The rain began in earnest overnight. By morning it was a steady downpour. The clothes Adele had left to dry, hung over chair backs on the balcony, seemed more moist than they had the night before. It was 25 C at 6:30, and only forecast to rise another degree, although the same could not be said for the rain. It was forecast to increase as the day wore on.

Luckily, we had no plans before noon, and so we had a leisurely breakfast and then relaxed for a couple of hours. When we did finally emerge from the hotel, the rain was steady, but not unusual by Vancouver standards. I wore shorts and a t-shirt; trail runners; a running cap. No jacket. I brought an umbrella we’d purchased the day before.

Not far from the hotel, we were approached by two women who asked if we would answer some survey questions related to tourism. We assured them we very much liked Vietnam, and particularly Hoi An. They produced a couple of pull-tab-style cards, and told me I’d won a golf cap. Adele, though, hit the jackpot: the possibility of winning a three year old iPhone, 7 days at one of several resorts around the world, including one in Hoi An, or 600,000 VND (about $33 CAD). Quite a spread of outcomes. All we had to do was accompany them to a resort and listen to a presentation, after which we’d learn what prize we’d won. They would drive us there in an e-car, so we needn’t worry about walking in the rain. We told them we couldn’t possibly accept, not least because we had an appointment with our tailor. (Not entirely untrue.) I doubt very much that serious harm would have come to us had we gone with them, but at the very least it would have been an incredible waste of our time.

We made our way through the increasingly heavy rain to a small art gallery/gift shop called “Ha Ha — Art in Everything”, where we picked up some higher quality souvenirs, the made our way through the puddled streets of Old Town to the tailor’s shop to pick up our order. Everything fit perfectly, and cost far less than anything similar back home. Then we returned to the shop with the T-shirt I wanted, where they tried to increase the price from the previous day by a couple hundred dong. Eventually, though, I got it for the previous price.

We met up with a few others from our group at Tiger Tiger bar and had a drink before wandering back through Old Town to The Noodle House, which we’d visited a couple of nights earlier. Phò seemed like the perfect lunch for a day like this. The rain intensified as we walked, and by the time we got to the restaurant, we were pretty soggy, umbrellas notwithstanding. I summoned a Grab (basically an Uber) for the trip back to the hotel, so as to avoid getting even wetter.

Several local people we talked with along the way were confident there would soon be significant flooding. Last year the water in Old Town was more than five feet deep. The way it rained today, they may be right.

Back in the hotel, we hung up our wet clothes and put on dry ones. We laid down to nap for a while until it was time to meet the others for dinner.

We all met at an Old Town restaurant called Hong Phuc 2. The food was good, and the drinks were a bargain. Afterwards, we all went back to Tiger Tiger, where Yang had booked us a karaoke room.

Now, back at the hotel, it’s time to get ready for an early departure tomorrow. We’re flying from Danang to Ho Chi Minh City, and we need to leave the hotel shortly after 7 am.

More later.