La daabacay: 18.10.2016
This morning we rented two bikes from the hotelπ! They were two old 'racers'πππ, as you can see in the photo. They served their purpose and took us from A to B :-).
We really wanted to go to the beach, so we ventured into the traffic chaos on our racers in the streets of Hoi An. No panic, it's not as bad here as in Hanoi...smile! After about 500 meters on the racers, they were renamed mills :-)... I always felt like the right pedal could fall off at any moment. After 2 km we arrived at the beach. It looked gigantic, with palm trees in the middle of the beach, huge waves (absolute swimming ban) and coconuts lying everywhere. I felt like in the Caribbean π΄βΊοΈ! We looked at each other and simultaneously said 'we are in paradise'!!!! As a reward, we treated ourselves to a delicious drink in a really cool beach bar :-)! Then we took a walk on the beach, hmm barefoot through the sand and the warm water on our legs, it was wonderful!!!! It felt much better to me than the rainforest...:-))))
Afterwards, we continued on our mills across fields and through small villages. That was AWESOME. We were able to experience the water buffaloes up close and watch them walk through the rice fields. Two locals were fishing in the water, which was also worth seeing how they pulled in the little nets. The people in the small villages were very nice and we were able to take great photos and improve our Vietnamese 'Xin Chao' π By going off the main road and using the field paths, we passed two great pagodas. There I saw monks for the first time in Vietnam, they were very friendly and looked great in their robes.
After our world bicycle tour, we went to the old town. Here we did a bit of SHOPPING today and didn't make many friends with our vendors :-().
I really wanted to buy a certain pair of pants and of course the saleswoman set a price that 'nobody' should pay. It went back and forth for a while. She remained stubborn in the end and said that was her 'last price' ... well, I told her my last price... She kept saying nooooo, noooo, ... 'Okay, then we'll go' and she came after us and said 'yeah, it's good, your price, but now I'm unhappy' ... Daniela and I donated a round of pity at the same time... OOOOOOHHHHHH....:-). She could smile again afterwards. When we were further away, Daniela felt guilty, - I didn't - because I saw the pants much cheaper in Hanoi and she still made a profit from it!
While strolling through the illuminated alleys, we discovered bowls made of coconuts! They were already offered at a reduced price, which the seller also did not deviate from. Well, I said, then we'll get a magnet too... He dragged it out and I said, 'for the two nice girls from Germany, for the BVB (he knew it) and then we'll leave the store quickly'! He reluctantly said okay and we were overjoyed with our bargain!!!!
We continued to walk through the beautiful old town of Hoi An with joy and big smiles. When we arrived at the river, we watched the candle lights and treated ourselves to a delicious drink! Of course, we toasted to our shopping success ππ and to our new friends πππ!
Now we're back at the hotel and lying by the pool! Daniela is doing the flipper π¬ and I'm booking our train for tomorrow evening and a suitable hotel in Nha Trangπ. Because that's where the journey is going next :-()... until then... Good night and greetings to Germany, feel hugged ....!!!!!