Hoi An – a slower pace

Posted under Southeast Asia 2009

Flew from Nha Trang to Danang, where we were met by a car and driver to take us to our new hotel. It is about a 45 minute ride from Danang to Hoi An, and I guess that when you spend the big bucks for your accommodation (35 big ones), you can expect this type of service. One small downside – I think that they shipped the mattress from the Green Hotel to our new digs. Actually managed a reasonable sleep in spite of the “super, extra firmness”. Does this mean that I am going native?

 

Liked Hoi An a lot. A much smaller community with a much slower pace, Hoi An is situated about 4kms from China Beach, and if you are looking for endless miles of white sand, you can find it here. The town, itself, is situated on the banks of the Thu Bon River, near where it empties into the South China Sea. It has remained active, as an important trading seaport, from about the 2^nd century, and there are a number of structures that date back three or four hundred years. This activity from world traders of the day, helped to develop skilled artisans in pottery, silks, weaving and wood carving, and the “old town”, with its narrow, twisty streets, has many shops displaying these wares. There is also no shortage of good eateries, and a market with fresh fruits and vegetables. I have become a big fan of a local orange, which should really be called a green. It has a skin of forest green color, and a flesh of bright orange. It is also very tasty, and very juicy — what’s not to like?

 

Local artisans of a more contemporary nature would have to include the tailors. Hoi An is filled with shops that will, for a very small fee, make you a shirt, trousers, a suit or dress, and have it completed in as little as four hours. There are stacks of different materials, in most any color, available for your choosing. I personally took a pass on this as tailor made blue jeans just don’t cut it, but Bonnie managed to find a desirable item or two. Darn, found another silk embroidery facility with yet another must-have picture. We are definitely going to have to try and avoid these places. It is amazing work though.

 

Because of its situation as a trading center, Hoi An has a strong representation of other nationalities such as Japanese and Chinese, and was the site of the first Chinese community in Vietnam. The outside influence is quite apparent in the architecture, from temples and bridges, to private homes. We toured through a private home that has been owned by the same family for six generations, over three hundred years. In actual fact, this house has been home to eight generations, as the daughter and granddaughter of the current owner, also live there. Of course, all these buildings were built along the river, and as a result flood every year in October or November. This will place a watermark four or five feet up the walls, but they take this all in stride. They merely move everything to the upper floors and settle in for four or five days. As the buildings are mostly built of brick, they seem to withstand this attack, as they have for hundreds of years.

 

We took a tour out to the Champa (Cham) temples just before we travelled on to Hue. These temples are situated at a place called My Son, and were the most important religious and intellectual center of its day. The Champa actually originated in central Vietnam, but trade with India converted them to the Hindu faith. They then spread their religion to the areas in which they lived. As their territory expanded during the second to fifteenth century, their religious inclination shifted to Buddhism, and now the descendants of the Cham Empire have to south Vietnam and to Indonesia, and have since become Muslims. Nothing remains the same. The temples at My Son were rediscovered by the French military in 1885 as the area was overgrown by the jungle, and the French army stumbled upon it by accident, while on patrol. They immediately started to plunder the ruins, and sent the artifacts back to France to display in their museums. My Son also suffered considerable damage from bombing by the American forces, during the Vietnamese war. It has since been established as a Unesco World Heritage sight, and restoration is currently being undertaken.

 

Next stop, Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam —