Rain on Me
Vietnam
November 14
After a lot of Valium, I arrive in Hoi An. I did get to sleep on the bus but not as much as I would have liked. The after effects of the typhoon are evident as there is a heavy rain which limits my activities. The Japanese Covered Bridge was a good place to visit because it had statues of two dogs and two monkeys, which indicated the years that construction on the bridge began and ended. Also, I wasn’t getting rained on because it was a covered bridge. I did go to some markets in Hoi An, which is known for its tailor shops. People come here to get nice suits and dresses for little money. An overly friendly young Vietnamese girl at the Tran Family Chapel met me and gave me a tour. These “family chapels” are a history of the particular family in Vietnam. This one went back 13 generations and 300 years and included photographs, memorabilia, and also graves in the backyard.
Water puppet shows originated in the rice patties as a way to entertain after a long day I said good-bye to Hanoi and hello to Beijing. Hanoi actually had a nice airport but almost no one was there. I met Alex, a Russian, on the bus to downtown Beijing and was fortunate that the bus stopped right at my hostel.
We took a walk down to Tiananmen Square and saw it at night; it was quite attractive lit up. Then we went to Kentucky Fried Chicken and talked there for a while. We were both tired and didn’t want to try out our Chinese so we took the safe bet in KFC. We talked about Russia and how clean and attractive Beijing was. Alex was staying up all night because he had a 6 a.m. flight to Siberia but I needed to get my sleep for the Forbidden City tomorrow.
