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Hoi An: Postcard Perfect
Many of the buildings' exteriors in Hoi An were colourful and had a white washed look. I warmed up to the town pretty quickly, as it was indeed "oozing" with Vietnamese charm! After Alexis and I had finished our tour of the Delta area, we had three days left in Vietnam. We were contemplating our options of where to go next. We had considered heading a bit north, to an area famous for its beach.
Serendipitously, during our time in the Mekong, we met a Swiss couple, who had spent the last three weeks traveling from the North to the South of the country. I had asked them their thoughts on Nha Trang, the beach city where we were supposed to go, and they said it was nice, but not “Vietnam.” As the Swiss man explained, it was a beach you could place anywhere in the world. I then asked the couple what their favourite place to visit had been. The Swiss woman mentioned a small town named Hoi An, in the centre of the country. She said it reminded her of what old Vietnam might once have been like, and the amount of tailor shops there was fascinating. Here, you could get anything from shoes to your dream wedding dress whipped up, in a matter of hours! I made a mental note of this and began doing some research, seeing this
School Boat
If you are around the waterfront at the right time, you can see these boatloads of school children coming in. They are full of students in uniforms, and bicycles. The front of the ships have "eyes" painted on them, to help guide the way. was Monday, and the final leg of our journey was soon to begin…
“Alexis?” I asked, “Wouldn’t you like to go to a Vietnamese town that oozes charm out of every corner?” Luckily, she agreed. Hoi An was our next and final destination in Vietnam! We took an hour flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the city of Danang, and then a 45-minute taxi ride to Hoi An.
As soon as we arrived at our hotel, after a bit of insisting to our taxi driver of where we wanted to go, I began to surrender to Hoi An’s charms. We were ushered into the cool hotel lobby, and treated to a refreshing lemon soda while room arrangements were made (Interestingly, all “lemons” in Vietnam and Thailand are small and green, which we at home identify as a lime). The hotel was stunning! It consisted of three large, French-style buildings, and in the centre was a green, colourful garden. This was all for $25 USD each, per night…expensive for Vietnamese standards!
We began walking around the town, and we strolled along the waterfront and soon stopped for lunch. As we dined on fish wrapped in a banana
Unloading...
All of the school girls wear white aoi dais, the traditional Vietnamese dress of a tunic and pants, and the boys long-sleeved shirts and pants. The girls also wear masks and gloves, as do many women, to keep their skin protected from the sun, as it's thought pale skin is more beautiful than tanned skin. As our one tour guide said, "you foreigner want brown skin, we want white skin...the grass is always greener!" leaf (a Hoi An specialty), I was entertained by the many boats coming into dock, and people, wearing those famous (and Stacey-discovered practical!) conical hats, riding alongside the water on their bicycles. I had already fallen in love with, in my mind, the Vietnamese version of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
We spent the next two days enjoying the charms of Hoi An, and spoiling ourselves with tailor-made suits, at incredibly inexpensive prices. The Swiss lady had been right! The tailor shops in Hoi An were numerous, and they all promised fast and quality service! I’m not sure how they all stay in business…Often we would be approached on the street by one of many Vietnamese women who worked at these shops…”Excuse me, Madam, where you from? Oh, Canada very nice place! How long you stay in Hoi An? Come to my shop? Just have look?” We took the advice of my guidebook and went to a recommended tailor shop. After being measured, and returning for a fitting, in one day my suit, complete with blazer, pants, skirt, and long-sleeved blouse, was ready! The shop also featured any kind of article of clothing you could imagine, including a gorgeous winter coat, that I
Japanese Covered Bridge
This bridge was thought to drive a stake through the heart of an earthquake-causing monster! couldn’t imagine trying on in the stifling Vietnamese heat…Sigh…
One part of the city I particularly enjoyed is closed off to motorized traffic, and we walked about without the noise of the incessant honking that had been omnipresent throughout most of our trip—this was a true Vietnamese retreat!
There were also many cultural buildings and sites to visit. In the 16th and 17th centuries Hoi An was a major international port for countries such as Holland, Japan, China and India, and these countries’ presence is noticeable in the town’s distinctive architecture. One of the most famous landmarks is an old, Japanese wooden covered bridge, which was built in the early sixteenth century and was thought to stop earthquakes that had been occuring in Japan. It was thought that the earthquakes were caused by a restless monster, whose head was in India, whose tail was in Japan, and whose heart was in Hoi An. The bridge served as a metaphorical dagger through its heart.
Another highlight was visiting Tan Ky house which is an old house dating back to the eighteenth century that took 8 years to complete. It features Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese-influenced architecture and the descendants
Under the (Covered) Bridge
Through the doorway entrance, there was a small shrine. There were also lanterns hanging from the roof, on which the word "Ho-i-a-n" was written in katakana, the Japanese syllabary for foreign words. Even on my vacation, there's no escape! of the family still live here.
On my last day in Hoi An, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to join in a sunrise tour of the My Son temple complex. My Son is located about a 45-minute ride away from Hoi An, and is a relic of the Cham Kingdom that used to rule Vietnam as early as the fourth century. Unfortunately, My Son was a station for the Viet Cong during the war and was heavily bombed. In fact, bomb craters can still be seen in the ground here. Out of 5 groups of the complex, only 1 is still in fair condition. However, the remains of the temples that are still standing have wonderful detail, and the grandeur that has disappeared can still be imagined. I was glad to have gone early as our tour group was the only one there, and we were left to listen to the buzzing of the cicadas and the quiet presence of the Cham Kingdom. Again, I met interesting people on this trip. Among them, a Parisian man who had visited a friend in Milton, Ontario (of all places!) and told me it was his dream to live in Canada
Restaurant with a View
The restaurant where we dined on fish wrapped in banana leaf. It was a nice place to retreat for lunch during a hot afternoon, and a good spot to watch the river life go by. as a child (funnily enough, I always thought it would be rather magical to live in France!). Also, our tour guide, who was a trained electrician, but had decided being a tour guide was a more lucrative business. So interesting!
After returning from My Son, Alexis and I had our final lunch along the waterfront, walked one more time through the bustling market, and finally bid farewell to Hoi An. Shortly after, it was a flight back to Ho Chi Minh City, a quick jaunt into the city centre for a final Vietnamese dinner and coffee, and our journey back to Japan began…
I know I have written a lot about Vietnam, and I thank all of you who have stuck with me up to this point, and have been interested in my thoughts! For some reason, Vietnam and its people won over my heart, and it’s a trip that I will remember far into the future…
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heatherinjapan
Heather McLean
Sugoi Stayshi-san! I want to go to Vietnam. Eeeeeeenaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! (hahahahaha)