Tuesday, October 22 Hoi An Biking and shopping and winding down

Tuesday, October 22 Hoi An Biking and shopping and winding down

What a lovely town to spend last Vietnam days in!  And moving around by bicycle is the best.  We took Larry around to see what's here, parked the bikes for twenty cents and walked around the indoor market, acres of freshly prepared food, next to spice stalls, followed by the meat market, fish and endless rows of fabulous produce, all leading to the river where, true to Larry's prediction, we saw a small wooden fishing boat pull up with a man rowing and a woman holding a large shallow basin.  She stepped off the boat and walked her basin of freshly caught, lively, wriggling fish to her place of sale in the market.  

Using our hotel as a base, we went out on various forays throughout the day, trips for fittings at the tailor, a long bike ride into the countryside following a map, more looking and shopping, and, for me, a visit to an optometrist who will copy my eyeglasses at a good price so I'll have a backup pair. With a hop into the hotel pool for refreshment.

These last days here, hot, kind of humid with an occasional almost violent downpour are an easygoing way to tie up the trip.

Wandering over to the Old City in the evening we were amazed at the scene.  Lighted, beautifully colored lanterns adorned every doorway, every store and restaurant, and lit up every street, along the river and all the other streets.  It was a delightful walk around, no cars, motorcycles or bikes were permitted in the city center, blocks and blocks to walk and marvel.  Our dinner was in an ok restaurant.  When the owner figured out we were American, he proclaimed proudly that he fought with the South in the war, did not like Ho Chi Minh, or Mao, or Fidel Castro.  Now the country is run by the communists he told us, but with a free market and he does well.  He was the first person we met who opened a conversation about the war.  Hoi An was considered part of South Vietnam, saved from bombing by some kind of agreement made by both sides.  Now that the country is unified, Hoi An is in the middle section of Vietnam.