Day 9– 9th May 2015 – An Bang Beach
We got up early to go for a walk but Mr Dung hadn't unlocked the gates yet. I went to update the blog and found my computer is still closing down for no reason. Is starting to piss me off!! At 6am the gates were open so we headed to the river to walk into town and the market. The new road in Cam Chau is impressive and traffic is much heavier. We noticed also there are lots more Homestays and small food stalls and cafes. There was also some new Hotels along the river. We wondered to the end of the market and then turned to come back and bought some bananas, mangos, limes (for my G&T). Breakfast was good and included eggs, 2 baguettes, fruit, coffee and Vietnamese tea. Kevin decided he wanted a juice as well but had to pay VND $20k or just over A$1.20. After breakfast we organised Mr Dung to buy some Coke Zero and Tonic for us and he said he would look in the afternoon. We wondered over to Kevin's stall lady near Ancient Garden Hotel but she didn't recognise him this time. He was devastated. Vang came to Homestay around 11am and we discussed a few of the minor details of our staying in the Homestay. We sorted laundry for VND $30k / Kg which isn't too bad. Vang says we can use her washing machine anytime. Vang has also suggested that we buy a scooter with her as it will be cheaper than renting as it would then be here every year that we return. Duc and Vang would then have a second scooter in the family. Kevin and I discussed it and the bike they are looking at is approx VND $9m which is US$430. We had budgeted US$270 to hire a bike so really paying half is a no brainer as we would have spent this anyway and it means Vangs family is better off too. Duc will go and have a look over the next few days and try and bargain a cheaper price. Vang invited us to her house for tea later in the day. We had lunch and then headed off on the scooter to An Bang Beach and Soul Kitchen. This is Kevin's most favourite place in all of Vietnam. We spent a few hours here and Kevin went for a walk up the beach toward Danang. Appears there is a lot more development happening along the coast. I took the scooter and went to find the school. Found out what times and as it was a stinking hot day I decided to go tomorrow while Kevin watches the footy and Port Power. We headed home at around 4pm and had a few drinks before meeting Vang at HoiAn Trails Hotel which is just around the corner from her house. Her house is painted blue tones and consists of 2 bedrooms, kitchen/living and bathroom/laundry. It also has a small utility room that they put their scooters and dry washing. There was an undercover outdoor area which the gates opened onto. It was here that Vang served our tea. We had rice, green vegetable dish, prawn with capsicum and onion and mackerel fish in tomato. You can all imagine Kevin's face. He says quietly to me that he is not eating any of this. I told him to toughen up and just have rice and pick out the vegetables. Kevin asked for a spoon and I tried chopsticks but seemed to have lost the knack since Hanoi and had to resort to a spoon as well. Young Wing who is now 4 yo ate the most of everyone and just scoffed into the prawns. Appears he doesn't like vegetables. He is a porky little lad. Duc’s brother Tri is also living with them and he is an electrician and works at a large Hotel. Duc's couldn't be with us and he rang to apologise for not being there. Vang asked us to eat at her house every night that she wasn't working and that she wants to cook for us. We told her that this would be lovely but not every night as we want to experience other restaurants. Kevin has told me I need to speak with her and tell her what we like. When we went to leave we had just gone 50m when Kevin says he has lost his wallet from his pocket. We went back but couldn't find it and so drove madly back to Homestay to see if it was there. Just as we got near Kevin's phone rings and Vang has found it behind the settee. Tri was bringing it to us. Kevin was so relieved that he offered Tri A$10 but he refused. Kevin says he appeared to be offended. Kevin the rang Vang to say thank you. Mr Dung had found our drinks- Coke Zero for VND $245k or 0.65 can and my Tonic was VND $160k or 0.40 a can.
