Thursday, January 21, 2010

Everything is coming up fishsauce. Hoi An, Vietnam.

The busses that bring people from one town to the next double as cargo transport. My bag must have been placed beside a leaky box of fishsauce under the bus while in transit to Hoi An. How else can I explain the strong odour eminating from my bag and seeping through to my clothing? Oh well, it beats having someone vomit on my bag, which is what happened to Judy last week.
Hoi An is a small town that is full of colour. It remained mostly intack during the Vietnam War so the buildings are ancient. It is nestled along the river and is quite charming, despite the obvious desperation of many people living in extreme poverty.
Hoi An is widely known as Asia's tailor capital. There are more tayloring shops here that there are restaurants or hotels. The level of skill to copycat clothing designs is incredible. You can show an image cut out from a magazine and the next day be wearing a custom taylored imitation.
We stayed in one of the oldest hotels in Hoi An, and it showed. Dust clung to broken light fixtures, the paint was faded and the toilet struggled to flush. However, the linen was clean and the location was prime. I certainly did not feel any need to complain when I saw that people sleep in the open market after closing time, with the rats. The rats do very well for themselves here.








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