After leaving Luang Prabang, Laos we hopped on a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. We spent 2 days in this busy, chaotic city alternating between exploring the streets of the old quarter and hiding out in air conditioned cafes to escape the sweltering heat and humidity. The rains of the rainy season haven't shown up yet to cool things off, so we've been stuck with ridiculously high temps and humidity since we left Thailand.
Rachel trying out a new profession.
After Hanoi, we had planned on heading out to Halong Bay and up to Sapa, both of which are "must-see" tourist destinations. However, when we heard news of a cyclone off the coast of Malaysia producing waves in southern Vietnam plans quickly changed. We hadn't planned on surfing in SE Asia, but we are on a "surfari" so we decided to chase the swell. Plus, if there was a chance to surf in Vietnam we had to at least scope it out. We caught the bus going south that night. After 18 hours we arrived in Danang. To our amazement we saw someone surfing a fun little pointbreak as the bus arrived into the city. By the time we dropped our bags off at the nearest hotel it was too dark to surf. Extremely eager to get in the water, we awoke early the following day only to find the swell had died. After renting a scooter to search for surf it became clear we had just missed the end of the swell...we were one day late.
When it's 100 degrees and there's no surf, the only thing left to do is have a drink with the locals...
This is what you get when you go to a Vietnamese restaurant and can't read the menu. They were some type of snail thing. We finished the whole plate and neither of us got sick.
Even though we didn't surf, our stop in Danang was worth it. Our search for surf brought us to Tam's Pub & Surfshop...here "surfshop" means there's a couple of old boards in the corner for rent. Tam was an interesting Vietnamese lady who had acted as an interpetor for the US soldiers during the Vietnam War. We spent the afternoon with her eating chili-fried anchovies and getting schooled about the realities of the war.
After our lesson in history, we continued south to Hoi An. Hoi An's colonial architecture and laid-back vibe created a charming, relaxing environment compared to Hanoi. Along with having some excellent food, tailor-made clothing is what Hoi An is known for. Since Rachel studied textiles in college she was excited for the opportunity to have custom-made clothes created using fabrics she selected. Over the past 4 days we've been running from tailor to tailor in search of the right fabrics. Most of the tailors were equal in their abilities to sew and construct garments, the underlying difference appeared to be in finding a quality fabric. In the end Rachel was pretty satisifed with the finished garments. Dustin even got into it and had quite a few things made.
Dustin:In my defense, I hate shopping back in the U.S. Clothes are expensive and it takes forever to find something, especially pants, that fit properly. Here in Hoi An you walk into a shop, pick the fabric you want, show them a picture of the style, have your measurements taken, and 4 hours later you come back to pick up your perfect fitting pants. If they don't fit exactly how you want you go get a beer or two and come back in another hour. They are always perfect by the second time and the whole thing costs you $14, including the two beers you had while waiting for the refit...a much cheaper, more enjoyable experience than in the U.S.
Getting measured for one of her custom dresses...
Hoi An at night:
Realizing our time in SE Asia is almost over we caught another bus and headed south for 19 hours...our longest bus ride so far. We are now in the small beach town of Mui Ne, just a few hours from Saigon. Since we are short on time we are heading to Saigon in two days, followed by a few days exploring Cambodia's Angor Wat, and then back to Thailand. Hoping to get some relaxing in, we're hurrying to get back to Bangkok so we can spend our anniversary (6 years) and Dustin's birthday (29 years) enjoying some much needed pampering at the hands of expert Thai massuses.
No comments:
Post a Comment