The backseat roller coaster.

by jessicalouisemoore

I’m currently sitting at the back of the shuttle bus on the way home from the ancient city of Hoi An. I chose this seat for the single reason of enjoying more leg room for the 2 hour drive. Whilst I have more leg room, and am completely satisfied, I feel as though I should have worn a sports bra today. The amount of involuntary bouncing around that I’m doing back here is kind of ridiculous. I feel worse for Dad though as he’s sitting next to me with his arms crossed – probably to minimise the bouncing around of his own boobs without having to admit he actually has…well you know.

Hoi An is an ancient city 2 hours from our resort in Langco. Filled with markets and little women offering $2 pedicures…or was it foot fungus? I can’t remember. There are a few art galleries scattered around with some stunning paintings that I was coveting until I saw them in the form of bookmarks in about 15 other places. Everyone wants to know where you’re from and if you’ll come to look at their shop. I can’t help but feel guilty as I’m usually the type of shopper who wears earphones to avoid sales people, so I smile awkwardly at them and hope they’ll ask someone else. It’s a bit like when guys hit on you in a bar so you just tell them you have a boyfriend except unfortunately I don’t think these women would care about my dating life…or lack there of.

Foodwise Hoi An has a lot to offer. We choose Miss Lys and her wontons for lunch, because I have a soft spot for wontons and the people who enjoy them. What I expect is not actually what we receive though the result is quite delicious and let’s face it, I probably wouldn’t turn down free food unless it had an unnatural amount of legs. So I was brave and tasted the strange wontons and I was rewarded for my troubles with a tasty meal. Asia is full of goodies so if you come here be prepared to eat… a lot… Don’t worry about gaining weight though, the food is very healthy and with some luck you’ll get gastro and it’ll come straight out anyway (too much information?)

Before I leave you I must tell you about Randy’s book shop. As most of you know I adore reading and often prefer the company of a book rather than a person. Randy’s is owned by an American man who sounds alarmingly like Philip Seymour Hoffman. In fact he spoke to us from his office before he appeared and I was convinced Philip was about to come out to greet us. Unfortunately it wasn’t him, but Randy was quite pleasant anyway and I enjoyed his American accent as I mostly enjoy them all. His bookstore is filled with second hand books in all different languages, I could have spent an entire day and a lot of money in there but the parentals pulled me out…after buying me a lovely book. I chose “On the road” by Jack Kerouac.

Alright kids, I’m going to continue to enjoy my roller coaster bus ride now, the entire 90 minutes that I have left. Enjoy your evening, morning, night or afternoon! Oh and Happy New Year!

Until next time,
Jess x