Hoi An

Hoi An. Chosen by Travel and Leisure magazine as the best city in the world to visit in 2019. This could be bad...

At least that's what I remember thinking when I read the article. One more place in the world to become like San Francisco, Venice, or Amsterdam. But it turned out to to be less over the top than I expected. If anything there were more Vietnamese tourist families there than any other sub group. Certainly more pleasant than last year when every other tourist scoping out the copious shops and restaurants was a a pink scowling Russian.

We drove from Hue to Hoi An over the Hai Van pass. A squiggly mountain road with a view much like a spot along the Big Sur coast. I caught a photo of our crew on the pass and a selfie with our driver Phuc. From there we skirted along the coast at Danang and arrived at our idyllic little hotel in Old Town Hoi An.

Nancy and I immediately headed out to Ba Ri tailor to be fitted for some new togs. The women who fitted us were the same sisters who'd fitted Augie and I for our Mumbai wedding suits last year. They kept asking about my son and asking to see pictures each time we returned to the shop over subsequent days.

That evening we all walked around the night market buying smoothies and looking at some interesting grilled foods. We sat and watched the spectacle on the river as tourists hired boats to float in the estuaries. People floated candles in paper boats for blessings. It was quite beautiful. Nancy commented that she was enchanted by it all.

Don and Mary spent the next day exploring with a rented scooter and visiting the beach. Nancy spent her time shopping for cold remedies, bringing me sodas, and taking photos. We did get out to some really good restaurants in town. We returned to Ban Mi Phuong and found an excellent Greek restaurant run by a congenial gentleman from Crete.

I'm feeling better today as we head to the airport in Danang for our flight to Ho Chi Minh. Hopefully a guy with a sign with be waiting for us at the other end.Read more