I finally mastered the art of packing light on a recent trip to Hoi An. Hoi An is known for its many tailors and hand-made shoe shops, so I knew I’d need space to return with some goods. We woke up before dawn and hopped a plane for a short flight up the coast for five days of fun. In the six weeks since I’d arrived in Vietnam, this was the first time I’d left Saigon!!
We arrived in Hoi An by 9am, checked in to the hotel, and set off in search of some of the local food, which is touted as the best in Vietnam. We ended up at a place down a little back alley called Bale Well. The restaurant was written up in all the travel books, but when we arrived, we were the only customers. We ordered some drinks and accepted the set menu. Before long, we realized that it was only about 10:30 in the morning and we were probably the only people ready for lunch. But when you wake up at 4am, you get little hungry. The food would NOT stop coming to the table, and it was amazing. The women working there stood by our table and taught us how to make the delicious rolls. The menu of grilled pork satay, rice pancakes, and spring rolls, were all layered on top of thin rice papers and masterfully rolled up into edible heavenly bundles. The food kept coming, and we had to cry mercy to get the bill.
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| A definite MUST when in Hoi An |
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| Dave takes mental notes |
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| Aftermath |
Filled to brim with local specialties, we wandered the alleys for a reputable shop to order tailored clothes. As a western woman in Southeast Asia, I am always disappointed at the lack of clothes that actually fit, so the thought of hand-made clothes at cheap prices was very appealing to me. The streets were lined with tailors and shoe shops, and we settled on one that David had used before.
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| Tailors galore |
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| Thanh Van tailor shop |
The women working at the shop were hilarious, which I’m sure played a bigger role in my satisfaction than the actual quality of their tailoring, but I’m still happy with the clothes I had made. I ordered a dress and two skirts custom made with material of my choosing, all for $57. I’ll take it. But the woman at the shop! She was soooo inappropriate! She started out innocently enough, asking David if he was married or had a girlfriend. Then she moved on to asking Nick about his “banana” -- how big was it? What color was it? Could he show it to her? For the record, she really loves red bananas, whatever that means. Next, she took me upstairs to choose fabric for my dress. I was laughing hysterically as she told me more about her banana preferences and asked about mine -- what color was my favorite? How many bananas had I had? What do I do if I can’t find a banana? I would go back to that shop, just to talk to the girls, if not to order more clothes!
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| The fellas enjoy the ladies |
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Not sure why I'm wearing a helmet,
but at least she's not groping me in the picture |
Feeling slightly violated, we borrowed some bicycles from our hotel and rode around the Old Ancient Town of Hoi An. The Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage sight, and for good reason. The town is off-limits to cars, so you can walk and bike through the narrow streets in relative peace and safety. The architecture and atmosphere is so different from Ho Chi Minh City! I thoroughly enjoyed the slow pace and quiet streets near the river, all lined with beautiful lanterns (and tons of souvenir shops).
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| The iconic Japanese covered bridge |
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| Hoi An |
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| Along the river |
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| Rest stop |
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| Pedestrian streets |
We quickly developed a routine of daily happy hours along the Thu Bon River. Across the bridge from Hoi An is An Hoi Peninsula (not confusing, right?), and the riverfront is lined with cafes, restaurants, and bars begging you to come rest your weary feet while consuming copious amounts of their afternoon drink specials. And consume we did!
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Me, Dave, and Nick
Bia Hoi! |
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| Not a bad happy hour view, huh? |
The next morning, we rented motorbikes to take a trip up to My Son. Dave used his expert haggling skills to bargain a super cheap price ($4 for each bike), and we drove off towards My Son.
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| Dave takes the reins for a while |
My Son is the site of some crazy old Cham temple ruins, and it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site (wow -- two in one trip!). Most of the temples were destroyed by American bombs during the war, but there are about 20 or so structures still standing. The jungle weather was oppressive; I was sweating from literally every pore. I didn’t know you could sweat from the top of your shoulder. The ruins were pretty cool, but I think the drive through the countryside was the best part of the day.
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| Roadside field workers |
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| Straight jungle |
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| Cham ruins |
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| Hindu temple |
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| My Son ruins |
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| Shade didn't help the extreme heat |
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| River |
That evening, we took it easy, just biking around Hoi An, shopping, and drinking along the river.
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| Trusty bikes |
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| Biking Hoi An |
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| Shop wares |
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| Lanters on An Hoi Peninsula |
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| River reflections |
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More delicious local food
Minced clams with herbs and peanuts, served with rice crackers and fish sauce (of course) |
The tour started in a rice field leading up to an old temple called Ong Ngu, which is dedicated to whales (or the whale gods? not sure.). I feel like I’ve seen so many temples in the last year and half that they all start to look the same, but the walk through the field was fairly memorable.
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| Navigating through the field to the temple |
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| Moo. |
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| Strong as an ox |
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| Making a fishing net |
Soon we were back on the boat to zoom around the coast for some snorkeling. After snorkeling with giant clams in the Philippines, I think I might be a bit ruined for being amazed by underwater life. And to be fair, the snorkeling on Cham Islands was truly lackluster. I think I saw five fish. The water was nice, but I have the feeling that too many tourists and not enough mindfulness towards conservation have caused the sea life to move to safer waters.
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| Cham Island snorkeling |
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| Beach life |
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| Fishing boat |
Back on shore, the tour group provided us a delicious seafood lunch and left us ample time for lazing around on the beach. Good food, cold beer, funny friends, a beach chair in the shade, and SPF100. What more could a girl want? I know! How about some entertainment? Lucky for us, our tour group included a set of Russian amateur models (or so it seemed) who spent the entire two hours posing and re-posing for pictures on the beach. At first it was a bit of a joke between Nick, Dave, and I: “Haha, look! That girl is posing with her arms up in the air like some sort of sun goddess again!” But soon, we realized that this was no joke. These dudes were serious. I only wish I had taken pictures of their photo session so that everyone could enjoy the show we got. They posed on the beach. Next to a tree. In front of the boat. In the water. Laying on the shore in the surf. Rolling on the shore in the surf. Standing up. Sitting down. Jumping. Hair up. Hair down. Sunglasses on. Sunglasses off. Sunglasses in their teeth. It. Was. Amazing.
Made me tired just watching them. So I fell asleep in my beach chair.
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| Soaking up the rays from the safety of the shade |
Before we headed back to Ho Chi Minh City, we took the opportunity to stop over in Da Nang to reunite with our CELTA friends, Abby and Chantal. Da Nang is a lovely little beach town that surprised me with its laid-back atmosphere and beautiful, quiet streets. We didn’t do much in Da Nang except hang out at the beach and stay out all night drinking, but come on -- this is what vacations are supposed to be.
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| View of Da Nang from the roof of Abby and Chantal's apartment |
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| Double rainbow in my own photo! What does it MEAN?!?! |
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| Da Nang street |
It was great to see the girls again, and even better to know that Da Nang is only an hour and some flight away. We ended our trip with another helping of delicious local food, this time seafood at a beachside restaurant.
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| Chantal, Abby, me, Nick, and David gorge on local seafood.... again. |
I would definitely go back to Hoi An again, for the local food, the relaxed atmosphere, the tailor-made clothes, the riverside lanterns, and of course -- the red bananas.
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