Hoi An and trying not to sweat day #2

It was our last day in this wonderful city. We woke up in the morning with two more tickets each to Hoi An's historic buildings and an 8 am start. We got breakfast at our hostel (this time there were eggs for protein, but no dragon fruit). Then we were off to the historic district. 

First, I wanted to explore the extent of the island. We had been on it the previous 2 days, but never all the way around it (it was all of 5 blocks). It was relatively unspectacular. Especially in the morning. 

TICKET #4

First up, Phung Hung house, home to the same Vietnamese family for eight generations (although with heavy Japanese influences). I thought this one was unique in that the tour included upstairs. The house was a stones throw away from the Japanese covered bridge. 

And we took our picture from the balcony. 

They mildly offered some of their silk embroidery, but we declined. 

TICKET #5

Next was the Trieu Chau Assembly Hall. This was for the community settled from Chaozhou, China and many homages to their protector on the sea. 

There were amazing wood carvings as well. 

There was an incredibly gracious old man who collected our ticket and then motioned an explanation of everything, from the carvings, to the paintings, to the man who was actually doing all the restorative painting. He was very sweet and kind translating through our lack of common spoken language. Side note: Mer and the assembly hall share the same birthday. 

At this point, it was already pretty warm and my face, hair, and shirt were dripping. We faced an 11 am checkout and needed to pack up. We walked back and Mer negotiated a 1:30 checkout. Great! I showered and we both soaked up our last moments in the AC. 

The afternoon then turned out to be quite fortuitous as some clouds rolled in to block out a hot sun. The people at our hostel were quite helpful and friendly a) to store our bags until our bus departed, b) guide us to places that may have AC. One suggested Hoi An Roastery. So we headed that way (amid a lovely breeze). It certainly was a nice place, but quite expensive. We sat and played cribbage and plotted out stops along the way. 

After a while, it was time for our lunch/dinner/meal before a long bus ride. We headed back to a familiar strip and found another nice spot in front of the window. 

As it turned out, the man who took this picture was a man from DC who secretly works "remotely." Between his own business and an adjunct professor for online classes, he logs in as necessary and coworkers and students alike consider him around the corner. But he's really in Vietnam. #lifegoals

On another note, while we were talking, our food arrived, and I started dipping and grabbing, apparently, highly incorrectly. The waiter interrupted our conversation to correct me. I, then, had to demonstrate my learning. 

It was good, even if I had to work for my food. 

Soon, it was nearly 5 and nearing our time to depart Hoi An. We paid our bill and departed from our kind traveler. We made it back to the hotel where we both changed, but I took an extra shower. We repacked our things and caught all of our Vietnamese hosts at Tribee for a picture. 

We walked around the corner to Sinh Tourist and got ready for our night bus to Nha Trang. It was going to be our longest yet, 6:15 pm to 5:00 am. We've got this sleeper bus thing down. Onward!