The lovely town of Hoi An

Dec 22 Winter Solstice

We took a bus from our hotel to Hoi An, an ancient city a few hours away to the south. This bus was quite unusual. The seats were  double decker, three rows down the length of the bus and were fully reclined. There were about 40 seats in all. As a 69 year old I found it awkward at best getting down near the floor to then slide into the seat. Fortunately the back could be raised partially but the rest of the seat remained reclined.. As you entered the bus we were required to remove our shoes and put them in a plastic bag and carry them to our assigned seat. Ron and I 'sat' across an aisle from each other as there are only single seats, unlike trains, buses and planes where usually there is a row with two-five seats across. It rained the entire trip and the windows fogged up so I slept much of the way. We had a rest stop and I found it a test of flexibility to get out of a reclined seat that was about four inches from the floor. Part of the trip we were right on the coast or in the mountains but visibility was poor most of the time. The bus was unheated like much of Vietnam, we have experienced. Everywhere we have been, we find most locals are wearing flip flops and no socks. Occasionally I see socks  or shoes instead of sandals. Locals will also be seen wearing their winter coats while working at a counter.

When we got off the bus in Hoi An, two men ran up to us and wanted to take us to our hotel on their motorcycles. No thanks, it is raining for crying out loud. They insisted there were no cars in Hoi An. It is best to thoroughly read your tour books. Ours said there were two reliable cab companies. We told the men we planned to take a taxi and the men yelled there are no taxis. About that time a taxi picked up some of the other passengers. A woman whom we had spoken with on the bus got out of the taxi and asked if she could help. She was Vietnamese. We asked if her driver would call a taxi and she said yes. Then another taxi arrived and we were on our way. 

Our hotel is located right on the river and very scenic. The entire old quarter is quite atmospheric. Our hotel was an easy five minute walk to old town. The old quarter is small and easy to cover in the two days we have. It rained all day and we got soggy shoes and clothes even with umbrellas. Hoi An is one of the nations wealthiest towns, a culinary mecca with cooking classes offered everywhere. Hoi An is also one of the country's most important tourism centers. There are Japanese and Chinese influences here. Hoi An was a port prior to the river silting up. For four centuries it was one of Asia's major international ports: Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Spanish, Indian, Filipino, Thai, French, Dutch, Portuguese, British and American ships came to call. Chinese and Japanese traders in particular left their mark.

We walked past the Japanese Covered Bridge that was originally built in the 1590's, the Fujian Chinese Congregation Hall which was transformed into a temple to worship a deity from a Fujian province. 

There are a number of old houses that are open to tourists as part of the old town ticket. You get to go to five sites for the fee you pay and you choose which of the 22 sites you want to see. Because it is such a small area it is easy to see five in a day. We visited the Tan Ky house built two centuries ago by a wealthy Vietnamese merchant. The architecture was influenced by Japan and China. 

note how close the river is to the door way

The interior courtyard lets in light, allows the resident to collect rainwater and provides ventilation. The house backs up to the river and has been flooded numerous times. One wall had been marked where the water level was during numerous floods. Several marks were over our heads.

We also visited the Assembly Hall of the Cantonese Chinese Congregation. Apparently each group had their own hall, a placing for celebrations and gatherings. This place had some fantastic dragons made from mosaic tiles. Saucers were scales. Way cool. See photos. We ended the sight seeing with the Tran Family Chapel built  in 1802 for worshipping family ancestors. The chapel was built by Tran Tu of the clan who ascended to the rank of Mandarin and served as an ambassador to China. Somewhere in all that touring we ate our best meal ever in Vietnam at a place recommended in Lonely Planet. They had a brochure on their cooking classes so we signed up for the next day.

Dec 23

After breakfast we went to Old Town for some decent (non-Vietnamese) coffee. We have yet to get good coffee in a hotel. We then headed for our class  Taste Vietnam Street Food Tour. OMG what an experience. There were six students including us. The school is a restaurant as well as a school. We entered a large room that had numerous cooking stations along three of the walls. It was fun and a big yum. Our instructor lead us by each station to explain what the food was and offering us a taste of anything we wanted. One section was called 'weird wonderful foods' which included pigs ears, two kinds of snails, brains, worms, offal which I call awful ( liver, intestine,  etc.).

Our lunch followed; it was tremendous both literally and figuratively. . We didn't do much cooking but did prepare dishes to be cooked. We had rice paper rolls with shrimp and pork, crispy spring rolls, jack fruit salad with about 10 ingredients, crispy pancakes with pork, shrimps and sprouts which we did cook ourselves, rice cake pork and chillies cooked in a banana leaf, and Hoi An famous noodle dish with marinated pork. We topped the meal off with our choice of ice cream. I had mango sorbet.

After lunch we walked to old town and visited the folklore museum before finishing the afternoon with another Americano and chocolate tart. Goodness, we are going to hell in a hand basket in this town! We went to another fabulous restaurant for dinner. This town is a great place to eat.

At night the entire old town is lit up like a Christmas tree.  All through town are Chinese lanterns that are lit from within; reflecting in the water of the river.