Cultural delights amid capitalist mayhem

Central Vietnam has been more interesting for us because it has more of the cultural sites we like to visit, and smaller towns. The big Vietnamese cities are filled with buildings less than 20 years old and are so hooked on capitalism that it makes them unpleasant to try to relax in. Because it's exactly the opposite of all that, the old town of Hoi An has become our favourite spot in this country. It's smaller, so there's less traffic and the stroll to the historic centre is only a few blocks from our hotel. Of course, it could be the hotel itself. The Thien Nga has a friendly, helpful staff, AC, satellite TV, a swimming pool and good breakfasts (banana pancakes and tomato onion omelets are our usual choices). We didn't realize how much we would use the swimmimg pool, but it's been a real lifesaver to take a quick dip when the afternoon highs approach 40 C. Or it could be the plethora of excellent restaurants and cheap beer in this town. Or the relaxing and not painful $5-an-hour massages. Not to mention the best beach on our trip: a long stretch of white sand, gentle waves and a gradual slope into a clean ocean, with few tourists except at sunset when the locals swarm the place. Karen took her third cooking course of the trip (the others were in northern Thailand and Bali). She finally learned how to make rice paper for spring rolls, although this will take a lot of practice. We're enjoying the fresh, green emphasis in the cooking, a pleasant change from the spicier food in Thailand and Indonesia, and Karen finds using less fish sauce feels much better on the tummy. We also found several riverside cafes serving fresh beer (by which they mean draught) for 20 cents a glass, quite a palatable lager that goes down well in the 40 C afternoon heat (notice the repetition). We took a side trip up the coast to the imperial city of Hue. More great food, a 19th century citadel and a boat cruise up the Perfume River to the Royal Tombs filled our days. But it was a bit more of a busy Vietnamese city, so we were happy to come back to Hoi An for a few days of rest before our last leg to the north of the country. We plan to see Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay before flying home. And, for those who've been asking, we depart Hanoi on July 30, pop in on Deni in L.A. for a few days and land in Toronto on Aug. 4. We've been thinking a lot lately about the things that we miss from home: wine at less than 35 C, fine cheese, home-cooked meals, our bed, sidewalks you can walk on. Those are the things. Most of all, it's friends and family we miss. The last 10 months have been a long haul and we are awfully tired of restaurant food, hotel rooms, packing, motorcycle dodging, uncooperative ATMs and shop owners calling out "buy something", "you want massage", "come inside", "free for looking", "rent motorbike", "I have big sizes, more colours, other styles". That's a huge part of the Vietnamese scene, but this an easy country to travel in because the staff will arrange anything for you and the prices are ridiculously low. Those factors and our end-of-tour fatigue have caused us to take more organized tours than we usually do, which also helps with the language barrier. Vietnamese is quite alien to our eyes. How does one pronounce Nha Nghi, for instance? We see that sign quite often on storefronts. We also see Dai Ly a lot, which makes Bob think of a newspaper stand, but no. So. Just 18 more days in southeast Asia before we begin our journey home. (We wanted the last word in this post to be "home").