These cute, round boats are called basket boats. They are hand woven then tarred. They need to be re-tarred every six months or so. Local fishermen like them because they are easy to transfer in and out of water. While in the water, the fisherman needs to control the boat as best he/she can so it doesn’t start spinning wildly. Makes me think of the teacup ride at Disneyland!
It had been a long day by the time we spotted this sign. I don’t know if it didn’t translate well- but asking for money for miserable people made me start laughing uncontrollably. I had Em pose by the sign then started laughing all over again because of how she was holding on so tightly to a box of Ritz crackers. We were so hungry when she saw the crackers at the train station market area. She was afraid someone might open the box before her and she wouldn’t get her “fair share” so she wouldn’t put the box down. Oh, what have we become? I’m taking pictures of donation boxes set up to help people and Emerson is holding on to a box of crackers as if her life depended on it.
Aye-yi-yi!
We are loving riding bikes whenever we can. You can usually rent them for very cheap (about a buck a day.) Maddux took a break on the day we took these pictures. He rode his own bike in Myanmar (Burma) on a treacherous road. It was rocky and dusty and his feet didn’t even come close to touching the ground. He fell so many times on the ride that we lost count, but he kept getting back on. At one point, though, after getting the bike off of his body – he stood up then threw the bike back on the ground for dramatic effect. Enough was enough!
Riding bikes around the bigger cities is challenging because cars and trucks go really fast and come so close to you. If you lose balance and wobble at all- it could get ugly. Crossing intersections is tough, too, because it’s a free for all, but so far, so good.
Incidentally, I would never want to be a passenger on my bike but Maddux seems to trust me. I’ve swerved a few times and almost lost control- he just holds on tighter and laughs. We end up making up songs as we go along.
It is common for us to see extremely large cockroaches and rats while we walk down sidewalks at night. While sitting on a bench on the sidewalk- I was talking to the kids but saw something slowly walking by my foot. I didn’t want to make any sudden moves- so I asked the kids what was moving by my foot close to the bushes. They said a really, really, really big rat! We followed the rat to a fence where she had 3-4 little babies in a hole. My brother, Jeff, had a sweet pet rat named Icky when we were younger so I’m not freaked by them at all. The fact that it was meandering about close to my foot in broad daylight was strange, though.
Hoi An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. This is a view of the city at night – lots of colorful lanterns line the streets. You can buy floating paper lanterns to place in the river. There are shops, rickshaws and cute little restaurants all along the waterway. We loved this town at night with the lighting that gave it a magical feel. During the day it seemed like a different town altogether, but it was fun to take our rental bikes (1 dollar for a whole day) and cruise around town and down to the beach.
marschmadness 