Before I get into the most exciting of our Vietnam posts (the hospital trip – spoiler: no one dies) I want to write a bit about our accommodation in Hoi An. I always enjoy looking at hotel photos and reading reviews and we enjoyed this hotel a lot and I’m sure I’ll want to pass on the details of our experience. 

  
 I found the Vin Hung Emerald Resort on TripAdvisor and had been tossing up between finding a place on the beach or in town. There’s serval kilometres inbetween and I’d only been to the beach for a few minutes the last time and it looked quite nice, plus all the beach hotels do free shuttles into town. However with the tailoring we wanted to do, and the fact that we were doing beaches in Thailand, staying in the old town seemed handier for more activities.

  
The Vin Hung Emerald had excellent reviews online, particularly with regards to the friendliness of staff, but googling the hotel was somewhat confusing as it turned out that there are five Vin Hung resorts and another is next door to the one we stayed at. We stayed at number 5, the one next door was 4. They are both situated on Hoi An island, on the bank of the river and a couple of blocks back from the busyness of the town. There is a mini mart across the road and several places in front that do a kilo of laundry for a dollar US, which is much cheaper than the hotel. I must also add that laundry done at Mrs Sa’s establishment comes back smelling like fruity sherbet, which was quite a treat.
 The hotel is arranged in a U shape that opens towards the river. The pool runs down the middle and there is a large lawn at the bottom with a bar down by the water.  

 The river is quite busy, with boats going by frequently with tourists, fishermen, dredging equipment and all kinds of things. The water is definitely not swimmable! The sunset is visible from the river bar, and with the hazy Vietnamese sky, it can look very evocative.

  
 While the beds were as hard as any in Asia (excepting the thinly-veiled boards of our exceptionally basic bungalow in Koh Phanang), the rooms were very comfortable, although not as large as some resorts. 

Breakfast was included each day and was the usual substantial buffet most Asian resorts serve. I neglected to take photos but it was a mix of eastern and western food, both hot and cold. As we were all used to Australian time and were four hours ahead of local time, we were all waking early (Michael and Matt excepted due to late nights) so we were making it down to breakfast at 6am. The restaurant is bordered by a narrow pond that contained lotus flowers and thousands of tiny fish. One of the staff, Nu, told me that I could feed the fish with breadcrumbs, so every morning I saved some of my toast for them. Initially I wondered why they were all so small, but after hearing that the river floods almost every year, I understood. Poor fish!

  
My final favorite thing about the resort was the abundance of flowers, particularly frangipani. Every morning the ground staff would sweep up all the fallen blossoms and the place smelled amazing. The contrast between day and night-time smells in Hoi An was astonishing. During the day it was petrol fumed, dank river water, cooking, animals and all the other strange odours. At night when the air cooled and stilled, the scent of gardenias and frangipani filled the air.

  
Next up: the hospital!

If there is one thing that will lift any holiday from good to outstanding, it’s making friends with a local. Or in our case, a whole family. 

Tin was our bartender on our first night in Hoi An. Michael and Matt formed an immediate connection with him and we all had many laughs. Tin’s wife, Vy, ran a stall at the markets, which was two blocks away from the hotel, so we went to sit down there a few times. Vy sells t-shirts, postcards and things like that while Tin’s mother has a stall selling drinks. I had some fresh sugarcane juice from her and it was delicious. 

A couple of days into the trip Tin invited us all to his house for lunch. His house was right behind the markets, which was very convenient. Lots of people who work in Hoi An live in villages and have to ride scooters quite a way to get to work, so Tin and Vy (and their little daughter, Bo) were lucky to live so close to their work. 

Tin’s house was pretty typical of Hoi An houses. They seem to all be tall and narrow, with tiled floors. The dining room is in the front and kitchen and bedrooms and bathrooms are out the back. It floods most years and Tin showed us the water marks on the walls.  

 We ate a noodle dish with quail eggs, prawns and the ubiquitous Vietnamese salad. It was very delicious. 

  
We had a few drinks and sat around chatting until it was time to go. Getting to know Tin and Vy was lovely, but it was also great to be able to ask questions about Vietnamese culture and learn much more than Luke and I learned on our last trip.

  
 Another friend I made in Hoi An was on a solo shopping excursion one morning. I was wandering down some back alleys looking for lanterns when I met a lady named Van who owned her own little shop and made all her lanterns herself. I bought six and then stayed to chat to her for quite a while and heard about her life and her family. People in Vietnam work so hard for so little. At home I feel fairly average in terms of income and lifestyle, but it’s hard not to feel a sense of guilt at the general unfairness of life when you encounter people who left school at an early age to work. Van told me that some days she will make as little as 50,000 dong, which is equivalent to three dollars Australian. Her husband is a chef and they have to look after his elderly parents as well as their son. Van works from 7am every day until late and gets up at 5 or 6 to get her son off to school and do laundry by hand.

Van invited me to come back the next day for some traditional street food, so I brought Luke back at 9 the next morning and we had bun cha (noodle soup with sausage and herbs) at a street stall around the corner. Van insisted on paying, which was extremely kind and not at all necessary. The stall owner came over to watch us eat and Van sat with us for a bit between keeping an eye on her stall. The food was delicious and spicy, there were fresh bread rolls on the table. It was a wonderful experience to have. I got Van’s card so I think I might send her something nice from Australia when I get home, to thank her for the breakfast.

   
 I’ve been surprised how much more difficult it has been this trip to find the time to keep up with the blog writing. Having a big group of friends to travel with means there’s always something to do, which means less time for writing. And when we aren’t doing things we’re sitting around eating and drinking or recovering from eating and drinking. Tough life, I know;-). 

Our second day in Hoi An (the first full day) was spent mainly by the pool. We had planned to start our trips to the tailors but it was fortunate we didn’t because it was the only day that was warm enough to swim. Since then the weather has been very overcast and around 22 degrees. We’re not complaining though, shopping and getting clothes made is far more fun in cooler weather. 

I decided to go back to Aobaba, the tailor I used last time. I took in my pile of fabric and dresses to be copied and ended up getting nine dresses, two pairs of shorts and two tops based on things I already owned. Having the fabric already chosen streamlined the process enormously. If I could give a tip to anyone coming here for the purpose of getting clothes made, it would be to have a very clear idea of what you want before you arrive but be open to possibilities.

On the third day we all assembled early for a cooking class. First we took a boat to the market, which is only five minutes away. We walked around the market and were shown fruit and vegetables we didn’t recognise, then took the boat back to the hotel. 

   
   
The class was fun but less hands-on than the one I did last time I was in Hoi An. Mainly chopping and stirring. Everyone enjoyed it and we ended up with an enormous pile of food. We made prawn spring rolls, savoury pancakes, green mango salad and grilled fish in banana leaves. Everything contained ‘pork powder’ so we enlisted some help buying some to ship back so we can make an authentic Vietnamese banquet for everyone when we get home… If we can find all the other ingredients. 

I’m having a go at uploading my first video, a little snapshot of today’s cooking class. I hope it works!