Hoi An

Watching USA play Belgium at 3am in a cafe.

As we left the tailor in Hoi An, we headed for our hotel, Tue Tam Homestay.  Li was having trouble finding it.  He pulled up to a building and was quite confused to see that it was not a hotel.  We were clearly on the wrong street.  After driving in a few circles he finally pulls into a small neighborhood that looked like it may have seen better days.  Greg and I were skeptical at first but then we rounded the corner and found a beautiful home awaiting us.

I’m now sitting in the Da Nang airport having just left the homestay and despite having spent three nights there Greg and I are still unsure what the hosts names were so we just refer to them as Mom and Dad.  We were greeted by Mom and Dad and Uncle (Mom’s Brother) grabbed our bags.  They were immediately puzzled as to why there were only two of us when we got two rooms—they were expecting four people.  No one understands why we want our own rooms.  At only $22/night, we feel it is worth it.  They were also very disappointed to hear that we had already been to a tailor.  They were going to give us great prices at Aunt’s tailor shop.

We discovered that Uncle has a café in the back and plans to play the FIFA matches on TV there.  We had been planning on waking up for the 3am match but were never sure where we were going to watch it.  My (real) Dad told me to just go to a sports bar.  “Dad, you don’t understand… they don’t have sports bars with TVs here…”  Naturally, we were grateful to have such a convenient place to watch it.

We sat in their living room and were briefed on Hoi An and our options for the next few days before heading up to our rooms to cool off.  The house is basically open air but our rooms had a fan and AC.  We soon set off again for some dinner and a walk along the river.  It was nice to finally eat something that wasn't noodles.  Hoi An is well known for its cuisine.

We got back to the hotel and went to bed pretty early—perhaps around 8pm—so that we could wake up early for the USA World Cup match.  I was in the hall knocking on Greg’s door at 2:55am to make sure he was awake when Uncle ran upstairs and pointed excitedly downstairs letting us know that the match was about to begin.  We made our way down to the café where there was a plastic table of shirtless Vietnamese men gambling, a few other plastic tables of other people, a few lizards on the wall, and a rat eating out of a pan off to the side all present to watch the match.  It seemed as though everyone was cheering for the US too.

We ended up staying awake and having some street food for breakfast down the street around 5:30am.  At 7am we had second breakfast with the homestay and Mom asked us how the game went.  “You didn’t get any sleep and your team lost?  Haha!”  This was generally how all conversations with Mom went.  “You’re so burned, does it hurt?”  “Yes, it hurts a lot.”  “That’s why we were clothes so we don’t get burned.  Now you’re two colors!  Haha!”

Dad arranged for us to take a tour of My Son (pronounced MEE son, means Beautiful Mountain) for $6 per person.  We also had to pay an entrance fee of 100,000 VND or $5.  The tour guide spoke perhaps the best English we had heard so far.  He told us about all the monuments, art, and history of the site.  There was a big emphasis put on the fact that the US bombed it about 50 years ago when the Viet Cong were hiding there.  Before that, in the 1800s when the French were leaving Vietnam, they took all the heads off the sculptures.  Those can now be found in the Louvre.  The French were actually the ones who rediscovered My Son after a 500-year break in its usage.

We walked around and saw our Spaniard friend touring by himself (the one we met in Hue).  At the end of the tour we took a boat ride back to Hoi An with a few stop offs at a wood working shop and a boat yard of sorts.  We then were off to the tailors to try on our clothes and then did some shopping and laundry.  Back at the homestay we cooled off a bit and planned our days in the north (hotels in Hanoi, day trips out to Ha Long Bay, etc.).  In the evening we walked around and ran into the three girls we met on the motor cycle tour.  We grabbed some drinks with them before running into these three German girls we met on the My Son tour.  It's funny how often we run into people we meet.

On Thursday we took the free bikes that the homestay offers and biked around town.  First we went to the tailors to try on our clothes and then took the bikes down to the beach.  The resorts there seem incredibly nice.  We had lunch on the beach and befriended a guy from San Diego and a girl from NY.  We haven't really enjoyed Hoi An as much as Hue because it is so touristy so we just spend a lot of our time making new friends.  We left the beach and Greg led the way weaving through a lot of side streets.  We made it back to town in time to pick up our laundry and new clothes and then headed back to the homestay to cool off again.  It has been pretty hot...

That night we ate dinner at this fantastic place called Morning Glory where we befriended two Australian girls.  They were unfortunately catching a shuttle back to their resort so Greg and I went to an ice cream/bar/photography gallery and sat next to two french girls.  We chatted with them for a while and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the homestay.

Greg and I are now in Hanoi after having caught two long taxi rides and a plane.  More to come on Hanoi later!  =)

Dinner shortly after arriving in Hoi An: something other than noodles.

Tue Tam Homestay

Momma dog and the homestay's entrance.  Momma dog's son was sick : (

Breakfast table

Breakfast.  The bread was really good actually.  Perhaps the french influence?

Left: The street our homestay was on at the end of Le Loi (a major road) kind of.

Right: A house on our street which was quite nice looking.

View from our homestay

Photos of Hoi An

Hoi An Market

My Son 

Some pretty sights on our way to My Son

Rice

My Son Temples

This is where they buried kings and notable people until the 13th century.

Americans bombed this area when the Viet Cong were hiding here destroying many of what remained of the ruins already.

Our eccentric tour guide on the bus to My Son

A little tired and hot by the end of the tour

Took a boat ride back to Hoi An

Wood workers

Boat-maker yard

At a restaurant by the river with some German girls we met on the My Son tour.

We were always sweaty by the time we made it to the tailor unfortunately.

Tailor

Lunch by the beach

Greg leading the way on a bike ride.

Our most expensive dinner bill yet was at a delicious place called Morning Glory.  The total bill equated to less than $20.  Typically we eat street food for about $2.