Third Blog - Beginning our month in Hoi An

Hoi An is the cultural center of Vietnam.  A world heritage site it features old world architecture and riverside settings, an incredible mixture of Japanese, Chinese, European and Vietnamese influences all blended into a delightful legacy of old world grace and history.  Tottering Japanese merchant houses, Chinese temples, ancient tea warehouse and French colonial buildings have been preserved and converted to stylish restaurants, wine bars, 200 tailor shops, markets and artisan studios to make an incredibly alive and welcoming city.  It is so relaxed the cultural and social differences really did not occur to me but the rooster living outside our hotel window was a wakeup call.

old wooden boats act much like gondolas and ply their way along the many rivers and canals

centuries old covered Japanese bridge is still in use today

vistas in the old town

old wooden buildings like this tea warehouse dot the old city

small sample of the architecture

love the old wooden boats

We had a "Griswald Vacation" moment on our second day here when disaster was narrowly averted.  Dianne and I were sitting out on our balcony when we heard the unmistakeable click of the bolt, which we had failed to secure on the inside of the balcony door, slide into place.  There we were locked out on the balcony and no help in sight.  I naturally rose to the rescue and clambered over the railing and leaped to the earth, crushing the flower garden below, [tuck and roll John, tuck and roll}.  Our room door was locked of course I had bolted it from inside.  What to do?  Let me revisit the situation, I'm on the outside looking in and Dianne is stuck on the balcony. What to do? The staff summoned the local handyman who drilled a hole in the casement of the upper bathroom window and was able to draw back the bolt and ingress with the help of a stepladder which I bravely held and open the door from the inside,  thus rescuing Dianne who had nearly perspired from the heat.  Disaster narrowly averted!!!

Dianne on that fateful balcony!

Wednesday we took advantage of the free bicycles available to hotel guests and headed out to Cua Dai beach.  Of course we promptly got lost.  We kept asking the locals where Cua Dai was and received contradictory advice from each in turn.  We cycled back and forth, up and down country lanes for hours without even coming close to what looked like a beach.  Finally heat and leg exhausted we stopped at a local café to rehydrate and inquire again about directions to the beach.  The proprietor made us sit and wait while he made a phone call.  Finally a girl pulled up on a motorcycle, the owners daughter and an English major at the local university.  The owner beamed in pride as she approached.  She explained there were two Cua Dai's.  The beach and the town thus the confusion.  She asked where we were staying and once we explained she laughed and pointed out we were directly behind the hotel not 500 feet away.  We retreated to the hotel pool shaken but not stirred.  We will try again today.  This time for sure we will make it.

Stopped into a restaurant in the old city in the heat of the afternoon to enjoy the local iced coffee.  Met a wonderful local woman who spoke perfect English and spent hours chatting and drinking with her.  Her mother owns the place and she is an English teacher at the local primary school.  Such a delightful and animated person, we have acquired a new best friend forever.