22nd January – Hoi An

Hoi An

If I’m ever in Hue again I’ll stay at the Camellia Hotel again.  Lovely staff, extensive breakfasts, comfortable rooms and very central.  I was sad to leave.  Pretty good ride to Hoi An this morning; very few trucks but everyone and their dog (or pig in some cases) were on their motorbikes.  I had a stroke of luck and then a stroke of bad luck.  The good luck occurred as I looked up at the mountain pass between Hue and Danang looming in front of me and seeing a petrol station and thinking “when did I last fill up?”  There are no gauges on this bike, one has to look in the tank.  I was fairly sure I’d filled up before getting to Hue so went on, till a couple of miles later I saw another petrol station and decided that, to be one the safe side, I should check.  As I slowed to enter the gas station my engine spluttered to a stop.  I wasn’t even at the pump and had to push it the rest of the way, but sure enough the tank was bone dry.  The bad luck came about 5 km later when I was going through a village.  Almost every village was having a market today (it’s New Year at midnight tonight) so I was going moderately slowly through the middle of it when this motorbike in front of me to the right abruptly turns left right across my path.  I tried to swerve in front of him because but my right foot clipped the front of his wheel and both of us came to a stop, though neither came off our bikes.  I was furious but decided to go on.  My foot hurt but nothing bad.  Unfortunately, my big toe which must have taken the entire impact has since swollen up and is now black and throbbing.   Crushed but not broken, I think.  Anyway, can’t complain, it’s the only accident I have had.  Now that I am in Hoi An I plan to sell the bike.  In fact when I mentioned this to the hotel reception staff they were all very interested and, sniffing a possible bargain, came out to have a look at it.  But I think I might get a better price if I cleaned it up a bit.

Hoi An is a picture postcard, having been spared by both sides during the American/Vietnam war.  Its centre is teaming with tourists of course but it certainly is pretty.  My hotel is between the centre of town and the beach so I am loath the sell the bike too quickly because it could be useful getting me about over the next few days.  So this is the end of my motorbike adventure, I think.  I shall be sad to say goodbye to the bike which has given much pleasure and a fair bit of grief.  No punctures at all since leaving Dien Bien Phu with that new outer back tyre; I just wish I’d got a new one sooner.  Tonight there will be celebrations in the centre of town, a dragon dance and, at midnight, a countdown and then fireworks.  So I shall have to force myself to stay up late for once and hobble back into town.

Getting ready for Tet, yellow chysanthemums on sale everywhere