelling alone and had come down from Hanoi on the train the day before I left. He had got caught in the floods and the journey had taken 36 hours. I'm really pleased I took the plane although in reality I had no option as by the time I left the bus and train services had been cancelled.
He has been to Bangkok, we got chatting about the con men. He hadn't been conned. He then went on to tell me what he had paid for trips both here, Hanoi and Bangkok. He had been and was continuing to be conned. They were having his eyes. I didn't say anything though, it may have been upsetting for him. He was happy with what he was paying and that is the main thing. After an hour we were joined, uninvited by a brash Aussie. He had been here five weeks and what he hadn't done wasn't worth doing. Not sure if he was talking shit but told us he had, in jest, told a lady working at the hotel he would marry her. The next day she turned up wearing a wedding dress.
Back at the hotel I changed, got on the back of the hotel scooter and went into town for dinner. I need to cut down on the beer or I would be in the running for a Buddah look-a-like. I ate at a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant. Pork ribs in honey and lemongrass sauce. I treated myself to a bottle of Vietnamese wine. Nice it was too. Across the road was the equivalent of our 'pinning the tail on the Donkey. You were blindfolded, given a bamboo stick and had to hit and smash a pot hanging on a rope. It kept me entertained over dinner.
I was back in my hotel and bed for 10pm. It had been a long day and the 3/4 of a bottle of Red helped me sleep like a baby.
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Location:Hai Bà Trưng,Hoi An,Vietnam
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