Hoi An

Hoi An is sooo exciting I'm in an Internet cafe with Mike catching up on e-mails and blog entries. He tried to watch lost & I was going to watch Grey's Anatomy ~ but apparently it knows we are not in the US and won't give us access. As the Internet access is about .30/hour, its really breaking the bank.

Vietnam is so cheap that once you are here you could live off of about $7,500 for an entire year. If your retirement fund goes bust, you can still move here and enjoy a relatively nice lifestyle until you need a doctor. Our average meal runs about $3-5 a person. I did eat lunch for about $1 yesterday, and have splurged and actually spent $7 on a meal. To sleep, we've not slept for more than $3 in a "hotel". The overnight buses work out to be about $6 and that means we're traveling and saving time and not paying for a "hotel." From the other travelers we meet, it sounds like Cambodia will be just about as cheap. Thailand and Malaysia will be a bit more expensive, but seeing as we're surviving for an average of $20 or less a day, it probably won't be too bad.

Hoi An has a few old building and a bridges and things to see. We walked around for about 2 hours and saw the sights. Hoi An is also known for its tailoring shops. I bought a skirt and dress that are made from silk, custom tailored with embroidery that I picked out for $40. I am excited to see how they come out, they will be ready this afternoon. All the travelers we've met rave about the tailoring shops here. You can buy a decent full men's suit for $40. Mike decided he didn't need one and so he hasn't bought anything. I "placed my order" around 12:30 and I will go back to the shop around 5 to try on the clothes and ideally pick them up since they will be perfect. :) Shopping around town, I bought three fun bracelets for about $7. One is green-ish looking and feels like glass but I don't know what its really made of, the other two are enameled with flowers ~ one with a green background and one with a blue background (Mike thinks they look a bit hokey).

For lunch, we went to a very westernized looking place and cheated. We both got cheeseburgers at Namburger. He he he. They were yummy and served with BBQ sauce, something I haven't seen since I left NZ, but a bit on the small side. Since it was very clean looking and such, I splurged and also got a milk shake. I haven't had milk since I left NZ either, so it was nice to have milk. Unfortunately, the milk shake was only slightly thicker than milk and not really much of a shake. Ah well... I drank it anyway. It cost about $4 for the burger, fries, and shake.

Its four o'clock and I don't have anything to do for the next hour. At 5, I'll go check on my clothes and at 6 we'll wait around for our bus to leave (it probably won't leave for another 1/2 hour at least). Looking for to our next stop in Nha Trang which is the "Pho French Rivera." :-)