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Other entries in Hội An

Dont be lazy, be crazy!

Unfortunately, not much to report about this city. we arrived to find lots of tourists and plenty of Vietnamese to accomodate them. we walked away from our cross country bus and were hunted down by a young man on his motorbike. we told us of a great deal at his hotel, showed us pictures of the rooms, and then led us on a 2 km hike to get there. he was very friendly and spoke good english so of course we trusted him. he showed us the room and it was fine but then to get AC in this humid and scorching city, would cost extra. this he did not mention at the beginning. but the price to add it was not too much so for the convenience of staying, we stayed.

things to do in this town include eating, trekking 3 km to the beach, and getting clothes tailored for you. we did all three. at first we didnt want to get clothes made but the price is so low, that we figured we should just get a few things done so taht we dont regret it when we get home. there are a million stalls to choose from but we went with the stall in the cloth market owned by our hotel family staff. when we went to pick out materials and clothing and felt hassled into doing this or that. they dont really understand the idea of non-pressured sales. we made some notes and when we asked about prices, the people helping us got real upset and defensive. they said we were going to now go somewhere else and buy from another vendor. such trust these people have. so we assured them that we would return and they responded with pouting half-looks of distrust.

we rented bicycles and went to the beach after our cloth market experience. the beach was nice but crowded and cold. we sat down and were almost immediately approached by vendors looking to make some sort of sale. they had plenty of snack items including this stuff called bettle which is similar to chewing tobacco but stains your teeth a red color. the lady selling the product was a fine example of what it could do to your mouth. fatty was intrigued but chose not to buy any. so the beach excursion was not fantastic because the weather was bad adn we had no time to ourselves. we were entertained however by one girl who seemed to know many random phrases but little else in english. a few she used were, "a pineapple a day keeps the doctor away", "dont be lazy, be crazy", "you no like, you no pay", and one used by many all day long was "come on, happy hour!". so at least we got some laughs out of the imposing ladies.

besides the cloth market and teh beach, there isnt much to do here. we heard it was vietnams culinary jewel but we havent found things much better or worse than everywhere else. we also thought it would be less frequented than other places but were disappointed in that regard as well. so far we've found Vietnam to be much more touristy than we anticipated. it probably has a lot to do with the fact taht we've been on an open bus ticket that many tourists use because of the convenience and distance you can travel but still, we didnt expect things to be so catered to our needs and so much english to be spoken. unfortunately, its been a little disappointing. we've also found the vietnames people to be a little aggressive in their approach tactics. i know that personal space is different here but when you tell someone 10 times that youre not interested, they should get the hint. i continue to try my best to be polite and smile but even the most patient of foreigners will lose their cool eventually. one of the things our most recent hotel promoter told us was that he doesnt usually like americans (but he could tell we were good people) because they are rude and curse a lot. at first i felt bad that a few bad apples had set a bad reputation for our nation but then i came to realize taht perhaps they had just gotten fed up with all the hassle. i dont think its the tourist's fault for blowing up at the person who happens to be the 100 person to ask him if he wants to buy clothes, purchase a pineapple, or stay at the next budget hotel.

so we are going to try to get off the beaten track and find some more authentic vietnamese experiences before we get out of here. and hopefully our experiences with the vietnamese are not so irritating in the future. i am optimistic.

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