We met girls on the bus who were also staying at our hostel, Phuong Le Villa, in Hoi An, Vietnam. There were no taxis at the bus stop, so we took 4 motos to our hostel. I was on the back of the moto leader's bike, so he whizzed us through traffic and weaved us in and out of cars so that we beat everyone else to the hostel. He then insisted on taking a photo with me in front of our destination. Tash and I couldn't believe our eyes when we entered our room. NO BUNK BEDS! None at all. Not one single ladder needed. Instead, there were 6 single beds, an attached bathroom with a proper shower and bathtub, as well as an attached balcony. Not to mention the bar downstairs with one free beer each night and free breakfast in the mornings, all for 200,515 dong! (That's 9 US dollars!) This place was heavenly!
Hoi An is known as the city of lanterns, because in the evenings the entire city is lit up by thousands of tiny paper lanterns. While Tash and I were visiting, there was a festival going on which included live music on the river, as well as tons of vendors and food stalls. We sampled local dishes that were specific to Hoi An, such as cao lau, a thick noodle soup, and banh xeo, a pancake filled with pork and shrimp. Both were delicious.
The best thing we ate while in Hoi An however was the banh mi, a traditional vietnamese sandwich. Our hostel recommended we try banh mi at "Banh Mi Phuong" the best local banh mi food stall in Hoi An (Anthony Bourdain featured banh mi from Banh Mi Phuong when he visited Vietnam). When we arrived we saw tons of locals waiting for sandwiches (it's always a good sign when you're eating at a place that locals eat at too-- means it's delicious, authentic and safe). We got our sandwiches and: delicious, check. authentic, check. safe, check. The stall itself was also neat because they had glasstop tables where patrons left photos or handwritten notes stating where they came from, when they ate the banh mi and their reviews of it.
One thing we were not prepared for were the vendors. In Thailand, market vendors are used to customers coming in and out, looking, even asking questions about products, and then leaving without purchasing anything. In Vietnam however, just glance at an item out of the corner of your eye and you have a vendor on top of you trying to bargain with you. Don't even think of engaging in the bargaining, because then when you leave without purchasing, the vendor is following you down the street yelling things like "you're crazy!". And who knows, maybe we were crazy for passing up real northface jackets and backpacks for 600,000 dong (25 US dollars)...
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