Hoi An, Vietnam

As I mentioned in my Saigon post, I noticed that I had some bug bites on my arms and legs. It seemed to get worse and worse and looked quite nasty.  I couldn't figure out what it was since I never saw any bugs.  I finally went to the pharmacy to get some cream so they didn't get infected, but it didn’t help with the maddening itching at all. I couldn’t find calamine lotion or anything for bug bites.  It was quite embarrassing because they were all over me but I couldn't hide them, I even had a few on my face.  

 

We decided not to book any tours in Hoi An.  We were there for 4 days and just wanted to just relax in this beach side town. That being said, I booked a cooking class for myself.  This was similar to the other classes in that we went to the market and picked out our fresh vegetables.  Caron stayed home to work and I joined three young ladies from San Francisco. The cooking class was really fun and we spent as much time talking to each other as we did paying attention to our chef.  In this class we learned a different way of making summer rolls and we learned a different type of dipping sauce which was predominantly black sesame and peanuts.  Of course I told the girls I was an expert, since I had just made them.  Wouldn't you know, my summer rolls were the worst of the lot, but still quite tasty.  We also made a fresh mango and papaya salad, along with some delicious dressing to go with it.  Next up was chicken on lemon grass skewers.  It really gave it some extra flavor and it was a way to use this stalky vegetable without wasting it.  Next on the menu was pan seared tuna, which I don't like.  I wanted to make it, but not eat it, so they let me take a plate home for my grateful friend, who isn't as picky as me.  The last thing we made was traditional Vietnamese soup called pho.  
 

I got to chatting with one of the girls about my bites.  She took one look and said those are most definitely bed bugs.  So how exciting that I can mark this down as a new experience, I never even had lice as a child.  I have to say, I absolutely do not like this. It's horribly embarrassing to think that I might have brought an infestation of bed bugs to a new hotel. Hopefully we can get rid of them. Not feeling pretty today!  
 

About the only thing I knew about bed bugs was that heat kills.  We decided to send all my clothes to the laundry, where by some miracle, they had a dryer. (Very rare here).  I didn't want them to know why, so like the good friend she is, Caron helped me with a bit of deception.  The hotel had nice robes, so I put literally all of my clothes in the bath tub and soaked them.  We rang out as much water as we could and told the front desk that I had some fresh laundry, which only needed drying.  Would it have been easier to just have them wash everything too?  Absolutely, but I didn't want to risk contaminating anything else, and I thought that would take too long.  Sadly, I did not convey a sense of urgency and it took hours to get my clothes back, all the while, I was wearing nothing but a robe.  I also 'accidentally' spilled water on my bed to get them to change out everything.  Caron was a really good sport, helping me out, and I will say, we still laugh about this particular adventure.  I'm happy to report all our efforts were successful; the bites finally healed and I never got any new ones.   

While Caron worked, I went to Old Town and basically just wandered around, looking at the sites and taking pictures. There was not much to do in terms of tourist attractions but just sitting in the square and watching people was quite entertaining. The buildings were very pretty, and there were Chinese lanterns strung across all the streets. This town was different from the bigger cities we had seen, in that there were more actual stores. There were many many shoe stores for some reason, selling all types of sandals, dress shoes, sneakers and boots.  They could even make shoes in a day for you. You pick out the canvas, cloth or leather, then choose the sole and they make it for you. A pair of regular slip-on casual shoes were about $40.  Of course, you could by a cheaper, ready-made pair for $10, so not really worth it to me.  There are also many tailor shops; custom-made clothes are also quite popular.  I saw quite a few shops selling paintings and other works of art.  

  

All around town you would see women with the traditional coolie hat, carrying 2 baskets of fruit hanging from a long pole.  Of course the tourists love it, and the ladies would give you the hat and the pole for a photo op.  They expect you to buy some of their fruit, but they were not too pushy.  Caron and I went into town for dinner one night and walked past an old lady sitting on the ground selling fruit.  She begged Caron to come over and sit with her for a picture.  Caron was thinking back to the previous day when the ladies in the airport wanted their picture taken with us and said ok.  The lady traded her hat for Caron's sunglasses and I snapped their picture.   When we started to leave, the lady demanded money.  She was quite insistent that we pay her and was very angry when we refused.  We could hear her shouting at us as we walked away.  It would have been a different matter entirely if Caron had asked to have her picture taken with the lady, but the lady begged her to sit down, so we didn’t feel too guilty.

 

We had noticed in some shops, they were quite pushy that you come in and buy from them. If you made the mistake of making eye contact, they pounce on you. "Come into my shop!", "Come into my shop!"  "You buy!", "I make you good deal!"   Once in the shop, they practically rip your clothes off to get you to try something on.  I saw a shirt I liked and the lady all but pulled my top off of me and held this one for me to try on.  Mind you, when you're trying something on, there is no dressing room.  You basically just stand there in the open for anyone to see.  Sometimes they'll hold up a big scarf and try to shield you.  So I asked how much and she said 400,000 DM. That's about $17. I'm really good at bartering and I admit, sometimes I buy something just because I'm able to barter down.  I said I only had 200,000 DM on me. She looked disgusted and said no way.  I started walking out the door and she ran after me and said okay, but made a pouty face as though I was getting something over on her.  It seems whatever price they first quote you, keep bargaining. You can generally get it for half of their initial price. I found a store that sells face masks, which I collect. These were all handmade and hand painted and cost about $15.  A steal, considering I usually pay much more, for much less.  I bought one and then had them paint a customized one for Mic. He really likes the group KISS so I got him a mask painted like Gene Simmons.  Then I bought myself a 2nd one, because I could lol.  I was in a buying mood that day.  

Old Town is situated on the river and there were many traditional Vietnamese boats tied up along the bank. Many had little old Vietnamese people trying to entice tourist to go for a ride. These people seem exceptionally hardy, but it's kind of backward to see a tiny wrinkled lady rowing the boat with big strong tourist sitting back, letting her do all the work.  I sat in the town square for a couple of hours and just watched people.  It was quite interesting to see locals try to sell things to tourist, and tourist taking pictures of the most common things.  All in all it was a very relaxing trip and nice not to feel the need to constantly be doing things.  I slept late, wandered around town and got in early.  It was a well-deserved rest as our next stop was going to be quite busy.

 

 

Link to Pictures:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/KjgKZFYnVSKAVMJp2