Well, Hoi An didn't seem to let me go and I actually only left it last night with a little teardrop in my eyes :-( I had a really good time. I felt almost like a local, even working an afternoon in the clothes shop of my friend 'Jay'! Wohoo, exciting :-) Well, not exactly the career goal I wanted to achieve ;-) But Jay and her sister were just the nicest people, it’s impossible to say no! They invited me over for lunch almost everyday, and last night even brought me on their motorbikes to the bus!
Since my last blog entry I was also invited to the wedding of the son of the family who runs my guesthouse. Here's me with the happy couple and their parents:



Great times and quite different from German weddings! First the couple is required to visit the buddha shrine in each of the familie’s houses. Since the family of my guesthouse owns 3, they had to make a big tour in the morning going from house to house to light some incent sticks and put them in front of the buddhas! Then, around 11 am, everybody goes to the restaurant. For some reason, the bride changes dresses! Then, the usual picture and video taking and welcoming of all the guests! After that, the BIG eating starts! 6 courses of Vietnamese delicasses, accompanied by lot’s of beer! Throughout the lunch, guests sing songs in Karaoke style on the stage and the more towards the end of the dinner, the more people started to dance! The most impressive was a 70 year old grammy (somehow related to the couple) who finished a whole glass of beer in one zip, after cheering with us on the table! The bride changed dresses one or two more times during lunchtime! I still haven’t found out why! At about 3 pm, everybody was full and wasted enough and the party was over!

Despite all the great times, I felt that I had to move on now. I really loved this place but as soon as I step out of the little world of the local family and the clothes shop, I was still the walking money bag and every minute someone yelled at me: ‘Hey, motobike, hey wanna buy something? Hey where are you from? Hey have a look at my clothes shop!...’ It leaves a bit of a sad aftertaste that everything here is about selling and the money of the tourists! And I am part of this process of development myself even though I don’t want to!

In any case, it was a great time I spent in Hoi An toghether with the family of the Minh A guesthouse which I will never forget! Few nights ago, there was the full moon festival in Hoi An! Nothing like Thailands full moon party, but a beatiful setup of candle lights along the river and some traditional music and arts performances all over in the streets and tiny alleys of Hoi An! Very beautiful!

I am in Nha Trang right now, heading further south towards Mui Ne either tomorrow morning or in the evening, depending on whether I go for a little diving trip tomorrow morning or not!