how to sleep

We got on a bus last night at 7pm for a 12-hour, overnight trip from Nha Trang to Hoi An. This bus, same layout  as the first, was much nicer than the first sleeper bus we took to Nha Trang. I fell asleep almost immediately as we took off from Nha Trang and woke up when we stopped for a short walk around/bathroom break around 1130. When we got back on the bus, I took a benedryl and was then asleep until 6am. All in all, I slept a pretty decent amount that night (I woke up for a few seconds a couple times) considering that I was on a bus for an entire night.

We ate breakfast at our hotel when we arrived around 8am and then hit the streets. I really love walking around Hoi An. It's quiet, just like Da Lat, only there's even less traffic in Hoi An. There are so many tailor shops and shoe shops here. I wish I had an occasion for which I needed a dress because there are so many beautiful things here. Unfortunately, I'm gathering a pile of dress-for-my-next-big-occasion dresses, so I will have to pass. I did, however, stop in a shop and order a pair of cute sandals. All three of us did actually. The lady there was so nice and not pushy at all like some of the other store owners. It was pretty much Build-a-Bear with shoes. I got to pick out the style and the color, and she is going to have them ready to fit my feet tomorrow. How neat is that?! I'm pumped. I'll post a picture of them once I pick them up.

We happened upon a silk weaving/embroidery/tailor factory and got a tour of the facility and everything! It's the best when you stumble upon something great. We saw the silk worms in various stages of worm life and in their cocoons. We saw they thread being spun from the cocoons and the lady showing us around told us that we could eat the silk worms out of the cocoons, so we did (in the picture below: she grabbed the cocoons out of the hot water, broke them open and gave us the silk worms to eat). It pretty much had the same flavor and texture as a cooked soy bean (edamame). We saw ladies embroidering pictures onto pieces of cloth. These are masterful pieces of artwork. Sometimes, you have to get super close to be able to tell that it's all stitch-work. 

For dinner, we went to a restaurant near the city center where we had been walking and got some delicious food. To start, fried wontons with crabmeat. Then garlic sauteed morning glory, noodles with seafood, and crispy tofu with a sweet chili sauce. AMAZING. 

We then scoured the streets for the Vietnamese doughnuts we'd seen street venders selling earlier in the day. We didn't see them for a while, and then, when all hope was almost lost, we found a lady selling the doughnuts! She also had meat pies and bean pies and these buns filled with shredded coconut in it. I was craving the doughnut though, so I got the cinnamon sugar coated doughnut, which was delicious and really hit the spot.