After spending so much time in the tailor shop, I am thinking what did we see of Hoi An: half a day at the Cua Dai beach, not very crowded, and with many terraces and restaurants with fresh, swimming seafood. The beach was beautiful, with white fine sand, and there were still some round fishermen's boats, with red flags for some reason, ideological or otherwise. A man was putting tar on an upturned boat, and it seemed to be made of wickerwork.
The lantern festival of the Full Moon. The main streets of the old town were lined and covered with colourful lanterns every night, and next time (hopefully) I should go and photograph them at sunset when the photos come out better than night-time ones. The tailor gave us two lanterns as presents to remember Hoi An, dark pink and light blue.
The river front and the market. The Japanese Bridge at night. The Chinese temple, with beautiful dwarf gnarled trees in blue ceramic pots outside, and yellow-robed monks inside, burning incense sticks, and goggle-eyed gods or heroes maid of brightly painted wood.
The food was also lovely. Crispy ban xeo pancake, with pork, prawns and bean sprouts, rolled in rice paper with herbs and salad; banana pancakes; cao lau noodles; "white rose" open dim sum; banana leaf parcels, grilled, filled with meat and herbs, especially chives; wonton soup; pho for early lunch but really their breakfast food - we had this even at the airport in Da Nang.
We ate in tourist-aimed restaurants, but the locals eat at tiny side-road low tables and stools, served from a stall. I suggeted that to Jay, but he said he didn't want dysintery.
The fruit seller was a highlight. She had a conical hat and a libra-style balancing load on the shoulder. I took a photo of her and she gave me her load to carry and her hat to wear. The stick was made of wood and the load really heavy. Of course, I found out later that they all do that, but it's still a fun memory.
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