As the sun sets over Hoi An I bid Adieu to my new friends

a bowl of soup at Lan's market stall restaurant. The one with quail eggs
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My credit card arrived after an entire week.  Just what I was told in the first place but refused to believe.  I have a flight this afternoon to Ho Chi Minh City which is just as often called Saigon.  My final day here began as they all have with a very pleasant breakfast at the hotel overlooking about 3 acres of wetland with egrets and sometimes cows in the back pasture.  Nam Do (I still don't actually know what to call him)  picked me up and we went to visit Mrs. Lan.  Really Lan is her first name.  We had a bite there and arranged to meet later.  I then had Do take me to the beach.  It was very clear and the shore is shallow a long way out.  I passed on getting the manicure and a leg massage along with my nails painted while I sunned.

Nam Do's Mom gathering clams in their pond next to the river
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In the evening we went to Mrs. Lan's house.  I took her and her husband out for dinner.  It was the satay place I had been before and was just as good.  We came back to her house and just hung out.  She put a mat on the floor (They had a table and chairs right there but this is a more traditional way of sitting around and chatting.)  Lan, her husband Si, their daughter Truan, Do and Myself and even though much of the conversation was in Vietnamese I felt included and very comfortable.  Lan decided since we are close to the same age that I am her brother.  We teased and laughed and talked about the young ones.  She gave me a barrett for my sister and I gave her a little bell I bought in Japan from a temple that brings happiness to the home.  I felt so lucky to have the opportunity of meeting and visiting with such kind and openhearted people.

Nam Do's house
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And now to the big city...