A tale of two anagram cities

Let's do a little Jeopardy.

I'll take anagrams for 1000 Alex.

Alex: Oh Ian. Did you enjoy your trip to these two Vietnamese cities?

Jeremy: What are Hoi An and Hanoi?

For the record, respectively yes and no. 

Hanoi is just another big Asian city. Not much needs to be said about it. Ho Chi Minh, the leader, is entombed in a mausoleum, has a museum that details his rise to power, and a large chunk of land that shows where he once lived. There is the prison where John McCain was held during the Vietnam War. Not much else. There is a phrase that is quite popular in SEA (southeast Asia). Same Same but different. Not exactly sure how it got started, but essentially every big Asian city I have visited is same same but different. Basically different in name only and similar in all of the sights, food, culture, etc.

Hoi An is a different story. It is quite possibly the best small town/city I have visited in all of my travels. It is a coastal town, so there is a beach. The nice thing about the beach is that it is about 4km away from the heart of the old town. So the masses can go to the beach during the day and still leave the old town with that intimate feel. Lots of fun just wandering the streets lined with restaurants, souvenir shops and silk shops which will tailor quality suits and dresses for bargain basement prices. There is a sprawling market where everyone goes early in the morning to buy their food for that day and that day only. Most of the residents live simply and don't have the modern conveniences of refrigerators and freezers. So they buy food and ice for that day, and do it all over again the next day.  I spent a day doing a cooking class on a tiny island and another day on a bike ride on another small island. Saw how villagers make mats, bricks, inlay wood, boats, basket boats, rice milk, and ice. Yes, ice. Again, the lack of freezers requires that people buy their ice.  There aren't many places where I travel that I could sightsee for more than 2 days. Could have stayed an extra few days but moved on to Hanoi. Not for Hanoi, but for Halong Bay. It is a Unesco world heritage site that has been earmarked as a must see sight since the start of my trip. Will be doing a 3d2n cruise and then move on to China after that. 

The pictures show my time in Hoi An and the food I have eaten from Bangkok-Siem Reap-Hoi An

Inlay wood process

Bricks still in un-dired clay form

basket boat

Jeremy in basket boat

floating bridge I had to cross by bike

mat making

tired tour guide

hammerhead shark at the market

tossing rice to separate grain from husk

My creations during cooking class

bamboo leave steamed herb fish, eaten on the beack

Cau Lao