On to Hoi Anh

Wednesday was another transition day. Pack the bags, pay the bill, take a cab to the airport . . . . At least we were staying in Viet Nam so no passport check going or C&I on arrival. Truth to tell, none of that has been a hassle, but we still find ourselves a bit on edge until we've finally gotten to where we're going.

Where we were going this time was Danang, and from there in a cab to Hoi Anh. Where we are staying is, actually, a few kilometers outside Hoi Anh in a resort named "Nam Hai". Well, to be even more precise we're staying in a villa owned by our friend, Ben, in the Nam Hai resort outside the town of Hoi Anh. For us, the big news about Hoi Anh isn't so much the town as the villa. Suffice it say, it is several orders of magnitude nicer than anywhere we have ever stayed, but you will have to wait for the photos as they mostly were taken on Thursday.

The resort has a shuttle into Hoi An four times a day. After we were settled in our room(s) we headed into town. As luck would have it this was the night of the full moon. On this night, every month, the street lights are turned off and lanterns are lit. Everyone is out, poetry is read, games are played, and people burn pretend money and pretend paper clothes, sending them on to their ancestors. Our "butler", Huong, told us that on this day and the next, every month, she eats no meat or milk or eggs or seafood, only vegetables. So we felt lucky to be in town this night.

The first thing we did after getting into town was to get lost. We began wandering down little streets and soon had no idea where we were. We did see some cute kids.

These two beautiful little girls had a younger brother, who was in no mood to hold still for a photo but was also no match for his older sister.

As I said, we were lost. We had a little map. We just didn't know where we were on the map. And it was getting darker. At last we were rescued by a kindly hotel desk clerk and were back on our way. We found the place where we were to have dinner and found the food to be truly terrible. Oh dear. At least there were still the lanterns. And it was truly lovely. Here are a few photos.

Eventually we'd had enough of the magic, the crowds, and the noise. We caught a cab back to our villa. Once there, the only sound was the ocean waves. The only light, the lights illuminating the walkways and the entrance to our temporary palace.

Inside, the curtains of netting had been drawn around our bed. The candles had been lit. After pinching ourselves to be sure we weren't already dreaming, we hopped into bed, laid our heads on the down pillows, drew up the duvet and drifted off to sleep.