And so to Hoi An.

16/5 - Another good breakfast. I've put some weight back on during this journey. The Vietnamese like to eat. I thought we were at the edge of the HCM trail, but the scenery continued a lot longer, along a valley, so we followed a river gradually downhill and stopped at another roadside waterfall. There was not so much clowning around, I think the boy is tiring. They cant hack it , these young 'uns. It is a pineapple area here, there are basket, cart, lorry, moto loads of pineapples along the way, so we pulled over at a cafe (hut by the road) that doubles as a gathering station for the pineapples and had some pineapple, strangely and some VC food. Tinned mackerel in tomato sauce and boiled rice. This was a big part of the VC diet during the war. There was something else too, but I don't remember what. The people collecting the pineapples are busy, hard workers and it is 50-50 men and women. There were more minoirty villages along the way once we set off again, mostly the houses were made from wood or bamboo,straw and mud. I guess the government moves to integrate them hasn't succeeded yet. It was time to get the fleece off, the temperature is rising. It has been a real pleasure to wear jeans and trainers everyday. I was even c old at o ne point. We hit the flat lands and the paddy fields reappeared and thousands of kids going to and leaving school, so the roadside Mexican wave and hello echoes were very prominent again. Time for a rest for Jack, co we pulled to the shade of a tree. 3 women over the road beckoned us over, but Khien resisted, not for long though, the charmer was out charmed. I think he wanted to go all along. He fielded the 20 questions again and I smiled charmingly as always. It was a good laugh again. Whenever it's known I'm single, I soon know who are the single women. It is more of a natural response than a grab the weird Englishman, hem may be rich. Back on Jack and because it is a sunny day, there are kilometres of rice, chillies, corn, maze, fish, all sorts laid out to dry on sheets by the side of the road, and basically anywhere that the sun is shining. This is authentic sun dried goods. Moto's and bikes ride over the rice where necessary, or people walk on it, probably helps the overall process. Rolling into Hoi An was a little bit sad, I have had a great 5 days and am gee'd up to do a motorbike course w hen I get home. Hoi An looks good, the women would like it here, it's renowned for shopping. Rustic style shops, small, cut with everything in them. THe shopping streets I saw put me in mind of a one story cowboy town. I don't know if they are 1 story, that was just the feeling I had as I walked back from the ATM. Khien dropped me there, we had traveled 5 days, no problems and he got lost on the way to the ATM, that I walked back from. He's a good bluffer though. I gave him back the money I had borrowed from him, we had a couple of hugs and Easy Rider disappeared into the afternoon sun. He's one lad I will never forget and I'll always smile when I remember him. Time to go and sob in a beer I reckon. Then nap, repack, shower, food and bed. I walked down the road to check out the eateries in the cowboy town, as I'm going through the swing doors of a local eatery (bit of artistic license there), it always causes a stir when I walk into one of these joints. Guessing, the waitresses say "You go and serve him"
"No you go", but there is usually one who is not too shy. There's no menu, but I know what beef is and rice and beer, there's always some green bits too and it was lovely, the beer too, so lovely I am making myself thirsty thinking about it. The lady came over to check what I was writing. Once the ice is broken, they aren't shy. I almost had another beer, but the HCM trail is catching up with me, so I hit the straw pile.