7-18 Hoi An

From the train, we hopped in a taxi straight to the Hanoi airport. We didn't have tickets booked so we were taking a real gamble. There was only one seat left on the flight we needed! Chris was put on standby and luckily made it on our flight to Danang in the South of coastal Vietnam. A $15 taxi fare got us a 35 minute ride south to the historic town of Hoi An. On the way there, we passed a dozen beachfront resort properties under construction. Some were only 1/3 done, yet for sale, suggesting they were victims of the economic conditions. Hoi An is traditionally a vacation spot for the Vietnamese, so Westerners aren't as prevalent as you'd expect. There's an active and historic textile, sculpting, and arts & crafts industry here, so shops are everywhere. We splurged on a $60 per night room at the Hoi An Hotel, which is regarded as the best in town. The huge pool was a real selling point for us, which we promptly took advantage of after we checked in. We later rented some scooters and headed East to the beach 5km outside of the city center. The beach was lined with beach-hut restaurants and there were huge grass umbrellas shielding the sun from teak recliners in the sand. At each restaurant along the edge of the beach, a young & attractive hostess would stand watch for any passersby. Once spotted, they would do anything in their power to attract their attention and jog towards them in an effort to draw them into their restaurant. Competition among these hostesses was fierce and we later learned how much they loathed each other. The food was delicious at all restaurants we ate at and the beer was even frosty cold, a real luxury in Vietnam. We hung around the beach for sunset, which did not disappoint. Off in the distance up the beach was the famous China Beach were many US soldiers would visit during their time in Danang. We restaurant-hopped to 2 different places for snacks and beer, but settled for dinner at a place called Nam #5. A young girl who spoke English well did a great job of luring us in. We ordered a ton of stuff and had some very entertaining conversations with her. We were stuffed afterward and it really was a delicious meal with fresh seafood at just $7 each. As we ate on the beach, we could see hundreds of lights from fishing boats a few miles off shore, where our dinner had been caught that morning by our lovely hostess's father.