Hoi An south

Wednesday, September 06, 2017
Hội An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam
Today we went to check on the progress of the huge resort being built south of Hoi An now called Hoiana. It's going to include a couple of golf courses and big hotel, villas, and a casino where the Vietnamese have dispensation from thier government to gamble away their hard earned money. Apparently they will have toprve they can afford to lose it before they are allowed in, how they prove this I don't know, show last years tax return? We scooted past security who popped out of their box to watch us going down the road and we arrived at another security gate which we didn't attempt to cross. A few photos but nothing up close.
After we left I made sure we gave the security guy at the front gate a cheery wave and a smile. The workers were all leaving for some sort of break at 11.30 and there were dozens of the. They went the same way as we did and stopped at the mukltitude of small cafes along the raod back to the Cua Dai bridge. Combined with the schoolchildren leaving school to go home for lunch the road was chaotic.
We finally got back to Cua Dai bridge and went over to drop in on Be, My Le's son, who is now managing the bar and resto at the Cam Thanh Boutique resort. He told us they have spent billions (of Dong) on it and we got a guided tour through the rooms. Smaller rooms 1.2 million a night, about $60 bigger rooms which have two bedrooms double. The baths are so deep you would need scuba gear. If you fell in you would never get out. Part of Vietnamese love of ostentation I think. Completely impractical for any one of advanced age, (like me). It's a long way out of town but they have a courtesy bus of course and bikes, and very flat roads. 
Later I went to the 3 dragons sports bar and watched an extremely uninteresting game of football and then to Banana Split and sat with Keith and Nick and chatted about Vietnamese names. Keith has a lot of knowledge about the language and naming conventions. While I am writing this Hien from Con Chai the one who tried to borrow $5000 is messenging me about how much she loves me etc. It's hard to take and hard to concentrate. Her son whose wedding she paid for has apparently turned against her and brought a lot of his friends in to run the business. I feel sorry for her but I'm not going to let that guide me. Nevertheless I would like to know her better. No, it's not possible. She wants money and thats it.  A couple of photos from Con Chai tonight. Hien wasn't there but she saw me as she commented on my red shirt.
The big flood event didn't happen today, Cyclone Doksuki moved north and devastated other provinces near Ha Noi. Amazing that we never see any of this on Aussie TV even though we pay lip service to being "part of Asia". Yeah, when it suits us.
Looking through the resort photos I realised how raw it all looks and it is. It's been open for a week and is fully staffed but with no Govt approval to have guests yet. It will all soften when the plants grow and the sufaces weather.
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