2016 Asia Mega Trip - Wandering Around Hoi An

I should say wandering around the Old Quarter/Tourist area. Hoi An is definitely in it's center a tourist destination. They've blocked off a significant portion and turned it into walking only area. And it is not hard to get out of the tourist area and get into the real city. These two are like night and day. The tourist area with the exception of the language and some of the architecture could be lifted up and dropped in any major tourist focused destination and one would be right at home. However, you get into the real city and you are struck immediately that you are definitely in another country. But today our first full day in Vietnam was spent mostly in tourist land.  Actually I had a brief half hour before we went off when a driver from the hotel brought me into town to get a SIM card for my unlocked car. Trying to make myself understood and accomplishing that was an interesting start.

Compared to the evening, the morning hours in the Old Town are very tranquil

Hello honorable tour guide Pooh Lee Shah. Where are we of to this morning?

Ah in search of culinary delights in the form of famous Bahn Mi

Bahn Mi is a famous sandwich that combines the Southeast Asian flavors with the French influence.

This place our Son-in-Law had been to and had been spoken up by celebrity traveler Tony Bourdain.

These prices by the way are about a dollar for each sandwich.

Bahn Mi yummy-ness. And yes that bread is very bit as light and crunchy as it looks.

Now we started to wander the streets looking for the old buildings, temples, and unusual.

Shopping

Hoi An Honorable Pooh told us is noted for its leather goods that are made locally. So as Wife and I had some needs we went looking for and found some things - a belt and wallet for me and a custom made handbag for Wife. The selling and negotiating can be a bit over the top in this tourist driven place but we also had some fun with it and there were a number of nice interchanges along the way.

This is the gal who sold me my belt that required a number of alterations to make it perfect.

I noted that she and a coworker were eating a fruit I'd seen but had no idea of what it was. That led to us sharing most of a bag of them.

This is the leather that Wife chose for her handbag

 And our the owner of the shop working up the price. She was a tough negotiator.

It is pretty warm and very humid here, in the 80's so we finished up our day by a dip in an ice cold pool (not so great), a massage with hot rocks (great), and a drink.