Hoi An

Hoi An is a perfectly lovely little town, about twenty kilometers south of Danang, on the central coast of Vietnam. I had a great time there, having been "adopted" both by my guide, a South Vietnamese man named Mr. An (who had worked for the U.S. Navy) and Kim Van, my seamstress. She invited me to a wedding...they made me sing at the wedding. Oy vey. :-)

Me at a wedding in Hoi An. Another photo at the same wedding. I still have no idea who the bride and groom were... A photo of Hoi An: living quarters on top, shops below. Moss growing on a wall in Hoi An. Silk lanterns in a shop in Hoi An. I bought two, entirely against my better judgment--a purple and an orange one. Woodcarvers at work. A woman selling cobra, gecko, krait, and green treesnake wines. (Take a closer look to see the brandied reptiles...makes tequila look tame!) Woman in the market, selling live poultry. Me and Kim Van (the tailor-shop owner), with my new ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) Woman sewing in a tailor shop. Notice that the sewing machine is treadle-driven! A band runs up from the treadle to the back of the machine, so treadling fast makes the needle fly. This is much more efficient in an area where electricity is erratic at best. A beach on the way to Hue. A horse at one of the rest stops. This photo needs to be better cropped, but I ran out of time. (I'm updating this website while eating at the best restaurant in Vientiane, Laos.) The Marble Mountains, a quarry near Hoi An. Me inside the Marble Mountains A shrine in the Marble Mountains. A big, huge, giant spider that I almost put my hand on, in the Marble Mountains...     Lemur (?) in a way too small cage at a lakeside resort near Hoi An. A red-faced monkey, ditto. It was very hungry--it grabbed my raincoat and tried to eat it, so I fed it (and the lemur) my lunch leftovers.