After leaving behind the rainy city of Hue we headed to Hoi An, a quiet but touristy city along the Bon river. The city is hard not to like with its colorful lanterns overhanging pedestrian streets. Cars are not allowed along the river so street performances, biking and casual walks are all enjoyable atop the cobblestone streets. It was a welcome respite from the heavy traffic of most other Vietnamese cities.
Our hotel in Hoi An was also worth mentioning. We had a balcony on the top floor. Between the four of us it was not overly expensive, and we had done a good job of preserving our money supply in hostels thus far. On the first floor you could rent bikes for free, there was a small pool and a backyard where breakfast was served with coffee (yay!). Behind the pool stood a large cabinet full of English books, all available to borrow. I grabbed a copy of Slaughterhouse Five, by one of my favorite authors, after I had completed an enjoyable expansion on Vietnam by Jonathan Neale-A Peoples History of the Vietnam War- which I highly recommend.
Books were another thing I had the pleasure of seeing on many street corners along the way through Vietnam. Though many were copied from their original form, it was incredibly easy to come across a good book (unlike China, ah hem), and I was grateful to bring quite a few back home with me.
On our first day we grabbed our bikes (and helmets of course : ) ), and took off along the streets of Hoi An. We dodged as much of the touristy areas as we could, instead finding riverside villages selling coffee behind walls of bamboo. Incidentally the villagers did not seem very enthusiastic about us discovering them, and often wouldn't budge on their prices despite their remote location. Aside from grumbling shopkeepers we kept ourselves pointed in directions off the beaten track and found many interesting sites. The first thing we came across were rice paddies, lots of them, as well as more baguette sandwich sellers, friendly villagers, hidden lovers (too many, maybe), explosive fireworks, ancient temples, decrepit graveyards, historic relics and so on, all in a short period of time. Afterwards we returned to the hotel to grab one of the local beers and a rare western meal. It was one of the more enjoyable days we had.
We went shopping too, if only to see what kind of trinkets they were selling. I bought three colored lanterns- one green, then blue and puple since only buying my favorite color would not look as nice on my porch. Together the lanterns now shine out from my apartment balcony just as they had along the streets of Hoi An, quite nicely. That was it. We did some shopping, briefly, got some rest and personal perspective or whatever, and got out of there.
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