20th January - A Half Holiday

No coach or train trips today. We are scheduled to take a walking tour of the Old Town culminating in lunch, and then have the afternoon and evening to our own devices. The weather forecast is not too promising but, although overcast, the cloud is quite high. It is noticeably more humid and warmer than further north. R decides to opt out of breakfast which takes place in a light and airy room overlooking quite a large swimming pool. Pho is available but who wants soup for breakfast? The made to order omelette is excellent and D has never seen so many varieties of cake on a breakfast buffet.

At 9.30 we gather in the lobby and Do leads us back into town. First stop is a silk factory and shop. Here we see the stages from caterpillar through cocoon, spinning, weaving and tailoring. The visit delivers us to the showroom where D is very tempted by a jacket that would be ideal for the dancing on a Saturday night. These people will measure you at 10 a.m. and deliver items for fitting at 5 p.m. 

Do explains that in its heyday the town had separate Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese quarters, each with distinctive buildings. The place is pretty crowded today and the famous Japanese Bridge is a bit of a scrum. We visit a couple of temples and an old merchant's house that combines all three styles of architecture. Next up is a walk through the big market hall which we find much more interesting. The food counters are laden with mouthwatering delights and we are told that the food in here is safe to eat. Further into the hall people are demonstrating what appear to be carrot sharpeners but are the tool for making the carrot flowers that decorate some of the dishes we have been eating.

The fruit and vegetable and fish markets are in a separate, open sided hall by the river. The fruit stalls in particular are a blaze of colour and there are several fruits that we do not recognise. As for the fish most of them are anybody's guess. Do just about manages to keep the group together and delivers us to the Lantern Town restaurant where we have yet another multi course banquet. The stand out dish here is fried wonton, which is a flat triangle of some kind of fried dough laden with sauce.  The runner up was chicken cooked with ginger and lemon grass.

After lunch we indulge in a little light shopping until the gentle rain starts. This is our cue to head back to the hotel, collecting R's bag and the laundry on the way. The zip in the handbag has been restitched very neatly and may even be better than the original job done in Kolkata. The laundry is beautifully folded and wrapped for collection. Why can't we have a place like this at home. The rain is now a steady drizzle and we idle the afternoon away in our room.

After the cocktail hour the rain has eased a bit and we head into town. D is keen to try some of the food that we saw in the market and show off his new tee shirt. The market is starting to wind down but we find a stall that sells us spring rolls, white roses, which are a local speciality, a bottle of water and a can of beer for 90,000 dong - less than three quid. The food is delicious and we entertain the locals by producing our well travelled sporks in order to eat with a little decorum. Our custom does them a favour as there are half a dozen pink tourists sitting there by the time we leave. Afterwards we adjourn to a convivial establishment just in time to benefit from their rather generous Happy Hour. Gin and tonic+ large beer < £2.

The night market draws us and R drives a hard bargain on lanterns. The man wants 30,000 dong each so we finish up paying 100,000 for three. D risks a rather more modest 20,000 on a mint flavoured ice cream and will be having more if the opportunity arises. There is great excitement all around and lots of noise coming out of the bars. Apparently the Vietnam football team is playing and beating somebody. As you might expect we adjourn to the hippest bar in Hoi An where D indulges in Craft Brewed Passion Fruit beer. Not as bad as it sounds. The staff here are all very excited about the football but are uncertain about who the opposition is. Some say France and some say Iran. We see a TV screen that appears to suggest Qatar .

All in all Hoi An seems OK. A bit Disneyland and a bit crowded but friendly people and a refreshing lack of both litter and hard sell. The local Larue beer isn't too shabby either.