Day 9

The hotel seems to be having some power problems at the moment and we are unfortunately situated close to the generator. So we wake up to that thing humming close to us, Mel's not feeling well, The rain is coming down softly. Usual holiday fare. We go off to breakfast. We keep passing all these men, women and children wearing ""We are a family" T-shirts.It's like some strange cult. Turns out it's a corporate thing. A company takes it's staff and family away to get to know each other. Beside the breakfast hall they're setting up a stage and chairs outside ready for some outdoor games.

After breakfast we want to go into town Mel can't make it so Remi volunteers to stay back here with her. He's  a little bit over it I think. So Liz, Ruby and I catch a taxi into town,. Lots of tailors here and the taxi driver takes us to is mate who as a shop here. We accept even though it;s not on our plan for today. Grab a card and go looking for an ATM. Maybe because it's Sunday they close some of them. I'm looking for a Commonwealth ATM but we end up settling on Western Union. The rain is really coming down now which is a pain. The power outage goes for all of Hoi An and shops are dark inside. If youre interested in something they hold their phones up for you. The main market is in darkness too, They're cooking away in the dark, Chopping meat in the dark. It's all kind of eerie.

By the river we see the real beauty of Hoi An. French colonial mixing into Japanese architecture.Lots of mini restaurants and cool bars. Plenty of tourists.Everyone looks wet. I buy a banana pancake off a street cart which is tasty but oily, We make our way back to the shuttle stop (which is a a tailor) where there are some people Ruby knows. The Mum and dad have been here 4 times and give us tips for our stay. The first one we take up is the baguettes from just round the corner. There is a bit of a line but it moves incredibly slowly as people buy 10 at a time. This shop is a bit famous and therefore very popular. Once we have the food we grab a taxi back to the hotel and proceed to have a picnic in our room. The baguettes are delicious.
Rest our weary bones for a while and Ruby and Remi go for a swim. Still raining mildly but beginning to clear up.
So I try to whip up enthusiasm for a bike ride into town. Liz stays back to look after Mel while the rest of ride into town. The landscape is flat so it's an easy ride and we reach the town as the sun goes down. Now the town looks amazing. Lots of tourists now.  Many from Japan especially as we get close to what is known as the Japanese bridge. The waterfront looks amazing and their are lanterns floating down the river. We cross the bridge and find a few little street markets. Too much to look at and I'd like the other here for all this so we head back to the hotel. We've established a few landmarks to guide us back to the hotel and it works. We don't get lost.
But it is late and Liz and a few concerned guests are at the gate waiting for us. Liz was getting worried.
Mel's not well enough to go into town so we eat at the bar here. "We are a Family" are having a Karaoke night in the restaurant. They're letting the kids do some songs too. One kid cracks me up with his quiet to loud song. And it's really loud. And I mean loud. But then the storm hits and that's loud too.
The storm and the karaoke finish at the same time and in the quiet we get chatting to a couple from Newcastle in the UK. Have a few more drinks and talk about the difference between the UK and Australia. It's almost always interesting talking to fellow travelers. Kids leave before us. We follow them a bit later and catch the end of the Avengers on HBO..