Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day 18 Hoi An.
Happy Easter Monday one and all.
Before I relay to you what we got up to today, I thought I would (try) to relate to you an incident that happened yesterday evening. Now you already have been told of 'Chilli-gate' and 'Chicken-gate', well last night we had our very own 'Water-gate'!
Our hotel provides two bottles of complimentary water each day. We have been careful to ensure that we only use these complimentary bottles or our own supply, to avoid being charged an extortionate price. Now of course all of these bottles end up in the fridge - complimentary, non complimentary and customer supplied bottles only distinguishable by their labels. When we returned to our room that evening we found that two bottles had been added to our gallons of bottles, for which we were charged for, yet our complimentary bottles had not been replaced (with me so far?). So I marched purposely to reception to 'have it out with them! After a long and difficult conversation with reception (you can only get so far when the only vietnamese you know is 'Pork'), reception apologised profusely and said they would sort it. We later realised what had happened. We must have inadvertently used the hotel (chargeable) bottles - 'mush for brains' now!. I am still building up courage to go back and apologise.
Onto today, today we are going to chill at the hotel before going into Hoi An this evening for dinner and to view the lantern lit streets, for which Hoi An is also famous for.
After breakfast we decided to stroll along the beach before retiring to the sofa for the day. The beach is a white sandy beach, devoid of human detritus with only the natural flotsam of palm fronds and bamboo canes. As we strolled along the waveline small translucent crabs scamper for the safety of their own hole in the sand or the safety of the sea, alerted by the vibrations of Andy's dainty footsteps or the elephant-like thud of Julie's approach. Some crabs zig-zag crazily in panic, caught in the crossfire of our steps, until deciding on a route to safety. A lovely start to the day.
Still we need to head back to the hotel soon. I have such a busy day ahead of me. I need to write this blog, cream up for the morning on our sofa, decide where we are going to eat tonight, drink coffee, have lunch, down a cocktail (or two) - life is so busy!
When we step out from our room, we are in for a shock however. There are no sofa beds to be seen! Then we spot them - hotel management had the temerity to move them to a position where there was an uninterrupted view of the beach - how dare they!
So we struggled to waddle the extra 50 yards before collapsing exhausted into the padded cushions. Several zeds later ( as in zzzzzzzz) we awoke in time for lunch, before resuming a horizontal position for the afternoon. Then it was up at 4.30pm for a shower and a trip into Hoi An for evening dinner.
The town is lit up at night with string upon string of Chinese lanterns, adding a mellow flavour to the relaxed ambience that marks the town. Strolling amongst the shops of the old town, one could detect the aroma of various smells that characterize the town - the smell of jasmine incense as we strolled past Chinese temples, the smell of herbs and spices as we pass the many restaurants, the smell of mothballs as we pass even more tailors and the smell of drains as we amble along the perfume river.
Tonight we are eating in a restaurant called 'Good Morning Vietnam!'. You have one guess to guess what type of food? Got it? No, its not Vietnamese, its Italian!! We fancied a break from local food. After dinner, its a final stroll around the town before catching the free hotel minibus home.
- comments