This was to be my last day in Hoi An, and by now as you have already come to realise, the place had well and truly suckered me in. It’s quaint, relaxed, serene in part and has some really kind, good natured people. What’s more, you get the best of both worlds, a beautiful ancient trading port filled with all the things you look for as a tourist and just 5kms down the road you have a great beach where you can wile the way the hours overlooking Cham island in the South China Sea. What’s more, the place is so ridiculously cheap that it comes to bargaining with the locals it ends up making you feel a little uneasy and unethical about the whole process, especially when you’re in a relatively heated dispute over what amount to a dollar or two. The thing is that a lot of the time you end up forgetting the exchange rate and bargain strictly on ‘comparative value’, haggling over say 10,000 dong and then realising only later that it was kind ‘some kind of silly’ that made you do it.
After breakfast at the Nhi Nhi I rode out of town and back to the ‘My Son’ café, located about 2/3rds of the way to Cua Dai beach. I took up residence on a more than comfortable lounge overlooking the river, sat back and wrote down random thoughts and impressions in my journal, watched the local fisherman paddle by, got lost in the time and space within my mind and just chilled out basically. It was one of this contemplative moments that you would be happy to stay in for days, and the three hours that I did spend passed me over in an instant. I also think that the several Manhattan’s that accompanied my later morning journey also made up a large part of my well being.
My Son Cafe - Hoi An
One of my favourite shots - My Son Cafe - Hoi An
My Son Cafe - Hoi An
Long Island Ice Tea and a journal
Locals on the river
Locals on the river
As unfortunate as it was I had to pull myself away from the My Son, hopefully I’ll be able to make my way back to this place again sometime in the near future because it’s a truly charming place where time should really be one of the last things on your mind. Riding back into town I stopped at the corner baguette vendor that Lili and Judith had tipped me off on the day before, their pork roll was phenomenal and on this day, well it certainly lived up to my high expectations of the place.
Pork roll bonanza - coming right up!
Seeing as though I was going to be flying out of Da Nang in a few hours time there wasn’t a lot that I was able to do before leaving for the airport. This actually worked in my favour, it forced me to slow down and enjoy the moment. Taking up residence at the River Lounge, I laid back on their enormous lounges that doubled as day beds and got drawn into the great French chill/low tempo music that they were playing. It actually had my mind tracking back 18 months earlier to some of the fantastic bars in Marrakech, they mostly had the same type of quality music and unique atmosphere. Now this is something that I probably should have done a day or so earlier but what the hell, you take it when you can get it. I eventually dragged myself away from the River Lounge and rode out of town to take a few shots before making my way back to the Nhi Nhi in order to checkout and take a ride back up to Da Nang airport for the early evening flight to Hanoi.
Hoi An street shot
Hoi An street shot
River Lounge - Hoi An
Hoi An
Somewhere about 3pm Tony’s brother picked me up from the Nhi Nhi and whisked me 30kms up the coast to Da Nang. It was kind of amazing and almost a little disappointing to notice the amount of resorts that had set up along the coastline in the two years since my last visit. I mean, I understand the reasons offcourse, that’s the price you pay for the sake of progress and economics when you have such a beautiful natural resource on your doorstep. Still, you don’t want to see them completely wreck the place, which by the size and numbers of developments taking place seems to already been a forgone conclusion.
Sunset over the Marble Mountains - Da Nang
The flight out of Da Nang was at 5:45pm, and just after 7pm I was back in Hanoi. The Hanoi Elegance hotel had kindly arranged a pick-up from the airport and before I knew it, I was back out in the hectic hustle and bustle of another Hanoi evening. Hearing the incessant sounds of car and scooter horns, the insane manoeuvring of the vehicles, it felt as though I’d come full circle. It was only two years earlier that I’d made my first inroads into Hanoi, not knowing really what to expect and remembering how the chaotic nature of the traffic really heightened all my senses. On this night I kind of expected it. I don’t think you ever get use to it but there’s something very fluid and unique about it and Hanoi generally that really strikes a chord with me – sometimes you just can’t help liking a place.
The Hanoi Elegance 1 is located in the Old Quarter only a couple of blocks from the top of Hoan Kiem lake. I had a great room, a nice little balcony overlooking the nightly traffic ‘nutfest’ and also an offer to catch up with Vanessa for some late night shenanigans, although as per my last pass through Hanoi I knew in myself that I wouldn’t be taking her up on it. So for this evening, it was really very simple, I cruised around and did a little shopping, soaked in the usual Hanoi vibrancy and ended up at a local restaurant for a late dinner and a few more cocktails. I closed out this evening relatively early, about 11:30pm, but with that said, I was catching an early flight the next day back to Kuala Lumpur and my man Jet Frichot was going to be waiting to assist with bringing 2010 in style!
Last night in Hanoi - on Hoan Kiem Lake
