We checked into this hotel called "The Greenfield". It was defintely not a letdown on the greeness. Some websites gave it so-so reviews but I liked my room and the location wasn't bad, and they had a travel desk that booked tours and transport, which was useful. I felt bad that the same lady seemed to be sitting there at all hours of the day though. I got a room next to Tim while Dabia and Antonin went to another hotel down the road. I was instantly hungry--it was mid afternoon which usually signaled my second lunch. Tim and I walked just a few blocks before we found the first place to eat. It was kind of a Western looking place (white and red checked tablecloths) with an English menu out front. As soon as we got close a lady came out to greet us. This is pretty common at most places to eat like this, but the aggressiveness of the greet can vary, with some people just saying "hello" and others demanding you to "come eat my food now". This lady was pretty nice because she actually recommended we go to another restaraunt to find the food, vietnamese sandwich, we most wanted, and she told us how much we should pay, 6,000vnd. This was a rarity for me to witness. We were both very surprised. So we found the sandwich place and they looked really amazing, but the lady told us they cost 15,000vnd. We disagreed, saying we were told they were 6,000. She didn't care though. She would rather not get our business than give us the local price. Seeing how badly we wanted the sandwich and that in the end, they were still less than a dollar, we payed the inflated price and had 2 each. Easily the most amazing sandwich I have ever had. It was a fresh baguette filled with some pork pate, vegetables, and cilantro. It was a chemist dancing the macarena in our mouths.
My hotel had free drinks from 6-7 that night, so Tim and I checked it out. It was one drink, which reminded me of stuff I had drank out of large garbage cans at frat houses; some vietnamese rum and some fruit juice, probably strawberry. It was difficult to drink a lot of it. We met a French guy named Xavier with a shaved head. I figured he had probably heard enough Professor Xavier cracks that I didn't even mention it. I liked his laught; it was real infectious. It was the 2nd best laugh I have encountered on my trip, just behind JP from Canada.
We went out to a western bar in the evening for some live music with some Australian travelers. The music was cool but the atmosphere was too western, so I didn't stay too long
I did a cooking class on my 2nd day in Hoi An. We met our group early in the morning and went to the market together with our guide to buy vegetables and meat. The market covered by small chunks of tarp, like a quilted floating jacket. The height was kinda low for me, so I had to keep my knees bent the entire time.
After getting our veggies we got on a boat and cruised down the river to this hotel or resort or something. It was kinda deserted so I wasn't sure what to make of it, but it had a lot of wildlife, which we treked through to pick fruit and herbs from--stuff like Passionfruit, starfruit, peppers, and basil. We used it all in our culinary endeavors, which were for spring rolls, a vietnamese crepe that was wrapped around a spring roll, some bun bao, which was noodles with beef, and some soup. All were great. They made fun of me because I was left handed and rolled my spring rolls "backwardsly".
After I got back from the cooking class I ran into Tim on the street. He was making his way to Yalys clothing store to get some shoes and maybe a jacket. I like the idea of getting some custom shoes made but I couldn't see myself getting a suit or anything else. In the end, Tim bought 3 suits and a nice winter coat while I got 3 coats. Not what we intended but we were really happy with what we got and the price was ok. I wasn't thrilled that there were a bunch of people just sleeping in blanket cocoons on the floors upstairs and then shoved awake to begin making our clothes immediately after we ordered them.
I went back to the Bahn Mi lady that refused to give us the right price another day and got a local in trouble because I was waiting in line and he made a comment to me about how good the sandwiches were so I played kinda dumb and asked him what they were. Then I casually asked how much. So they were actually 10,000 VND, so I ordered one and gave her exactly 10,000 and walked a few feet away and began eating it. After a few minutes and high levels of culinary satisfaction she gave the other guy who divulged the price his sandwiches but screamed at him in Vietnamese. I think he got banned for telling me the real price. He totally gave me a dirty look as he got on his motorbike and drove off.
There were a lot of french style bakeries in Hoi An. One night I met Antonin and Dabia for dinner at a, I guess you could say Italian style place--but the chef was German, I think. They had homeade ice cream that they served with a molten chocolate cake. Easily the best cocounut ice cream in existence.
I took a sleeper bus from Hoi An to Nha Trang because the train times were terrible, either departing at 4 AM or arriving then. The sleeper bus was pretty tiny, with partially reclining seats that had a futuristic spacely curve to them. Nobody over 6 feet is going to be able to stretch their legs out completely though.
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