27.02 Day 43 Train & Hoi An
Tuesday 27th February - Overnight train and Hoi An (Day 43)
After a successful night's sleep on the narrow bed within our 4 berth compartment, my alarm goes off at 5:30am as the train is due to arrive just after 6am. Opening the curtain, there is a first light as sunrise is not till 6am ish. But what we can definitely see are the splatters of raindrops on the window.
This train is definitely older than the one we took to Chiang Mai, and the carriage attendant hasn’t unfortunately taken as much care on the cleanliness of the toilet. We gravitate to the western toilet at one end of the carriage, though there is also a squat / drop toilet at the other end. It just kind of resembles the toilet on an aeroplane after a longhaul flight.
Hoi An doesn’t have its own station, so you alight either at Tra Kieu or Danang. As the former is 20 km from Hoi An rather than 30 km, and saves an extra 40 minutes on the train, I assumed most would opt for Tra Kieu. In fact only four couples / families get off here and each is swooped upon by a hopeful taxi driver. In these moments I prefer just to get into the waiting room to figure out what’s what. But it’s clear we’re at their mercy, my only solace is knowing they’re charging a fair vnd / km based on real taxis. Of course, this isn't a real taxi, it’s just a guy in his car. But he safely drops us at our next homestay - Maison Khoi on Cam Nan island, just a bridge and 10 minute walk to the Old Town.
It’s still raining. Although it’s before 7am, the host of the homestay very kindly lets us into our room on the 3rd floor which the kids are thrilled to see contains a double bed coming out from the bottom bunk as well as a queen for the adults. It’s great to be able to have a shower - having slept in our clothes - and decompress. The house has just 4 rooms with the young family owner living on the ground floor. Kate and I are sat down and given local information inbetween sales pitches on tours, activities and even onwards travel, despite having only arrived 30 minutes ago.
One required trip is sourcing breakfast, for which she recommends from around the corner. After sorting ourselves out, we do the 50m walk to an unnamed restaurant, another seating area at the front of someone’s house. Our host is true to her recommendation as she and her husband are here too already.
There’s only two dishes on the menu as such - though there is no menu - so we get one of each - My Quang and Cau Lau - variations on a theme, both noodles though the former flat variety and the latter thicker, gentle broth, pork, prawn, wonton crackers and a plate of salads to mix in. I’m instantly a convert to both these local dishes, the kids just about eat some noodles if they are stripped of anything resembling flavour. We had been warned we might be charged the foreigner price of 50k vnd, but instead pay the semi-foreigner price of 30k ($1.90) rather than locals 25k.
Kate and Sienna top up their breakfast with a roadside smoothie whilst Seb naps in the room. Sienna and I then gamble leaving the umbrella behind and walk over the bridge (303 steps says Sienna), but the rain returns so we take cover under a covered market, each stall holder asking us to view their wares - You shopping? Want souvenirs? And if you stop to browse, they’re on top of you in a flash.
I know a lot of people wax lyrical about Hoi An, but nowhere looks their best in the rain, as you walk along avoiding puddles, and of course the ever-present scooters and bikes. We collect a couple of Banh Mis and manage to dodge the rain back to our homestay at which point it gets heavier again.
After some rest time for the kids in the den that’s been constructed on the bunk bed, and after the rain has cleared, we all walk over to the Old Town and along the front, a mixture of fruit and veg stalls, souvenir stalls (lots of t-shirts, dresses, fake label bags), and waterfront bars with bold Happy Hours - one was even Happy Hour from 9am to 6pm.
Seb’s been on off complaining his ear hurts, and that pain is On now. It briefly subsides when the kids get a Nutella and Banana pancake, but reappears soon after, so Kate takes him home, whilst Sienna and I mooch a little more including watching all the brightly coloured boats moored to the river's edge, their owners touting for business to anyone who doesn’t have a sense of urgency to their walking pace.
Dinner we all four get at a restaurant at the top of our street / alley and is a surprising hit with roll your own spring rolls a standout. After a full day for all already it’s lights out by 8:30pm.