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We started the day with breakfast in the hotel after getting up about 7 a.m. Remarkably rested, we both slept better on the over-the-ocean flight than we usually do. Food was good and most of the things were familiar. The tropical fruits and juices were great.
This morning we expected a call from our host for the week, Vinh, a representative of Global Village Foundation. GlobeAware, which is the Dallas-based non-profit organization arranging our trip, works with Global Village Foundation when planning trips to Vietnam. Vinh called about 11 a.m. and asked if we would be okay starting our volunteer program with him tomorrow rather than today. Yesterday he finished working with a group of college students on a project and needs a day off. I told him that was fine, but we’d need to check with the hotel to see if we could stay one more night. He seemed to know that it would be fine for us to stay over. I guess he had already asked the hotel, but he indulged me. Philip went to the reception desk, and they said they had one room empty for the night and would work it around so that we could stay in the same room we already had. Vinh called back shortly to verify that we were set for another night here. He also knew about the trouble we had getting from the airport to the hotel. I wonder who told him about that adventure.
While we were waiting for his call, we spent some time on the patio of our suite watching the traffic on the Thu Bon River. We have a beautiful view from our suite. At one point, I saw what looked like a bus-boat. It was completely full, with people standing while floating along. There were lots of girls in traditional white dress and men in work clothes. I was so surprised to see the boat full that way that I didn’t want to miss a moment of it and did not get my camera to document the event. I suppose it happens every day here, but I’ve never seen anything like that. It looked dangerous to me. I am going to have to keep my camera close to capture the unexpected sights.
We had a nice lunch in the Vienna Café. We tried to use the free Internet service in the bar. Philip never got even one website to load so I didn't try. A sign by the computer said that because of the earthquake in Taiwan, the Internet service was poor. The earthquake damaged under sea lines, and they estimated the service was 70% below normal which was slow and spotty to start with.
Since we had an extra day before our volunteering starts, we decided to be tourists. We walked into the old city of Hoi An which is a few blocks from the hotel. On the hotel property, we were not approached by any locals. However, as soon as we walked out the gates of the hotel, we saw people selling all kinds of things. Several boys were selling postcards, and I bought a pack of six for one U.S. dollar. I understand that the Vietnamese currency is the only legal tender here, but that it is not unusual for independent business people to want U.S. currency instead. Tourism is growing in Vietnam, and I think the government may be ignoring small infractions like using other currencies if it promotes tourism.
A little farther down the road, I had a woman approach me and walk along trying to get me to let her give me a manicure. She kept saying, “Nails, one dollar. Nails, one dollar.” I answered as politely as I could with “No,” and “No, thank you,” and other phrases to try to get her to stop asking. She was insistent and stayed right with us until I spread out my hand and showed her my nails. I had a French manicure a few days before we left home, and my nails look good. She stared at them for a few moments, then walked away.
We shopped all afternoon and ordered clothing at 41 LeLoi Street Silk Shop. The workers were nice and accommodating and only a little bit pushy--or a manageable amount of pushy. The clothes will be ready by 10 a.m. tomorrow. We ordered for me: two sheer blouses with tank tops to go under them and a silk Asian-looking blouse with knotted buttons; for Erin a green kimono with a dragon embroidered on the back; and for Philip one suit, two blazers, and 2 shirts. All that was $620.00. The suit alone would be more than that if we bought it at home. The clothing is all custom-made which required us to pick out the style, pattern, and fabric. We were measured which was an unusual experience. Imagine standing in the middle of three women, all a foot shorter than you and half your size. One of them wraps the tape measure around every body part you can imagine, calls out some words that another one of them writes down, and the third one verifies by re-measuring. All that personal attention is rather embarrassing and peculiar.
While we were browsing at 41 Le Loi, one of the managers asked if we wanted to see how silk was made. She showed us the silk worms at all their stages of development and how the silk is harvested, spun and woven into cloth. Silk worms survive on mulberry leaves exclusively. When they are in the cocoon stage, they look like white balls of fluff. It is then that they are dropped into hot water and the fibers are removed and spun into threads. The hot water kills the worm inside.
While we were out, we made reservations for a riverside table at Brothers Café for dinner. We bought tickets for the Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Tour, which were multi- tickets to several sights in town. The tickets were 75,000 dong each, about $4.70. We had a choice of five things to see: one of three museums, one of four old houses, one of three assembly halls, one cultural site, and one wild card to use for a second museum, old house, or assembly hall. We visited the Japanese Bridge, Museum of Trade Ceramics, Fukian Assembly Hall, Tran Family Home, and Quan Congs Temple. We have two tickets left to use later in the week.
The Tran Family Home was my favorite. The first time we stopped by, there was a paper sign on the fence that said closed, come back in the afternoon. It looked like a party going on in the courtyard. We returned later, and there were eight to ten people sitting in the courtyard. The closed sign was gone. We opened the gate and asked if we could come in. There were several people nodding yes, and one young woman got up and greeted us. I gave her our tickets and she cut off the appropriate section and gave them back to me. She invited us to sit at a small, low table with chairs and offered tea and fresh coconut. We ate some coconut--very sweet and coated with sugar, but declined the tea. She told us about the house built in 1802 and about her family. They had photos of some ancestors in the shrine, and hand-drawn portraits of older ones. They had a plot of land behind the shrine with plants for each family member. A bit of placenta is buried by the plant so the baby will not forget his home. We bought some ancient coin reproductions for Shaun and Erin from them. They also had carved marble jewelry boxes and other handicrafts for sale. Philip wants a crocodile belt, but the only ones we've seen were at the HCMC airport.
Philip and I booked treatments in the hotel’s spa, since we had the extra time for it. I had a facial and he had a massage. Both were a little bit odd and not like what we expected. I had a humidifier blowing on my face with the warm moist air going up my nose until I asked for it to be pointed in a different direction. That seemed to be an unusual request. Perhaps people in Vietnam like that sensation, but I felt like I was drowning a bit. My skin did feel good after the facial. I think that one of the best parts of traveling may be finding things that you think you know about, but are different in other countries.
We had dinner at the tourist restaurant, The Brother's Café. At $58 for dinner, the price is close to what we'd pay at home, but we should be able to find lots of places that are much cheaper. We are looking forward to trying the places where the locals eat. Vinh should be able to take us to some. Food and lodging is included in the price we have paid GlobeAware for the trip. They are supposed to be basic, but good. The only thing promised was running water in the hotel.
This morning we expected a call from our host for the week, Vinh, a representative of Global Village Foundation. GlobeAware, which is the Dallas-based non-profit organization arranging our trip, works with Global Village Foundation when planning trips to Vietnam. Vinh called about 11 a.m. and asked if we would be okay starting our volunteer program with him tomorrow rather than today. Yesterday he finished working with a group of college students on a project and needs a day off. I told him that was fine, but we’d need to check with the hotel to see if we could stay one more night. He seemed to know that it would be fine for us to stay over. I guess he had already asked the hotel, but he indulged me. Philip went to the reception desk, and they said they had one room empty for the night and would work it around so that we could stay in the same room we already had. Vinh called back shortly to verify that we were set for another night here. He also knew about the trouble we had getting from the airport to the hotel. I wonder who told him about that adventure.
While we were waiting for his call, we spent some time on the patio of our suite watching the traffic on the Thu Bon River. We have a beautiful view from our suite. At one point, I saw what looked like a bus-boat. It was completely full, with people standing while floating along. There were lots of girls in traditional white dress and men in work clothes. I was so surprised to see the boat full that way that I didn’t want to miss a moment of it and did not get my camera to document the event. I suppose it happens every day here, but I’ve never seen anything like that. It looked dangerous to me. I am going to have to keep my camera close to capture the unexpected sights.
We had a nice lunch in the Vienna Café. We tried to use the free Internet service in the bar. Philip never got even one website to load so I didn't try. A sign by the computer said that because of the earthquake in Taiwan, the Internet service was poor. The earthquake damaged under sea lines, and they estimated the service was 70% below normal which was slow and spotty to start with.
Since we had an extra day before our volunteering starts, we decided to be tourists. We walked into the old city of Hoi An which is a few blocks from the hotel. On the hotel property, we were not approached by any locals. However, as soon as we walked out the gates of the hotel, we saw people selling all kinds of things. Several boys were selling postcards, and I bought a pack of six for one U.S. dollar. I understand that the Vietnamese currency is the only legal tender here, but that it is not unusual for independent business people to want U.S. currency instead. Tourism is growing in Vietnam, and I think the government may be ignoring small infractions like using other currencies if it promotes tourism.
A little farther down the road, I had a woman approach me and walk along trying to get me to let her give me a manicure. She kept saying, “Nails, one dollar. Nails, one dollar.” I answered as politely as I could with “No,” and “No, thank you,” and other phrases to try to get her to stop asking. She was insistent and stayed right with us until I spread out my hand and showed her my nails. I had a French manicure a few days before we left home, and my nails look good. She stared at them for a few moments, then walked away.
We shopped all afternoon and ordered clothing at 41 LeLoi Street Silk Shop. The workers were nice and accommodating and only a little bit pushy--or a manageable amount of pushy. The clothes will be ready by 10 a.m. tomorrow. We ordered for me: two sheer blouses with tank tops to go under them and a silk Asian-looking blouse with knotted buttons; for Erin a green kimono with a dragon embroidered on the back; and for Philip one suit, two blazers, and 2 shirts. All that was $620.00. The suit alone would be more than that if we bought it at home. The clothing is all custom-made which required us to pick out the style, pattern, and fabric. We were measured which was an unusual experience. Imagine standing in the middle of three women, all a foot shorter than you and half your size. One of them wraps the tape measure around every body part you can imagine, calls out some words that another one of them writes down, and the third one verifies by re-measuring. All that personal attention is rather embarrassing and peculiar.
While we were browsing at 41 Le Loi, one of the managers asked if we wanted to see how silk was made. She showed us the silk worms at all their stages of development and how the silk is harvested, spun and woven into cloth. Silk worms survive on mulberry leaves exclusively. When they are in the cocoon stage, they look like white balls of fluff. It is then that they are dropped into hot water and the fibers are removed and spun into threads. The hot water kills the worm inside.
While we were out, we made reservations for a riverside table at Brothers Café for dinner. We bought tickets for the Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Tour, which were multi- tickets to several sights in town. The tickets were 75,000 dong each, about $4.70. We had a choice of five things to see: one of three museums, one of four old houses, one of three assembly halls, one cultural site, and one wild card to use for a second museum, old house, or assembly hall. We visited the Japanese Bridge, Museum of Trade Ceramics, Fukian Assembly Hall, Tran Family Home, and Quan Congs Temple. We have two tickets left to use later in the week.
The Tran Family Home was my favorite. The first time we stopped by, there was a paper sign on the fence that said closed, come back in the afternoon. It looked like a party going on in the courtyard. We returned later, and there were eight to ten people sitting in the courtyard. The closed sign was gone. We opened the gate and asked if we could come in. There were several people nodding yes, and one young woman got up and greeted us. I gave her our tickets and she cut off the appropriate section and gave them back to me. She invited us to sit at a small, low table with chairs and offered tea and fresh coconut. We ate some coconut--very sweet and coated with sugar, but declined the tea. She told us about the house built in 1802 and about her family. They had photos of some ancestors in the shrine, and hand-drawn portraits of older ones. They had a plot of land behind the shrine with plants for each family member. A bit of placenta is buried by the plant so the baby will not forget his home. We bought some ancient coin reproductions for Shaun and Erin from them. They also had carved marble jewelry boxes and other handicrafts for sale. Philip wants a crocodile belt, but the only ones we've seen were at the HCMC airport.
Philip and I booked treatments in the hotel’s spa, since we had the extra time for it. I had a facial and he had a massage. Both were a little bit odd and not like what we expected. I had a humidifier blowing on my face with the warm moist air going up my nose until I asked for it to be pointed in a different direction. That seemed to be an unusual request. Perhaps people in Vietnam like that sensation, but I felt like I was drowning a bit. My skin did feel good after the facial. I think that one of the best parts of traveling may be finding things that you think you know about, but are different in other countries.
We had dinner at the tourist restaurant, The Brother's Café. At $58 for dinner, the price is close to what we'd pay at home, but we should be able to find lots of places that are much cheaper. We are looking forward to trying the places where the locals eat. Vinh should be able to take us to some. Food and lodging is included in the price we have paid GlobeAware for the trip. They are supposed to be basic, but good. The only thing promised was running water in the hotel.
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