We took the Jetstar late evening-flight to Da Nang. It was the most cramped flight I've ever had. I had just a few cm left for my legs, and the Vietnamese man sitting next to me was very friendly, a little too friendly so to speak. First I thought that he was just rude and taking up space but when I was almost falling asleep I felt his hand caressing my bare knee and I briskly woke up. He said sorry and didn't do it again. One hour later we landed and took a taxi (~150kr, 30km) from Da Nang to Hoi An and our hotel less than 5 min from the Cu Dai beach.
The streets are packed with small shops, most sell the usual things: shorts, tshirts, chopsticks and diverse small things. A pair of shorts cost about 20-30 kr. Then there are the restaurants and a few beauty salons/massageists. Four years ago, there was basically no-one on the 30km beach, but now there were plenty, including Vietnamese. The V come after sunset as they don't want to get a tan, to them white skin is more attractive and a lot of products like shower gel contain whitening chemicals.
The hotel was ok, a little run down but nice, and people were generally very friendly. I am aware that I am a walking wallet but I prefer to think of it less cynically. Some people here who iniatiate a dialog is really genuinely interested and just want to speak with you for a while with no business proposition at hand, in contrast to our previous trip to Egypt.
Dinner at a restaurant by the river. Their local speciality, Cau Lau, is veeery good. It's a bowl of noodles with beef, small pieces of crispy bread and herbs. Very najj.
Sugar cane juice, sold in bags for 5kr (nguyen thuy-price (~= falang/gaijin but not demeaning; means "people foreigners").
Had grilled crabs (not the right word huh? Sounds strange) on the beach one night. Quite good but very messy.
Last night we went out in Hoi An (10 min taxiride from our hotel, 25kr), first at this insaaanely warm place called the Q-bar, then at the Before and Now bar. At midnight they started moving people to their second club at (our) beach in crammed minibuses :) Seems like a common effort so far, trying to make all tourists deaf by disco.
Now we are waiting for our domestic flight to Hanoi and Halong Bay. Johan, 194 proud cm over floor level, attracts the attention of more vertically challenged people.
