Hoi An, Vietnam

Over Christmas break my father and I took a Vietnam Airline flight (with a delicious nut pack) to Hoi An, the ancient town. Our hotel, the Indochine, was situated right on the river and only 300m from the beach. Even though the weather insisted on raining the entire time we were there it was still a great place to be. The sounds of the surf could be heard from our windows and the busy honks of horns so common in the center of town were far from our ears. The first night we decided to take the hotel shuttle bus in to town and walk around.

The old town is beautiful but I believe will soon be the next Sharm el Sheikh. Yet, oddly enough, even with the booming growth of tourism, the Vietnamese go about their daily business living the the city as they have for years. The market was bustling with everyday items like fish, vegetables and tiger balm (good for headaches) and trinkets though abundant, seem to peacefuly coexist with the ancient peoples lifestyle. Lets just hope this doesn't change.

Threading our way through the market, stooping under the low tarps that sheltered the stall owners from the rain, the dark continued to descend, excentuating the brillance of an unknown fire to our right. Being hunger and cold my dad and I walked over to the fire, discovering with our great delight the women was making Banh xeo. For those who do not know what banh xeo is, it is a thin pancake studded with a few shrimp and a mound of beansprouts. When they are finished the outside is crispy and oily and are transfered to a piece of rice paper. The pancake is then layered with some greens and a few slices of pickles, wrapped up tight to create a delicious spring roll. The finishing touch is a light peanut like hot sauce. Yum Yum. This marked the beginning of a great vacation.