Author: Rach

Photos: Rach (unless specified otherwise)

20 April

First impressions of Hội An were certainly good impressions – more bustle than we expected but certainly a change of pace from Hanoi, with its lantern-lined streets, river boats and attractive restaurants and markets skirting the pavements.

Our hotel, Corn Riverside Villa, was situated a little out of town, along the quiet banks of the river down a long single track road. When we were finally deposited we delighted in the loveliness of our spacious room, which backed right onto the small pool. And….relax. The blissful sound of a ringpulled beer each as we cooled off in the room for an hour after our journey from Hue across the Hai Van pass. It had been a fabulous day so far.

As the evening began to break we walked the length of the single track road and crossed the lit bridge into Hội An town to see what was going on. Straight away we were hit by the evening bustle of street sellers, and the allure of the countless tailoring shops lining the avenues. We knew we would have to get some cheap tailoring done here – it is THE thing to visit Hội An for – and so we spent a bit of time scoping out some potentials for a suit for Ged’s upcoming PhD graduation, and for a top to go with Rach’s bargain wedding skirt she had bought in Luang Prabang.

Materials and styles checked out, and business cards in hand, we asked in the market for the location of a food place we had earmarked to taste Cao Lầu, the dish distinct to Hội An and not served anywhere else in Vietnam. Had we not asked we probably would not have found it, for it was a woman on the side of the road concocting this delicious recipe for passers by who dined informally on tiny plastic chairs and tables, as you’ll see everywhere across Vietnam.

2 bowls please! Wow did our taste buds explode. This was simply utterly delicious. Rach filmed her assembling the dish for us – in theory it looked similar to other noodle broth dishes we have tried; consisting of meat, greens, noodles, broth and chillis, but this dish very much held its own.

Cao Lầu noodles are made from rice and in our opinion are far more delicious being thicker and brown, as opposed to the white vermicilli you find in Pho or Bun Cha, and for being soaked in lye water to give them their charismatic flavour. Legend has it that the lye should be made by leaching the ashes of certain plants from the nearby Cham Islands, and that the water used in producing the noodles should be taken from the ancient local Bá Lễ well, and it is therefore for this reason that Cao Lầu is rarely found outside the vicinity of Hội An. The pork was done char-Sui style and thinly sliced, served with only a small amount of broth. She then added in bean sprouts, greens including lettuce, mint, perilla, lemon basil and other fragrant herbs, and finally crispy squares atop (a bit like pork crackling but allegedly made from noodles). Combined with fresh chilli and the most fantastic sweet pickles on the side we have ever tasted, every mouthful was utterly heavenly. And at 50,000 Dong each (about £1.60) we couldn’t believe how gourmet this really was. We were sure we would be dreaming of this meal for years to come.

By now the evening was rolling in and the lamplights flickering on. We walked past the rows and rows of street sellers and into the heart of town, bearing witness to the beautiful lantern-clad streets and alleys that make this place so remarkable (or insta-fabulous, if you are that way inclined!)

Our curiosity took us across one particularly brightly lit bridge to the large island opposite where the ‘night market’ took place. Here the tourists were in full throng, and we later understood this was because it had just been full moon, which brings every month the legendary ‘lantern festival’, where the town’s lanterns are all extinguished at 8pm and candles are placed at the bottom of coloured paper lanterns and floated down the river in a fantastic spectacle of colour and reflection. This tradition started centuries ago as an offering to and in worship of ancestors as well as the God of the land. Although we were technically a few days late this was still ongoing, as were the crowds of people who had descended on Hội An to be a part of this special display.

A quick beer to escape the crowds and we were destined for bed. We couldn’t wait to get more of Hội An over the next few days!!

21 April

A sunny Easter Sunday broke as we dragged ourselves out of bed to do what weekends were meant for – shopping and eating! First though Ged did a run to the laundrette in town on one of the free bicycles provided by the hotel. The joy of clean clothes has still not worn off!

Once we’d eaten breakfast we retraced yesterday evening’s steps along the riverside path and across the bridge into town and hit up the shops we’d eyed up for our tailoring requirements. We went back and forth from shops several times, comparing fabrics and cuts to make sure Ged got the best suit for his graduation, and we finally settled on a lightweight wool brown tweed 3-piece. Rach was persuaded in the same shop to get a suit made too, which will come in handy for her new job, seeing as she doesn’t own a good trouser suit! Both measured up and fabrics selected, Rach went to a further two shops to get her top made to go with the wedding skirt. At $19USD she decided to get the same fabric in two different designs, each from a different tailor, in case one was a bit hit and miss.

Having been going for around 4hrs in all, Ged was expectedly tired of shopping so we needed some sustenance. Cue the best Bánh Mi ever. We’d sampled this famous delicacy a few times in Hanoi, but we’ve waited until now to tell you about it because this was the Bánh Mi to end all Báhn Mi’s!! This famous Vietnamese dish is basically a sandwich – a crispy baguette made with a combination of wheat and rice flour, often lined with pate and then stuffed with meat (usually pork), pickled vegetables and chilli. This was the best we had tasted, and with a little kick too.

Hội An was as steaming hot as just about everywhere else we have been in SE Asia so far, and so at this point we were gagging for a cold drink. In our lazy wandering through the pretty historic centre we stumbled upon Quiet American House, which did beer on draught. Chilled beer and fans inside was just the ticket! Once inside we discovered that the house was certainly quiet, but that it actually gets its name from having been a filming location for ‘The Quiet American’ (2002) starring Michael Caine; though it certainly didn’t feel like the opium den & brothel it acts as in the movie!

We had planned next to visit the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall (don’t read those two words together in a scouse accent!) built in 1690 as a traditional assembly hall for the Chinese ethnic group from Fujian to socialise, but which was later converted into a temple dedicated to their deity Thiên Hau, the goddess of the sea. With an unexpected entrance fee and a boatload of tourists inside we decided to admire what we could see from the outside and then made our way to the landmark Japanese covered bridge. This lovely piece of architecture dates back to the 18th century when it was built by the Japanese living in Hội An to reach the Chinese quarter (where we just were down the road at Phuc Kien). Today it stands as an iconic symbol of Hội An and was suitably swarming with tourists.

Rach attempted a few photos and we vowed to come back at a quieter time, perhaps at sunrise. A quick beer to round off the day and we walked back down the river to our hotel as it got dark for a quiet night in. What would tomorrow bring?

22 April

How does one transport themselves with ease through towns and villages, with a cool breeze to abate the intense sun, and without spending a dime? A bicycle of course! Today our legs would take us out of Hội An into the countryside and back again.

We wanted to visit two places, the curiously named ‘vegetable village’ and the local beach ‘An Bang’ a few miles out of town, supposedly one of the nicest in Vietnam. After a quick visit to the tailors for a first try on of Rach’s top, and to pick up our laundry, we were off.

The beach was about 4 miles away and we took a short planned detour on the way to visit the Tra Que vegetable village, a charming little place on the outskirts of Hội An. Bet you can’t guess what happens there? Well yes, growing vegetables. The village gets its name from the sweet scented veg that spice up the meals of locals, brought to market at sunrise every morning. A short but very ‘healthy’ stop on our way to the beach!

As we rode down the street to reach the edge of An Bang beach we were pounced upon by two (uniformed) parking attendants and told to park our bicycles in a little parking lot alongside others and scooters, for which they wanted 40,000 VND in exchange (about £1.30 each). Paying to park a bicycle? No way. Ged refused and tried to ride his bike a bit further up to the beach to check it out and also see if there was anywhere else to park. The pair obviously make good money here from their bullying insistence so we said no and decided to leave – we knew if we could reach the beach a little further down we might find a quieter sunbathing spot (as this bit was pretty busy) and a free place to pull up the bike. About 1/2 a mile east we found a really gorgeous quiet stretch of the same sandy beach, complete with sun loungers that no-one was charging for and a free place to leave the bikes. Goodbye An Bang, hello Cám An beach!

We bought a couple of cheap beers and lay here for a few hours in peaceful bliss away from all the gaggling tourists, until about 4.30 when we set off for the cycle home back a different way. Food was on our minds and we stopped for a repeat of those delicious and bargainous Báhn Mi’s, and called in to the tailors for our fittings. Once notes were made on further small alterations we had a little cycle around the town at night, taking in the decidedly quieter Japanese bridge and snapping pics of the lantern-lined streets.

Satisfied with the day we headed home, and settled in for a film on the TV in our room, a little saddle sore but more than happy with the day’s festivities.

23 April

Today we had a mind to do not very much, aka spend it at our little pool at the hotel. Unfortunately we were informed at breakfast that the pool cleaning, which started yesterday, had still not completed so it could not be used. Not best pleased we asked the hotel to make other arrangements, after they offered us only a fruit juice for the inconvenience! They found a nearby hotel able to take 2 extra pool guests for the day and we rode there on our bicycles and chilled out in the sun.

Late in the afternoon we cycled back and got showered and changed and headed back into town for our final fittings. Both our suits, which had only been sent for one round of alterations, fitted perfectly, but Rach’s top still needed work – for that we would have to pick it up at midday tomorrow, just before we leave for the airport! It’s fair to say that Ged was pretty chuffed with the finished result, which is very in-keeping for an archaeologist’s graduation (or is it actually for a Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones lookalike competition?!)

After the tailors we went to Precious Heritage Art Gallery & Museum, to see the permanent exhibition of photographs by Réhahn, a famous French photographer who has been travelling to the furthest reaches of Vietnam to capture images of ethnic tribes and reveal the rich cultural tapestry of these indigenous communities.

5 rooms presented hundreds of striking portraits, each matched with a full costume from the corresponding tribe, giving the visitor a rare, deep and contrasting view of the 51 out of the 54 ethnic tribes in the country that Réhahn has documented. The photographer hopes that this 8 years of work will result in not only a celebration of ethnic diversity but a call for conservation of these ancient and varied traditions and practices, which are slowly being lost. He clearly has found his work both a privilege and a challenge, travelling to remote and inaccessible places to spend time with the amazing people who live here. Many of the costumes are no longer being made, but thanks to these stunning photographs and the museum’s collection, hopefully this history can be preserved or even rescued.

Réhahn is also the photographer behind the world famous ‘smile’ photograph; its subject a Hội An sampan boat owner who he photographed holding her hand over her mouth and forehead in shyness. In Vietnam it is actually quite customary for women, particularly among elders, to cover their mouth while smiling or speaking. But the photo conveyed something more than that for Réhahn, who saw this as a symbol of Vietnam’s ‘unexpected happiness’. As a country that has suffered so much hardship, the world would probably not expect it to be a smiling nation, to be highly placed on the world happiness rankings so to speak, but Vietnam actually scored fifth in the Happy Planet Index. A smile can hide or give away a lot, can’t it?

Our last supper in Hội An was at My Quang Tom Thit noodle house, where Rachael tried a duck Pho and Ged had the Tom Thit! Not as good as the Cao Lầu, but then we were hard pressed to think what could be to be honest!

Bellies filled, we hopped into a beautiful lantern lit boat for a 20 minute ride along the river (after a bit of bartering we paid about £5). It was even more magical being on the water among all the coloured lights, and we lit a candle each in a paper lantern, and let it sail down the water to join romantically with others released by passing boats. Just lovely.

Our consciouses were clear too, as the paper lanterns are all caught at the river’s end and re-used, so no environmental damage is done (though we wondered whether it was more a financial enterprise than an environmental one).

All that gazing at lanterns made Rach decide go bring some back, to recreate a piece of pretty Hội An at home. The hardest part was in choosing, with a whole myriad of patterns, colours, shapes and sizes to choose from. But at a modest £1.50 each how could you not??

24 April

On our last morning in Hội An we got up at 5am to cycle into town and see the Japanese covered bridge at sunrise (aka with no tourists).

And that we did! It was lovely to get a different perspective on the town in the calm of the early morning.

After snapping better pics of the bridge and the river we headed back to the room for breakfast, a quick hour by the pool and to pack. We had booked a taxi to Da Nang airport (around 40 minutes) away, which was picking us up at 1pm. We had timed it to the letter, so we had just enough of a window to pack and to cycle back into town to collect Rach’s top. Except when we got there, she said ‘not ready, come back at 3pm.’ Err, no!!! We waited anxiously until 12.35pm when it arrived. A quick try on and we were cycling back to the room in a race to the finish, with 10 minutes to spare. Our car was here and it was time to leave picturesque Hội An and head back into the madness – Ho Chi Minh City, our last destination in our Vietnamese adventure, awaits!