What strikes one about Hoi An is that it looks like a movie set from old China. One expects to see Kung Fu warriors flying out of the doorways at any given time (good cultural stereotype, eh). It really is a town from times gone by. Sadly it is one of the few that was saved from the devastation of the past wars. As a result it is a very popular destination for travellers. That said, it seems like they have done a good job of capitalizing on the traditional aspects of Vietnamese culture here. If anything, I think tourism has probably caused a bit of a renaissance of things old and cultural. The skills that are prominent in this region are silk production, painting, wood carving, stone carving, and pottery. All of these skills can be seen both in the process of being made and in their products (which can of course be purchased). When one sees these traditional skills in this ancient town setting, it can be very beautiful to observe. It is a photographers dream.
In a similar way to Hanoi, Hoi An at times feels almost like it has been given a serious dose of European influence (and of course it has from the French!). There are tons of beautiful boutiques and restaurants tucked into the old dilapidated buildings making it feel oh so romantic. One would be hard pressed to create this kind of ambiance in another setting.
Temples abound throughout the city mostly with a strong old Chinese flavour. This temple in the picture above, is a Buddhist monastery and it is filled with gorgeous flowers and trees. The detailing on all the doors, windows and eaves can suck one in for hours.
Here is an example of the old French colonial buildings. Like in all places in Vietnam, markets are central to life and can be a great place to wander for hours. It is such a communal experience - with people bringing their wares from the farms to be sold everyday. The smells can be over-whelming (sometimes good, sometimes bad), and the people watching is the best entertainment one could ask for. Here is a picture of all the varieties of chili powder to be found in one part of the market.
Along the river in Hoi An, many of the locals gather on their boats. Some try and rope people in for a ride a long the river which can be a good view point for the the town and all it's bustle. We have yet to do it, but will in the coming days.
Hoi An is famous for its tailor shops. I would not be exaggerating if I said there must be many hundreds of tailor shops in this city. It is hard to imagine how they all make a living. Many people have suits made here, as well as other kinds of clothing from all the local silk. It is easy to get carried away...Here is Skye with a local tailor that we chose. She is looking at designs for some formal work clothing. Skye is wishing our budget would allow for more clothing purchases because the fabrics are so beautiful. That said, we are giving them some good business. Even if one came here with no intentions to buy clothing - it would be impossible to resist!
We had an interesting experience last night at our hotel. We were heading off to the city core for some food and we had just handed in our key to the front desk (the standard practice here), when I realized I was a little cool. I asked Skye to wait for me while I go back and get a light sweater. When I got to the front desk our key was missing and we looked up at our room to see the lights were on - even though we had just turned them off.I doubted my memory for a moment and called Skye. She confirmed that we had turned off the lights. So up we went and realized someone was in our room uninvited. We tried to unlock the door with an extra key we had got from the front office, but it would not work! Then we started yarding on the door and realized someone was inside trying to prevent us from opening it. I used all my strength and pulled the door open, only to find a hotel employee caught red handed trying to rifle through our belongings. It was very stressful, especially for Kai and Pippin who watched on as I tried to keep this guy in the room while Skye went to get the management. Initially they tried to cover for him saying he was a security guard, but I blew that theory in the face when I told them we were playing tug of war with the door. The apologies began, and we all finally settled down. Nothing was missing thanks to my timing. Had we gone to dinner we most certainly would have been cleaned out (kids iPods, electronics, etc.)
Then to make the evening more fun, at four in the morning some young revellers next door to us were banging on the doors shouting "Fire! Fire" at the top of their voices. Skye woke up with her heart pounding, looked out the door and realized that there was not a fire at all, but instead a bunch of yahoos having some fun. She waited to see if they would settle down, but when the laughing and shouting didn't stop, she went to their room and asked them politely (well . . . very firmly) to allow us to sleep. Next came the four year old screaming at the top of his voice in the pool at 6h00 in the morning for over an hour. Needless to say, we changed hotels this morning and have settled into a place that will hopefully be less eventful. As a parting gift to our neighbours (who were all soundly sleeping at 8 am), Skye vengefully put the hotel sticker on their door asking for it to be cleaned asap. Revenge is sweet! The trials and tribulations of travel....
So on that note, I hope this entry finds you all well out there. We still have another four days in Hoi An until we return back to Hanoi for the next stint. We will most likely add another blog entry from Hoi An in the coming days. We are heading off to an ancient ruin site from the 3rd century called My Son tomorrow or the next day, which should make for an interesting report. Maybe Pippin will use that day trip as an opportunity to make a blog entry of her own.Here is a picture from one of the local antique shops as a parting image. Until next time - Ciao!
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