Hoi An – Vietnamese Gingerbread – August 30th 2008

This is the ethnic fabric and silk shawl that I bought

The Japanese bridge with one of its inhabitants below

A monk who has found a peaceful spot to read

On prayer days almost every available spot becomes an altar

I caught this cat snacking in the altar offerings

I have managed to resist buying a lantern - I keep reminding myself I have low ceilings

Believe it or not I have been selective in the photos I have posted of Hoi An - I took over 300 in two days!!!!!



Hoi An – Vietnamese Gingerbread – 30th August 2008


Hoi An is a quaint city. Our young interpreter Nugyen was disappointed – several times he commented that his dreams had been destroyed because the city which he loved in his youth has been changed irrevocably by the might of the tourist dollar. I could see why he felt that way because it is touristy and cute but it is also utterly entrancing. I loved wandering around in the streets and narrow alleyways peering into the old buildings and courtyards. Our one full day passed very quickly and I have to confess that I did not visit some of the cultural sights that I should have seen.

One of the problems was that I was distracted by the shopping. Until now I have done very little of this in Viet Nam – sometimes it feels like the place is one gigantic Two Dollar shop. In Quy Nhon one can only buy practical items and junk. It is not a place for shopping. Even in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City the shopping is dominated by clothes, consumer goods and tourist trash but in Hoi An I found many things that I wanted to buy.

My big treat was a bedspread size textile made of old pieces of blue and green ethnic weaving sewn together in strips. The fabric is patched and worn and utterly beautiful. It cost a lot in Vietnamese dong but it was just what I wanted so I decided that I would not wait to see if I found another elsewhere cheaper. I also bought a beautiful silk shawl from a government shop. It is Vietnamese raw silk in a rich caramel/gold/brown with stripes of tan, green and cream on the ends. It is quite unlike any that I have seen in the more commercial shops. It took me ages to choose just one – if funds had allowed I would have left the shop laden down with half a dozen of them. I also bought a contemporary handcrafted cushion cover, several pieces of china and some cheap bracelets. It felt like utter decadence.

I also enjoyed taking heaps of photographs. The bright light and deep shadows made this difficult at times but the colors and textures, particularly of the walls, windows and doors are irresistible.

In the evening we had dinner at a riverside restaurant – first we checked out one recommended in the Lonely Planet but it was crammed with other tourists clutching their guides so we found a quieter establishment and had very nice grilled fish wrapped in banana leaves. It was one of the frequent Buddhist prayer days so as we walked home we saw many altars set up on the sides of the street. It interests me to see people burning the paper money and goods they are gifting to their deceased loved ones. Nugyen tells me that if it was a young man he may not only be given the usual motorbikes and cars but also images of women and even condoms – apparently no need or desire is left unmet!

Hoi An - Guilty Pleasures- 30th August 2008

While walking along the street I heard the sound of drumming. As I turned the corner I came across a long funeral procession. A group of decorated cyclos led people pushing four altars on wheels. Amongst them walked priests dressed in yellow robes and people in ornate costumes twirling yellow umbrellas on tall poles. The coffin was carried by about a dozen unifomed men who were followed by the white dressed mourners and many people pushing motorbikes. I was torn between guilt and camera greed - you can see which side of me won!

Further down the street this old man persuaded me to visit his house. It is over 300 yeras old and has apparently been in his family for six generations. It is built of teak and is long, dark and narrow. The rates are charged according to the width of the street frontage so this style continues even in modern houses. Unlike many parts of Viet Nam, Hoi An largely escaped damage in the "American" war so it has many beautiful old houses and streets.

It felt a bit strange wandering around their home taking photos especially as some family members were still sleeping or having breakfast but he had invited me in, and charged me an exhorbitant price, so I decided not to feel too guilty.

This photo of a bed in the sunlight is one of my all-time favorites

The kitchen area. No mod-cons to break down!

The outside laundry/bathroom area

An example of the teak panelling

Early Morning in the Hoi An Fish Market - 30th August 2008

Early Morning in the Hoi An Fish Market - 30th August 2008

One of the places that I loved in Hoi An was the fish market. It was incredibly crowded and smelly but fantastic. I rolled up my trousers, blessed my thick soled washable shoes and waded into the throng. Getting in the way of the people who were so industriously and noisily conducting their business could have been incredibly annoying but they were amazingly tolerant and resisted pushing me into the river.

These fish were so thin and flat they were almost two dimensional - it was like looking at a painting of fish.

Trip To Hoi An - 29th September 2008

Trip to Hoi An – 29th September 2008

It was with the pleasure of children being let out of school on the last day of term that Ann, Pat, Adeline, Nguyen and I piled into the car with our driver Dong on Friday afternoon and headed off north for Hoi An. One of the pleasures of traveling in Viet Nam is that, like New Zealand, the countryside changes often as you travel. We traveled over extensive river deltas, through coconut palm forests, along coastal areas with white sands and bright blue seas and over rolling hills. One of the places that we stopped to look at was a huge area of salt farming. The people here have the unenviable job of toiling in the blistering heat carrying heavy loads of salt across the bleak landscape of algae filled evaporation ponds. It looked like a version of hell on earth.

Equally desolate was an extensive area where the fine white sand is mined for export for glass making. The land is infertile here and the lives of the people, who are incredibly poor, are made even more miserable by the number of landmines that remain. Apparently people here are still regularly maimed by exploding mines. Those of us lucky enough to have been born to comfortable lives in wealthy countries are incredibly fortunate.

A little further north we stopped again to look at an extensive lagoon that was so full of stick and net traps that it was impossible to imagine how any fish could remain alive yet the area is still rich in sea food.

One of the things that I continue to enjoy is the rice paddies. On previous trips they have been brilliant greens but now, as most of the rice has ripened for harvest, there is much more variety in the colors. While some green areas remain many of the paddies are filled with rice turned to shades of yellow. These are interspersed with harvested paddies where the rich brown soil is exposed and fields which have been blackened by the fires used to burn off the stubble. Each of the paddies is quite small, about the area of a tennis court, creating a rich patchwork of greens, yellows and browns. The colors glowed in the golden light as the sun dropped lower in the sky. I have tried hard to commit these colors to memory because when I return to New Zealand I want to make a piece of felt that evokes the scene.

The countryside was abuzz with activity. Throughout the fields hundreds of workers, wearing the ubiquitous conical hats and dressed in baggy clothes faded to pastel shades, were engaged in the labor of scything and gathering the rice. For many miles the outside lanes of the road were covered in grains of drying rice. Many people were busy raking this into long lines to turn it for drying while others were using large cane baskets to winnow the rice before loading it into sacks for transport. Late in the day, when it became apparent that it was about to rain heavily, scores of people were hurriedly completing this task.

We arrived in Hoi An in the dark and after a quick check in to a quiet comfortable hotel we went in search of dinner. This was a great time to first see the city because one of the things for which Hoi An is famous is silk lanterns. The streets, shops and restaurants are festooned with glowing, brilliantly colored lanterns. Along the river the light from these was reflected in the dark water intensifying the effect. It was a wonderful way to be introduced to the city and will remain with me as an image. Both Hoi An and Hue are also famous for their cuisine and dinner was also a memorable event. Bypassing the expensive riverside restaurants Nguyen and Dong led us to a small restaurant where we feasted on the local specialties of delicately flavored crab and noodle soup, scrumptious wontons and rice paper parcels stuffed with shrimp. This was a great end to a interesting day.

For the memories I have included some photos from this day even though they were all disappointing; the light was too dazzling at the salt farms and sea to capture the images, my attempts to record the colors of the field from the moving car are blurry and the pictures of the lanterns are pale and fuzzy compared to the real thing. The next morning I was up by five and I had a little more success. I will include these in my next blog.