01.03 Day 46 Hoi An
Friday 1st March - Hoi An (Day 46)
Knowing that we tend not to travel far, especially for food once we’ve opened our suitcase, we have opted to move just 1 km as the crow flies, though (2.5km for us land lubbers from the island of Cam Nan to An Hoi (not to be confused by Hoi An).
Another generous late check out leaves plenty of time for a home cooked breakfast downstairs, schoolwork in the room and football practice out front. Despite being here for 3 nights, this is actually my 4th breakfast around the corner for My Quong or Cao Lau - I still can’t pick a favourite.
The Matriarch Chef is pleased to see me again and offers up some mandarins from their tree as I’m wolfing down my fresh tasty noodles (30k vnd, $1.90). I definitely stand out here though; there are only 4 tables and at no point does anyone else sit at my table, instead bunching with other locals.
And I haven’t quite fitted in by bringing my bottle of water to drink. There is water and tea in a communal jug, which I could manage, but the half dozen cups on the tray are used, remnants chucked on the streets, then rinsed in a bowl of water by the jugs, and placed back on the tray for the next user.
Staying local for most of the time does mean we get waved farewell as we walk away, wheeling suitcases from the owner of the cornershop (water), Olivier (barista coffee), masseuse (massage obviously), 2 old ladies (dinner chefs), toy shop owner (football) - all fleeting relationships on our travels that provide funny or wholesome moments for us, only possible because we’re fortunate to have this time to take our time. Yes we won’t traverse every mountain, visit every temple, see every sight, but we’ll live a little in each place we go.
Though it does make the inevitable - What were your 3 favourite things / destinations questions that we’ll receive harder to explain because having dinner at the same restaurant 3 nights in a row doesn’t mean we’d recommend the venue to anyone, but it worked for us all to enjoy.
However on An Hoi, no one knows our name or recognises our faces yet. After a 30 minute walk we’re fortunate to be able to check in early to our oversized ground floor room behind reception - the extra space chosen because of a forecast of rain and we didn’t want to be tripping over ourselves inside. I’m starting to pay more attention to room square meterage when booking online too, anything under 35m2 needs to be really good in another aspect to justify the small space. Here we have 70m2.
We’re recommended by reception some eateries so we walk to Madam Khanh for some Banh Mi’s - this is not a hidden-or-local-knowledge-only-venue, there is a queue of tourists outside, but to be fair, it is one of the best rolls we’ve had. While Kate indulges herself with an English Breakfast Tea with milk - that is no longer a 3-a-day commodity but a treat - from Starbucks, one of the only places she can guarantee they’ll serve it. I seek out another recommendation in the form of Meraki Bakery, where a selection of 8 pastries comes in at just under the price of one Starbucks Tea. But everyone is happy.
The kids spend the afternoon in the small pool outside the front of reception, splashing water into the hotel with their underwater games. Thankfully the rain has held off but it’s not hot (25 degrees) and the pool is unheated in the shade, so Kate and I play the role of lifeguards on the side.
Dinner is at an anonymous restaurant nearby before we walk along the river - and one of the reasons for moving accommodation - see all the small boats bobbing along the river, each with 2 lanterns lit up and a tourist of three in them on a 200 metre “cruise”. The flickering lights of hundreds of lanterns on the river is also complimented by the bridge being lit up, and many of the riverside bars and restaurants also having coloured lit up lanterns hanging down.
The kids appreciate this for 2 minutes before creating a game jumping over a 2 foot wall again and again, until Seb trips into a tree trunk and splits his thumbnail. He’s just about able to walk home and the kids are put to bed, adults following soon after.
