MOTOBIKE RIDE FOR NOODLES>>>MEASUREMENTS
HERB'S NEW GIRLFRIEND>>>THE KITCHEN AT BALE WELL
H&K AT CHINA BEACH>>>BIKE RIDE
We wake at 5am this morning to the Voice of Vietnam blaring in the street. The power is out. We learn later this morning that they were announcing the power outage and waking people up for work.
After breakfast, Herb returns to our room sporting a helmut and a big smile. He's off with the hotel manager on motobike in search of more noodles, the local Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) to be exact.
Kari is off to visit local tailors. Time to do some shopping.
We meet up later at the tailor and order up copies of our favorite linen pants. I throw in a blouse too.
In need of more caffeine, we make a mid-morning stop at Trung Nguyen, an al fresco, thatched-roof cafe with killer Vietnamese coffee. It's the Viet version of Starbucks. They are everywhere.
We visit Bebe and order up another pair of pants in lime green raw silk. We finish up at the cobbler where Herb picks up his custom sneakers in green with a red star Vietnamese flag style. Very nice. He orders a matching wallet too. The duck tape wallet I gave him for Christmas two years ago is falling apart. Time to go.
We lunch at Bale Well, and enjoy one of the best meals yet. Seated in an alley at little red stools, the plates just start arriving: rice flour crepes, spring rolls, satay, kimchee, cucumber and banana flower, fresh herbs and greens, and bottomless bowls of peanut sauce. The owner leads a quick lesson in the art of rolling everything up in little rice paper wrappers. We wash it down with 333. Delicious!
After lunch, it's time for a bike ride. Herb is feeling "over-touted". The constant selling does get to you. "You have look inside my shop?" "You buy something?" We need a break from the over-zealous, in-your-face capitalism of Hoi An central.
We set off to explore Cam Nam Island by bike and are blown away just witnessing everyday life on a spring afternoon. We start out on a sandy trail next to the Perfume River. It's quiet over here. The trail veres inland and we wind through tiny streets lined with thatched-roof homes, vegetable gardens, water buffalo, cows, pigs, dogs, kids playing in the schoolyard, banh mi stands and the occasional corner bar and billiard table filled with men young and old. Everyone smiles at us and says "hello" in that now familiar Hoi An tone. The air is scented with incense from living room shrines and Vietnamese music fills the streets -- someone has cranked their dial to 11. It's the perfect soundtrack. We're starting to understand why this place is special.
We return back through town and head for the Cao Dai Beach Road. Traffic is crazy on this side of town and on bicycle its even more, shall I say, thrilling. We suck a lot of fumes but arrive safely at China Beach. The main beach is full of more touts trying to sell stuff. We keep riding, past one new resort development after another and finally stumble upon an untouched stretch of sandy dunes leading to an undeveloped beach. We walk the bikes through scrubby sand dunes and dip our toes in the South China Sea. This is the infamous China Beach. A beautiful, white sand beach with palm trees. The water is sudsy and warm. We understand why developers want to build all these resorts. It's sad though. They're fencing off the entire beach. By the time they're done, will the locals even have access to their own beach?
On the way back we meet a German traveller. She's curious how we feel about being in Vietnam because of the war. Thoughts of war do sort of hang out there in the back of your mind. There's a lot to comprehend and process. I'm sure it colors our view of things here. But no one here talks about it. Certainly none of the Vietnamese people we've met. Most of them probably weren't even born.
We bike back to An Huy and head for the tailor to pick up clothes and have a late dinner at Hai San, owned by a Swedish-Vietnamese couple.
The day ends with a short but fun motobike ride back to the hotel through the dark, riverside market stalls. Nice.
We bike back to An Huy and head for the tailor to pick up clothes and have a late dinner at Hai San, owned by a Swedish-Vietnamese couple.
The day ends with a short but fun motobike ride back to the hotel through the dark, riverside market stalls. Nice.
