I'd given Hung my laundry the previous day, which he'd cleaned and folded. I had taken a cold shower thing the night before, but hadn't actually washed myself. I did that now, and chose to try going shampoo-less. I didn't really know what I was doing, so I basically grabbed a comb and combed my hair a ton while in the shower. I rinsed my hair out a couple times, and eventually I realized that my attempt at cleanliness had resulted in a rather interesting hairstyle.
It was with this hairdo that I accepted Hung's invitation to eat with his family for lunch; he said I looked like wolverine, which hadn't occurred to me, actually. It's certainly complimentary, but I'd kind of been aiming for a more Syndrome look. Oh, well. I went to town with something similar to this, and my hair is still all poofy and loud even now. I also bought a pair of sunglasses which make me look like a certifiable mad scientist, but I'm going to wait 'til tomorrow to show you that. I haven't gotten any good pictures of it yet. Bwahahaha.
My mission for today was threefold; first, I needed to get water. I first returned to 399 Cua Dai to see if they'd give me the water I left there, but the would not. Alas. Many tears shall be shed for you, fair vessel of my most prized beverage.
I proceeded unceremoniously to the nearest mini-mart and bought a 4.9 liter bottle of water, which cost 25,000 dong. A real steal, considering the prices for bottled water in the US.
The second prong on my trident of a day was to find myself a pair of flip flops. Sandals. Penny loafers. The penny part was particularly important, as I was looking to spend rather a lot today. The water was cheap, but numbers two and three would gleefully join hands and wreak negligent havoc on my budget, not unlike a certain pair of Dr. Seuss's mind-children.
I'd gone into a shop one of my previous days in Hoi An, but the prices were a bit higher, and the resulting product wouldn't be ready for two or three days because the Tet holiday was coming to an end, and thus people wouldn't be making footwear. I walked into another shop of utterly unknown repute and looked around at the footwear available for immediate purchase. These were mostly female, and but I found a style I liked that seemed non-feminine and asked how much it'd be to have it made in my size.
She answered eighteen dollars, roughly half what the first shop originally offered. It seemed entirely plausible that, at a Target or Walmart back home, I'd pay $20 and get a far lower quality, worse fitting product. I chose to go ahead, and to my surprise the lady told me to come back later that day, at about six o'clock. I paid and left, continuing on to item three in my triumvirate of current objectives.
A shirt. After I arrived in Hanoi a couple weeks ago, I realized that I packed not three shirts, as I suspected, but two. Ever since, I've been trying to remedy this problem. First, I bought a shirt with some circular pattern on it and was horribly small for me, then I bought a Tintin in Vietnam shirt (good print, way too small), then I bought a similar T-shirt in Tam Coc, thinking the print I saw in the shop must be identical to the good one I'd bought previously. Not so. This one fit fairly well, but the design they printed on it was nothing like the artful and accurate apparition on the first.
So here I was in Hoi An, where they'll make you anything you want, and I needed a shirt. My host, Hung, recommended a shop with which his homestay had a cooperative relationship; his customers would be recommended this tailor, and this tailor would recommend his homestay. I was hopeful.
After some confusion, I arrived at the shop in the center of town, where I was ushered in to consider fabrics and styles and patterns and everything. I was somewhat uneasy, as there was very little proper orange in sight. Despite this, I chose a design and a fabric (not particularly bright or colorful), and then I realized that spent all the money in my wallet on the sandals. I literally had a thousand dong on me. As they were ushering me to the nearest ATM, I remembered I'd also left my debit card inside my room at the homestay.
I am not a clever man. However, the shop was somewhat accommodating, and I returned to the homestay, got money, my card, a new layer of sunscreen, and went back on my way. I paid when I returned to the shop, and was under the impression that my shirt might already be ready, but in fact I'll be getting the shirt tomorrow when I return again. I'll be sure to tell you about it when I get it.
After I left the tailor shop, I wandered around, wondering whether I could go back to the sandal shop and get my flip-flops this early. I crossed a bridge, and there was a particularly lovely lightshow going on in the sky, so I took a panorama. I'm trying hard to process it, but my laptop is lacking in many ways, one of which is disk space.
I chose to return about an hour early to the sandal shop, where I found my sandals ready. They weren't quite as big as I wanted, but besides that they looked and felt as flip-flops do. I think I'll wear them tomorrow and see how I like them, but I'm at least moderately satisfied as of now.
After all the riding around town I did, I chose to go back to the river and find somewhere to eat. When asked what I wanted to drink, I indicated I'd be drinking from my bottle. The man looked confused but continued his work. I had sat down at a drink place, which served all sorts of beverages, but no food of any kind.
I felt a bit like a jerk; I'd basically sat down in a coffee shop with instant coffee and some boiling water. So I chose to buy a banana shake, which was quite good, and take some photos of the river and this curious beverage. Hung tells me it's a young coconut.
After this, I had supper proper. I can't for the life of me remember what I hate, but I stopped on the street and sat on a plastic seat with a bunch of Vietnamese people, and ordered something that may have been Bun Quong. Maybe. I dare not venture further. Hung will probably correct me tomorrow.
Eating on the street like this is something I've sort of tried to avoid, but at the same time have really wanted to do. I've been told by multiple people in multiple places to just find the place where the locals are eating, and eat something there. That's what I did this time. The setup consists of a woman with a lot of different pots around her, and a fire pot pit thing to boil water on. There are bowls of noodles and a ton of varieties of soupish things.
I had no idea what anything was, and was pretty much comfortable eating anything they threw at me. Apprehensive, but comfortable. I just went with the first thing one of the ladies suggested, and it was worth it. 30,000 dong, and I was on my way.
The remainder of the day and night was spent eating even more at 399 again, and finishing it off with a somewhat expensive donut from the street. Finally, I reconnoitered with Hung on the An Hoi bridge. This bridge has tourists crossing it without end for hours at a time, and almost every one of them wants a photo on the thing. It was hilarious watching people trying to take photos while dozens of people passed by unaware.
I found it especially funny how the Vietnamese chose to exploit this; everyone wants a photo on the bridge, so they offer not only a photographer with a reasonably good camera and lens, but also a mini printer to get you your photo within a few minutes. I'm told they charge 20,000 dong for this service, which is at the same time cheap and rather exorbitant. That said, I admire the idea and execution.
Another thing you'll see in Hoi An is women, young and old, selling little lanterns. These are designed to float in the water, and cost a dollar. I have yet to buy one, but late at night, it makes for rather lovely lighting. Occasionally the results are excellent.
Hung and I remained on the bridge for probably an hour or more, and talked occasionally. We both enjoyed the opportunity to peoplewatch, and after a bit I turned on my speaker and began pumping tunes upon the multicultural masses. Hung browsed my library a bit, and chose a few of the songs. I did the same, and we received a multitude of curious or confused looks. I attracted rather a lot of attention, between my rather crazed hairdo, and the music coming out of my backpack.
We both returned separately to the homestay some time later, and now we shall sleep. I'm rather eager to eat some more native food again tomorrow. I'll have to start making a checklist of things I've eaten and want to eat.
I am well, enjoying my stay, and perhaps being a little too lazy, but it's fun to just bike around town all the time. Today I biked almost four hours. My "goal" is two.
Oh, the things that travel can do to you.
!Noah!
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