We had plenty of time on our hands so we spent some time exploring parts of the Old Town. In the process we stumbled on some interesting shops. One was a video and book store with nothing over $1 - the sort where the pirating is not even hidden. I bought an academic book, for example, called 'Understanding Vietnam' where you opened the title page to see the blurred image of the Library stamp from which the master copy was borrowed and photocopied.
A bit further on we discovered an old style souvenir shop with all sorts of handicrafts, carvings and trinkets. There we found bone, pearl inlay and timber chess and mahjong sets for really cheap prices. In Hanoi, we had nearly parted with some big sums of money just for a chess set. Fortunately, discretion had prevailed at the last moment. So this time we could see a bargain and went for it. Harper had really taken to the mahjong pieces when we were in Sapa coffee shops and even though we didn't know the rules, he quickly made up his own way to play.
The middle of the day was filled with getting final fittings on our clothes, some more swimming and resting up.
For our last evening, we organised a night out with some Australian friends we'd met the other night. After some good Australian merlot at a wine bar, we headed back to an earlier haunt - the magnificent Brother Pho restaurant. At night this place looked even more spectacular, set amongst its beautified night lit garden, colonial home and river view. It was an occasion for some more Fried Pancake (quickly becoming a favourite), roast pork on sugarcane and some D'Arenburg Stump Jump red for some good drinking and great conversation.
That will be one of our very happy, lasting memories in Hoi An.
No comments:
Post a Comment