I feel much more comfortable in Hoi An than in the other cities we've visited, though the level of discussion about the threat of theft and robbery is increasing from Tham. That accords with other comments I've heard that the level of crime rises as you go South. Nevertheless, I like Hoi An. It's built on a medieval scale that I'm fond of.
I decided to do some shopping early today to beat the heat and the crowds. I was the first customer in several of the shops I visited and the only customer in all of them too. That is a big change from when we were walking around yesterday afternoon and evening when the whole town was packed with tourists and shoppers.
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| The much less crowded old quarter streets |
I visited several stores recommended by Tham to acquire gifts for friends and stuff for myself, as well as the obligatory T-shirt for the gym. After finishing the shopping, I had an egg coffee in a pretty cool little coffee shop (as the only customer) and then decided that I'd walk through the old quarter to the beach which was marked on the map as not far from our hotel.
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| Silversmith at work | One of the shops I bought from | A lovely cafe |
I walked around through the streets of the old quarter and eventually came to the Hoi An Museum. I decided to visit to see what there was to see and to check out the history of this lovely old town. I had to pay the guy at the door for a ticket even though I showed him the tour guide that I'd been given by Tham yesterday to use as a ticket to old quarter attractions. He said that was no good. I paid and he gave me a ticket and the same brochure saying you've bought entry to all these exhibits! It was only 120,000 VND (~$8 AUD) so no biggie, but I'm pretty sure he was just making me pay again because he could.
The museum was a bit underwhelming, actually, though it did tell a very interesting story of how there'd been three waves of occupation of the area over the last 2,000 years. The displays were mostly pictures of archaeological digs for the early periods, but then some relics from the past. There was a quite intriguing sculpture on the balcony outside the display hall but it wasn't signposted beyond a name. I think it was a contemporary work (rather than a historical piece) and it was quite fascinating.
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| The main display hall for the third wave of settlement in Hoi An | Contemporary art on the balcony |
After the museum tour, where I was also the only customer for most of it, I headed back out onto the street to keep walking to the beach. I thought the beach was only 500 metres or so away from the edge of the map I'd been using when I set off, but after walking for ten minutes along the road, I brought to mind the aerial photos of Hoi An shown in the museum and realised it was going to be a much longer walk than that. (I later discovered it was 5,000 metres away!) As I was only wearing flip flops and it was getting hotter in the open sun (it wasn't cloudy today!), I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and headed back to the hotel. As I re-entered the old quarter, I came across one of the ubiquitous open-air cafes on the side of the road. This one was also a bakery. I bought an iced Machta coffee. Machta is green tea powder and the mix was very pleasant, especially served iced.
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| Cafe patrons | View across the street from the cafe | Machta Coffee Iced with Banh Cappucino |
Back to the hotel and a plunge in the pool and a bit of reading. Then make up this blog entry before having lunch and then heading out on the cycling tour of the rice paddies nearby.
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