7-19 Hoi An - Day 2

We moved to another hotel for just $12 per night that suited us just fine. We're finding more and more that the midrange $50-$70 places don't offer much more than the $20 places, which applies all across Asia. We booked airfare to our next two destinations: Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). After a bit of shopping and wandering, we headed back to the beach for lunch with our lovely hostess/waitress from last night, Ngon. The food was so fantastic last night that we had to go back. We hung out on some beach chairs to relax and read, but after a while I put down my book and started looking around for Chris, who went into the ocean a while earlier but not had yet returned. As I approached the shore, Chris popped up from the middle of a group of 12 Vietnamese men sitting in a circle on the beach. Half-empty dishes and empty bottles of La Rue beer were strewn across a central bamboo beach mat they'd laid out. Chris was on one end of the mat and was the center of attention. Chris volunteered the two of us to buy everyone a beer. Next thing I know, I'm drinking like a fish with these guys that were all friends going back 15-25 years, back in their hometown from all over Vietnam for somewhat of a reunion. As quick as you could drink a glass, someone was pouring you another and offering snacks of dried squid and salted peanuts. The "cheers" at each drink was "Mot-Ha-Bai-Yo!", which translates to "one-two-three-go!". We made good friends with them with the help of a few of the younger ones who knew English. We were asked all sorts of questions and learned a bit about all of them, many were successful small business owners around the country.
It was decided that we'd all go to karaoke together, so the few sober ones drove and the rest of us hitched rides. 10 bikes in our group made us a marauding Asian biker gang in the streets, shutting down traffic. We cruised a short while to a locals karaoke bar. Unlike Western style karaoke, you rent a private room. We piled in with a crate full of beer and got to work. For every two Vietnamese songs, Chris and I did an American song, or I'd say we'd "butcher" a song. Most of the songs available were 30-50 years old and we didn't know them well enough to get through without our eyes glued to the screen, but we did our best to get through them. There was a lot of laughing with us and at us.
On the way to the hotel afterward, we stopped for a drink at a popular tourist bar to relax for a bit and chat with whomever. A 65yr old Australian couple had a great time talking with us, especially after Chris bought us all a round of ice cream cones. We then played pool against a couple of Froggy Frenchmen whom promptly turned tail once they smelled defeat looming. Our next opponents were two Irishmen and we had a great time with them, so we all made our way to another popular spot with a pool table and change of scenery. After a few games, we piled into a mini-bus with 15 other people out front the bar. The last place in town that was open past 11pm was an open-air restaurant/club on the beach outside of town. It was pretty empty when we got there and we were feeling tired from such a long day in the sun and rocking out with the locals to Bon Jovi and the Beatles. Lounging among the rows of beach lawn chairs with a cool breeze and bright stars was a nice way to cap off the evening. It was another one of those accidental days and 3am nights and we dreaded the early flight the next morning.