The Emperor's New Clothes

I'll pick up where Tim left off, around the middle of December. As we descended from the peaks of Sapa things went downhill both literally and figuratively. We took 3 overnight trains in 5 days (if you count stumbling off the train into pitch black Hanoi at 4:30 am as "overnight"), were victim to 2 minor scams and then both came down with a touch of food poisoning. Side note: For those of you who were wondering, I got sick first as I caught a cold a few days before our food poisoning incident. 56% of you were right in the 'Who'll get sick first?" poll!

We spent 4 days in Hue before finally finding the sun (and the tailoring capital of Asia!) in Hoi An. It turned out, as it often does, that shopping is the best medicine. We stayed for a week and relaxed while having a few suits, jeans and other clothes made to fit.

I had feared our Christmas would be similar to that scene from 'A Christmas Story' when Ralphy and family are at the Chinese restaurant. Thankfully things turned out much better, and we had a great time despite the notably absent turkey & stuffing. On the 24th we went to dinner at a restaurant on the edge of the river in Hoi An and were treated to some traditional Vietnamese performances. Then Santa Claus handed out gifts to all the patrons. He was looking a bit skinny this year, and forgot the "Ho ho ho", but we appreciated our gifts as it meant we actually had something to unwrap! The evening was capped off by a beautiful procession of hundreds of paper lanterns that were released into the river and floated past us as they made their way downstream.

On Christmas day we had another great dinner in town as we listened to the Celine Dion and Boney M Christmas albums on repeat. Apparently these were the only holiday-themed CD's to make it to Vietnam and they were played everywhere leading up to the 25th. This was okay by me; it reminded me of my childhood Christmas mornings when we listened to Boney M and other 70's Christmas records as we unwrapped our presents.

We spent a lazy Boxing Day at the beach. We much preferred this to battling crowds at a mall like we usually do in Toronto. It was a bit strange to be away from home for the holidays, but overall we an amazing and unforgettable Christmas in Vietnam! Thanks for all of the emails and phone calls, they were much appreciated.