The plan to continue the trip was ment to be by train from Ho Chi Minh to Da Nang and further to Hoi An. Since my stomach felt really bad and I had to run to the toilet quite a lot of times I changed plans and booked a flight from Saigon Airport to Da Nang airport. Traveling when sick is not a nice experience.. I booked a taxi from the hostel in the morning and had to spend around 3 hours in the airport. Time goes slow when feeling bad and it was kind of hard to stay motivated. When I boarded the plane I was seated between two Vietnamese men, it seemed to be their first flight and they didn't speak english at all. None of them knew how to put their seatbelts on so I helped them. Flying with a Vietnamese plane is quite interesting, people are very different then on European flights which made it much more interesting, sadly enough the seats are also for Asian standards I guess. When my back was completly to the end of the seat, my knees were still stuck against the seat in front of me. The airco on the planes in Asia is also interesting, you can really see clouds of cold getting out of the airco. The flight took about an hour and the Vietnamese men tried to have conversations with me without english, a nice experience. Quite funny to see the being on their first flight and their emotions about it. Arrived in Da Nang I had to take a taxi to Hoi An. I had the luck of sharing a ride with an Asian tourist who seemed to be a "massage tourist", they dropped him off at 2 massve massage hotels. He paid for that part of the ride, so my ride became less expensive. I do believe this taxi driver ripped me off with taking a slow road but the sights were great so I didn't really care that much. He dropped me off right in front of my hostel and I was happy to see my room and bed.
The hostel in Hoi An must have been the most social one I have been to, I meet 2 guys from Germany and a guy from Argentina who shared my room, the Germans decided to sleep in a tent tonight because it was cheaper then the hostel. We went for food together across the street and joined a Australian couple, had some very lovely and interesting talks. After the diner the guys went to the Reggea bar but because I felt sick I decided to go to bed early. I felt a little better the next morning but it became a very hot day, even the locals preferred to stay inside. Some of the friends I have talked about Tinder that they used for fun on their travels. Since it was too hot to be outside I decided to instal it and give it a try. It didn't take long until a woman from Hoi An connected and offered to see me. Since I'm new to Tinder I wasn't really sure of it an had doubt, we talked about an hour or two and I decided to give it a try. I only took a little bit of cash money and my phone, you never know what could happen. I walked around 20 minutes to her place and we went for a drink. We talked a bit about life and she offered me to go to her place. She owned a spa just 2 houses further. We had some more conversation there and she offered me a massage, I never had an Asian massage and was a little bit worried about being broken in many pieces. It took a little to convince me about it. I accepted the offer and she gave me a soft Vietnamese massage and I must say I am impressed with the skills of her magical hands. I really felt a lot better after this massage. It was not a happy end kind of thing but it made me feel reborn after all those travels and being sick. Since she was kind enough to introduce me to her culture I offered to take her our in the evening. She accepted the offer and wanted me to show around the city after eating together. I walked back to the hostel to relax a little bit and enjoy the airco.
A few hours later I walked back to her place and waited until she closed her spa. She took me on her motorbike and drove me to a local chicken restaurant, we had a nice meal there and walked into the city afterwards. Hoi An is the most beautiful city I have seen in Asia, without a doubt. Its the city of lanterns and full of houses in wood and stone. This beautiful city would fit in a movie without any change. We walked in the evening darkness thru wonderful streets, full of beautiful lanterns. Along the river full of boats, I was offered a boatride but I didn't end up doing it. The local people selling small lanterns to put on the river and see the flame floating along with the water. We walked across a beautiful brigde full of lights, into a market street with more lanterns then I have ever seen in my life, such a magical view. I really wanted to buy one and bring it home with me but since I'm traveling with only one backpack as hand luggage its pratically impossible, such a shame! We walked back to the bridge to see the magical view of the Japanese covered bridge lighted up by night, I did see it during daytime and it didn't look that special but by night it becomes a whole different story. Local people were singing songs with children, there was a theater play on a square as well. After all this beauty we walked back thru those magical streets and said goodbye. This is a very romantic city and without a doubt the most beautiful one I have seen in Asia. I'm not sure I would like to bring my girlfriend here since its full of shops, a girls dream but a boyfriends nightmare I guess. Who am I kidding, I would love to have a romantic experience there with a girlfriend.
Since its the EuroCup and Belgium was playing I decided to go with the guys to the Reggea bar, the game started at 2 at night and I was quite tired, we teamed up with a half french/half belgian girl. We had some beers, played a lot of bargames and killed the hours before Belgium started playing. There was a massive big screen inside, just me and the local bar staff were actually watching, funny to see they knew Lukaku and shout his name every time he had the ball. Sadly enough we lost the game against Italy with 2-0 and I was the last costumer at 4 in the morning. A bit annoyed with the game I walked back to the hostel and had a long, long sleep, the next day i felt so tired that I only went for food with the guys a few times and spend the rest of the day in the airco dorm room. I also booked my bus the nex day to my new destination.
As I said a few times, without a doubt the most beautiful city in Asia until now, a girls dream destination and I did a lot less then expected but had a very nice first Tinder experience. I'm not sure if I will continue to use it in the future but time will tell. Thats the end of this chapter!
