APRIL 27 LAST DAY IN HOI AN
Before diving into yesterday here in Saigon, maybe it would be wise to wrap up my last day in Hoi An. It wasn’t at all action-packed, so don’t expect anything too exciting. The highlight of my day was Thong’s hotel arrival at 0730 to say goodbye. Damn Guide is a good friend and, as you might imagine, a damn good guide! The 196th Light Infantry hat adorning his head is a gift from Stoney, my combat comrade. Stoney had also found a neat old Marine hat, had "Damn Guide" embroidered on the front, then mailed it to me in Alaska. The photo of said hat is in Thong's camera and his tablet is in the shop. But, he should be able to access the photo in a couple days.
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| Neil & Damn Guide |
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| Neil & Damn Guide |
On April 27, the day before the flight to Saigon, I pretty much just handled a few last-minute chores. A tiny amount of laundry, dropped off the day prior, was picked up. The custom-made shorts, already altered once, had been back at the tailor shop for further waist reduction. I grabbed ‘em on this last day and now feel that they’re finally “right on”. There’s a neat old pagoda near my hotel, so I stopped to snap a couple photos to share. Then, with a quick lunch under my belt, I decided to grab the 1420 hrs hotel shuttle to An Bang beach. With “coming & going” time figured in, you actually have about 1 ½ hours of beach time before the last shuttle run back to the hotel. That is plenty for me, for sure. I am not good at just hanging out at the beach. I’ll take sitting by a pristine, cascading mountain stream or enjoying the traverse of a challenging glacier back in Alaska any day. For that matter, just standing at my homestead and absorbing the fruits of twenty years labor, accompanied by spectacular mountain views, does it for me. Anyway, I was looking for something to do and the idea of a short trip to the beach popped into my head.
Upon arrival, I walked to the last group of chairs, remote from the crowd, tossed my small daypack down, and took up temporary residence. Simply standing occupied most of my time, but I did discipline myself to sit for maybe 10 minutes. When the time came to make my escape, I ventured back to the shuttle stop, waited a short time, and was soon on the way back to my very nice hotel.
The evening involved repacking my bags, taking extra care to protect the marble Buddha statues. I hope that he doesn’t mind being surrounded by my underwear.
Thus wraps up five days in Hoi An.
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