Vietnamese Gondola

Entry 12:

We were so happy that on the day we left Hue the sun was finally shining. About four hours later, we arrived in Hoi An where it felt like 100 degrees outside. The rest of the day was spent wandering the lanes of this charming small Unesco town known for its tailors that make custom clothing. The next morning Marc was recovering from a cold, so Sharon went out and found a tailor to make her a custom suit. It wasn't long before Marc joined her in the shop for custom made trousers. Miraculously, only a few hours later we were back at the shop trying on the clothing for them to be altered for the next day.

Unfortunately, our streak of two rainless days was about to end. As we departed for a day trip to the Cham ruins at My Son (pronouned Mee Son), the skies opened up and the rain began pouring down. For probably 6 hours it rained and rained and rained. Despite this, the ruins were still impressive and served as a preview of our upcoming trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
While some people on our tour opted for the cheaper bus ride back to town, we spent a few more dollars for the upgraded boat ride back. At the time of booking, we obviously were unaware of the coming rain. So needless to say, it was a not so good investment. However, we had a small adventure on the way. Our boat was approached by another small boat carrying furniture and the Vietnamese woman working on our boat purchased a bed, which was then hauled onto our boat without ever docking. This made for a kodak moment.

When we got back to Hoi An we had to walk through calf high water just to reach our hotel. We had opted out of the gondola rides offered on account of the overflowing waters. At this point we were equipped with the information from our tour guide that the best rain gear is to be found in the market. Off we went to look for Rando gear, which continues to serve us for days later.

The next day was no better except that we decided to walk through town in our flip flops and just accept the fact that we were going to get all wet. Who knows what was lurking in that water! Good thing we both got Hep vaccinations before leaving the States. The clothes came out great and were quickly shipped home. They will arrive next Feb. when we return from our trip.

We had been warned to only travel with two Vietnamese bus lines, as the others were known to have shady reputations. On the morning we had planned to depart, we walked over to purchase our bus tickets, but were told the bus was completely sold out. Seemed like all the tourists wanted to get as far away from the flood as possible. We ran through the rain and flooded streets from travel agency to travel agency, but could only find one unknown bus company. The agent told us that the only seats available were in the back of the bus. Normally on the overnight bus, each person gets an individual bed. The backrow of the bus, however, is comprised of one large space shared by 5 people. Reluctantly, we agreed to spend the night with three other strangers.
We arrived at the travel agency around 6pm in a light rain and were shuttled via a minibus for 30 minutes to the bus that would take us to our next destination. We were told the streets were too flooded for the big bus. Not sure how the minivan is more capable of getting through the flooded streets, but what choice did we have? The night was not getting off to a good start...

To see photos of Hoi An, please go to our Shutterfly page: grossmintblog.shutterfly.com