Hoi An, Central Vietnam

Nha Trang to Hoi An by sleeping bus, Vietnam – Day 15 & 16 (Feb-13, 14)

Today is a lazy day, waiting for our night bus. During lunch, Vana tries some desert treat sold by an elderly lady on the street with an amazing smile.

There was something about this elderly lady that was so compelling to me. She's probably in her 80's, but still works hard everyday. She's probably been through the war, but she has a big graceful smile on her face. I think of her when I think of Vietnam

Taking a stroll on the beach, we met an interesting Australian offering watersports on the beach. Apparently there is surf nearby, but not today. He enjoys living in Vietnam, and really enjoys the people. He tells a story of befriending a 14 year old local boy when he arrived, who is a street vendor. Recently, he tried to hire the fellow who is now 18, but his mother will not let him work a “normal” job, because he makes more money as a street vendor. Apparently this mentality results in low unemployment, because the many people you see on the street (who seems to be doing nothing) are technically working and perhaps making money.

Most the street vendors offer a legitimate product or service. But, whereas China has widespread fake CD/DVDs, the tourist areas in Vietnam seem more in to fake books. Interesting to note; our Lonely Planet doesn’t mention anything about the widespread availability of fake books. We took a quick look at these professionally bound photocopies; just say no to IP and copyright infringement! On a bright note, the tourist areas have book exchange stores, and one owner seemed honest about telling you if a book is real or fake.

We return for more lobster at the same street restaurant, and we also try their shrimp and squid. We convince a group of three French women to try, whose skepticism quickly turns to more pleasured disbelief.

The night sleeping bus is a pretty sweet concept. It’s very cheep ($12), and it takes you from center to center. The downside is there isn’t much sleep on the sleeping bus. The seats are almost fully reclined, but are a bit short for westerners. We are in the back, five across, elbow to elbow. The road is not a freeway, has some dirt spots, but it not too bad. Next to us is a Swedish couple on their honeymoon; 6 months backpacking. I make some comments about how great friends we are going to be, and apologize if I wake up with my arms around him in a spooning position. He says; “don’t worry, I’ll be the little spoon”. So the nickname 'Little Spoon' stays. We ran into them later again and exchanged travel blog. But theirs is in Swedish.

(Amanda, Little Spoon, and KR)

I probably sleep four hours. I can’t really complain, it is better than an airplane. We arrive at 6:30AM, and two motorbike drivers convince us to ride with them, with luggage to our hotel. It is too early for debate. Fortunately, Vietnam has a helmet law, and everyone is required to ride with helmet.



Our hotel, Huy Hoang I, is kind of a dump. The travel book lets us down this time. We change rooms three times, from $12 to $18 room to get something sleep-able. (Vana: the first room has a dead cockroach and the bathroom light won't turn off. The second room smells like a dirty toliet with mold everywhere) On the plus side, the hotel is on the river right next to the central market, and we quickly head into town. (Vana: I felt like a big baby after getting upset with the room condition. After all, we are travelers.)

(sun-rise view from our hotel)

Hoi An is a working village mixed with tourism. The morning market is a buzz with local women buying and selling fish, vegetables, live chickens/ducks, and almost everything else. With barely enough room to walk, and no head room at all; people, bicycles, motorbike, and carts are jamming in and out everywhere. Kevin gets a minor leg burn from a motorbike tailpipe. Around the colorful town, there are restaurants, craft shops, and tailors making custom clothing. (Vana: ladies, this is heaven. The entire town is a shopping mall. You can get almost everything custom made for a much cheaper price. Just bring the picture you like from the magazine)

Market

really, any size you want, even if one feet is a different size than the other

lamp store

We enjoy a lunch of local specialty dishes including cau lau noodles with pork, and white rose shrimp dumplings. Vana takes picture of the art and local people who are very friendly. Cooking classes, riding bicycles, strolling the colorful street, and buying custom clothes/shoes are the main tourist attractions.

Cau Lau noodle with pork

White Rose (it looks like white rose, but it's rice noodle dumpling with shrimp)

Beef Satay Spring Roll

CLICK HERE to see more pictures from this day.

Hoi An, Vietnam – Day 17 (Feb-15)

We had an action packed day in Hoi An. In the morning, we rent bicycles from the hotel, which make a huge difference. At last we are free to go with the flow, and don't feel in the way everywhere we go. First, we book plane tickets to Hanoi. Then we head to a tailor shop and Vana gets fitted for a stylin' custom tailored wool jacket. KR helps customize the collar design. Then, we head to the beach. The beach is pretty, but coming from California, we could have skipped.


It gets rather hot, and our bikes are not so top notch, so we hire a boat to take us back, no extra charge for our bikes! We pass a lot of fisherman along the way. Neat how they have so many different styles of net fishing; big nets with lights for lowering at night, drift nets, and traps. The most scenic is a small boat with two people. One person paddles, while the other spins out a circular net. We've seen this before in China. It’s really cool to watch. Vana gets some great pictures.



CLICK HERE to see more pictures from the boat ride.

After lunch, we take a cooking class at the Red Bridge restaurant. It starts with a tour of the Central Market, pointing out cooking tools, and explaining the different vegetables and herbs used for Vietnamese food, medicine, and home-made cosmetics. Then we take a boat back down the river to the restaurant. The restaurant has an outdoor tourist cooking kitchen next to the river. The instructor demonstrates a dish, and then we go to our stove and copy his example. Their staff meanwhile does the prep, and the class goes pretty fast.

We are in the class with 2 other couples, one from Mississippi, but lives in New Zealand. The other is from France.

Prep work

A highlight was making fresh rice paper, and removing it from the cheese cloth atop a boiling pot, using a bamboo stick. It’s a bit tricky to put it off in one piece. Then we made a fresh roll with shrimp and herbs. We did great!

1) circle the soaked rice water on the cheese cloth atop a boiling pot

2) Quickly cover the lid for about 1 min

3) removing it from the cheese cloth with a bamboo stick and flip it upside down

4) roll it with some fresh vegetables and herbs

Ta-da! Kevin's finishing product!

Kevin's work, I think it looks better than the instructor's

After class, we ate all of our tasty 'hard work'. By the way, if you like your food, don't say 'yum yum', it means horny in Vietnamese. :)

We enjoyed the meal with our classmates

CLICK HERE to see more pictures from the cooking class

After the class, Vana has orders custom made sandals. They measured your foot, and a few hours later; wham-o! We then head back to the tailor making her Jacket and order an alteration to the collar. By the time we retrieve our bikes, the jacket is ready and looks great. Kevin is jealous because custom tailored clothing is dreamboat; especially for things like jackets and shoes.

While eating our dessert along the river, the shoe tailor brings by the shoes (Vana: talking about customer service!). They look great, but Kevin thinks the straps are too long, and will drag on the ground. We order an alteration, which is finished while we take a night bike along the river. A small boat is putting water lanterns on the water, while we bike past brilliantly lit paper lantern shops. The city is really pretty at night along the river.




It seems Ho An is the Paris of Vietnam. As the Vietnamese like to say; “Same, same, but different”.