Hoi An 23rd October 2007
I love Vietnam. I arrived here at this relaxed little town 5 days ago and seem to have entered a kind of timeless zone, the days drift by and by now I'm feeling quite at home here. Hoi An, a dyslexic Hanoi and the complete antidote the latter's hectic pace, is a market town half way down Vietnam, beside a lazy river and only 5km from a long sandy beach.
The market here is the best I've ever come across, so colourful and selling all things imaginable. Fresh fish come in straight from the boats on the river alongside, and the fruit and vegetables are piled high. Hoi An is also the textile centre of the universe, there's a huge fabric market selling silks, taffetas, cottons and linens and the town has in excess of 500 tailor shops where you can get anything from a suit to a wedding dress made in less than 24hrs. A belly dancer's paradise! There are also numerous shoe makers offering the same kind of service with leathers of every colour. Although everything is dirt cheap by western standards it's very easy to get swept along and spend loads of dosh on stuff which you then have to post home because you cann't possibly carry it all. I met an Australian woman with a bit of a shoe fettish who had purshased 15 pairs of handmade shoes in all manner of colours and styles and a Canadian guy who went into a shop for 2 shirts and came away with 10 shirts and 2 suits. I keep telling myself that I just don't need anything but I must admit I have indulged a little.
The town is also famous for it's artists who use laquers of red and gold and yellow and many of the paintings are stunning. And then there are the wood carvers....the list goes on and on. Such talented focused people. It makes us westerners seem pathetic by comparison.
I spent a couple of nights in a hotel overlooking the river with a young German woman that I met on the bus travelling down here. Then I had 3 nights in a budget place that didn't have a lot to recommend it apart from its cheapness. Today I moved to a rather plush place with a swimming pool and lots of perks like free internet and bike loan because I felt I was due a bit of a treat and anyway it's only about 10 euro a night for luxury. I've now got a little routine going biking to the beach with a break for a beer at this beautiful riverside bar half way there.
It's very monsoony here at the moment, with intermittant torrential downpours which I don't find at all unpleasant because the rain is so warm. It's actually quite refreshing and then after a bit the sun comes out again and you get dry. Another one just started now and it's a humdinger, as if god is up there with a ginormous bucket of water. There's lots of girld shrieking and the noise on the roof is so load it's deafening.
Most people here ride bikes though there's loads of small motor bikes too. Many of the kids ride two up on a bike, one on the saddle and one on the luggage rack and they have this great co-operative pedaling technique with both pairs of feet on the pedals. The young girls look fabulous riding to school in the traditional Vietnemese white silk dresses which are their school uniforms.
On the beach today I met a tiny stick of an old lady who was 90 years old selling coconuts and pineapples to the tourists. Her face told a thousand stories and her toothless grin was captivating. What a history she must have lived through. I've been reading a brilliant book here called "When Heaven and Earth changed places" by Ly Le Haslip; a true story of a young woman who lived through the war here and eventually escaped to America. It's a great story of pain, suffering and cruelty but also hope, courage and forgiveness. It's highly recommended reading. I find being in these faraway places really makes me want to find out about history.
So guys, you get the message, come to Vietnam, it's brilliant.
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