Hoi An Love Affair

My 7 days trip to Vietnam was unevenly split. One night in Saigon, one night in Hue and four nights in Hoi An. I’m glad I made that decision. Four nights allows me to really going around the UNESCO Heritage List old town, riding a bike everywhere and admiring the beautifully restored shop houses. After five hours jolty drive from Danang with bus, Hoi An was really what we need. The sun just set and the paper lanterns were lit up all over the town. Tourists were out for dinner and I felt immediately at home.

French travelers were everywhere along with backpackers, all drawn to the serenity and relaxing vibe Hoi An offers. It’s not difficult to imagine what the town was like 200 years ago. There was no trance thumping bars, happy ending massage parlour, Seven Eleven or all those tourist trap that could be found in major South East Asian cities. My four days there was like a whirl wind of romance. I have fallen in love with her on the first night. I could write a lenghty essay on her gracefulness and charm but pictures might be the best way to tell her story, ‘the town for walkers and primitive vehicle users’.

Ten Things to do in Hoi An:

1. Rent a bicycle and get lost.

2 . Go to the An Bang beach and chill with the locals.

3. Fine affordable dining. Try Cargo.

4. Find the Satay Lady under the Gazebo. Roll your own satay spring roll.

5. Make a dress or a suit.

6. Shop in the market. Bring home the best fish sauce in the world.

7. Learn to cook. Try Morning Glory.

8. Do me a favor and stay in Haan Hotel

9. Eat seafood by the river when the sun goes down.

10. Make a lantern. Lifestart Foundation Tour & Craft Lessons.

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Tomb Strolling in Hue

Hue is our next destination. The old capital of Vietnam kingdom, chosen hundred of years ago because of its strategic location right in the middle of dragonish geography of Vietnam. After a serious delay courtesy of Jetstar, we landed on a small airport of Da Nang and continue our journey to Hue by car. Flying is just not as fun as driving through the land especially if it was as scenic as the trip we took. Our driver, a silent Driving Miss Daisy type, was not much of a company but he was being complimented by his sister side kick, a bubbly Vietnamese girl whose name just lost me completely. She talked and asked me so many questions along the three hours trip including ‘why you no marry’ to ‘how rich are you’. Even coming from a country where curiosity toward stranger was the norm, I still found it rather winchingly uncomfortable. Nobody ever asked me ‘how rich are you’ back home. Along the up and down hilly ride, I saw many small shrines by the road which apparently to honor people who died on the road which was not such a great surprise considering how they drive their bike there. The big question is: if they build a shrine every time somebody dies, will there come a day when the hill would just turn to be a big hill of road kill shrines?

Arriving in Hue at night, starving and dusty, we were welcomed by the owner of the Huenino hostel we stayed in that night. Wait, did I say hostel? It was better than hotel. Try to name one hotel where you were welcomed with cold towel, orange juice, hot soup and a cake upon your arrival and enter a spotlessly clean room with fragrant sheet. That night I had a short but memorable meeting with a couchsurfer, a sweet and by far the best English speaker I’ve encountered, Ngan (spelled ‘Ngeng’). She told me about her life, her work, Vietnamese war and what she dreams about to be. I could see Vietnam in her. She’s growing to be a cultivated English speaker, eager to welcome change and development and more tourists and although scarred by the war and at times uncertain to step forward, will find its way to be big.

We joined a half day tour to visit some of the tombs scattered around Hue. I hate to join this kind of tour but considering the limited time we have, few stops to incense stick stall ormartial art performance had to be accepted. Tomb of Minh Mang and Tomb of Khai Dinh are two of the best examples. If you have a limited time, do visit those two because all of the tombs are similar. Although they are called tombs no actually bodies of past emperors were buried there. The compound has lakes and leafy gardens to sit down and enjoy the view (which was clearly out of the questions for me at that time since the tour leader already waving his flag around). The renovation was partially done so it was nice to see the actual form before the flashy paint job covered it all.

Tomb of Khai Dinh was in fact quite recently made and therefore more “Europeanized” than the others. It was located on the top of a hill so it was quite a hike to go up. The Emperor was guarded in his after life by stone knights, ministers and general. The white stone used in the facade has grown black over time and serious restoration is needed but it retains some of the charm.

Before leaving for Hoi An, we managed to try the local cuisine. We tried bánh bēo, a canape of sticky rice, shredded shrimp and crunchy pork skin, eaten with a drop of fish sauce. A special mention need to be made for Vietnamese fish sauce. It was good, so good in fact, that I have adapted the Vietnamese habit of adding fish sauce in anything that I ate during my stay. I loved it so much I even took a bottle of home along with the instant pho, soy sauce and dry spring roll skin.

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Rediscovering Saigon

Call me patronizing or ignorant but I didn’t have any notion or high expectation about Vietnam. All I know of the South East Asian country was what American made it to be in films, books and Miss Saigon. Only later I found out that the Vietnam War was called the American War by the Vietnamese or ‘Vietnamee’, as they called themselves in English. The Tour of Duty was consisted of four cities, recommended by friends: Ho Chi Minh – Da Nang – Hue – Hoi An (in that order). We sleepily landed at night, Mum tailing me. Tan Son Nhat Airport was better than expected, better than our lousy “international airport” in Jakarta. It was Saturday night when we landed and have motorcycles honked us all the way to our check-in. We were supposed to stay in Saigon Mini Hotel, reviewed to be a quiet place, far from the madding crowd. For reason I can’t understand until today, we’re being moved to another hotel, which is next to the Saigon Mini other branch. This one is located exactly on the tourist street: Pham Ngu Lao.

The whole street reminds me of Bangkok’s Khao San Road with more motorcycles and incessant honking. The sellers are rather quiet and not as pushy as the one I encountered in Kuta. Bars, beers, backpackers from all ages and destinations meet and mingle there. Soon, we were in a serious mission of finding the best phở, which was found few blocks away. The portion was generous, the smell divine and the beef broth was so tasty we gulped them down like water. The incessant street noise lullabied us to sleep, much to our surprise. It must be the phở doing its magic.

Ho Chi Minh or romantically, Saigon, reminds me of Paris. An uglier step sister but created by similar DNA marks. Wide avenue, green small parks, “Notre Dame” Cathedral, even French names on some of the streets and especially the baguette sandwich or re-baptized as bánh mì. I love how the old buildings are still actively in used. The beautifully preserved post office with art deco tiles is definitey my favorite building. I rather wish I have longer time to explore the city and try all the food. Alas, Hue and Hoi An awaits.

Tips #1 bring dollars, big and small note. Hotel gave high exchange rate if you pay in dong.

Tips #2 try to take well marked and good reputation taxi such as Vinasun or Mai Linh.

Tips #3 if you ever find yourself stranded in Tan Son Nhat with few hours to kill, go to the Parkson mall across the airport for better shops and better price eateries. You can even watch a movie in the cinema there.

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