We decided to only spend a day in Da Nang/Hoi An. Mind you, this is a place that some people spend a week. We knew we wanted to get up to Hanoi fairly soon since we had spent a bit too long in Nha Trang, so we only really left a day for Hoi An. Just to explain, the train actually pulls into Da Nang, since Hoi An does not have a train station. However, our plan was to spend the day in Hoi An, renting a motorbike from our hotel and making the 20 km drive to Hoi An for the day. Short info on Hoi An: it is a small fishing village on the central coast of Vietnam, with a heavy Chinese influence and a rich history. However, its claim to fame has to do with the plentiful tailor shops here. Vietnam is famous for making great tailor made clothing and shoes on the CHEAP, and Hoi An is the main place to do it (it has built a reputation for it). Originally, I was planning to get some clothes and shoes done here. However, Julia has a trusted tailor in Ho Chi Minh City so I will just get stuff done there since we will have more time there (although Hoi An is the place most tourists get clothes made, any major city in Vietnam has good tailors so the main thing is to go with someone you trust and you know can do a good job—hence choosing Julia’s tailor). Therefore, since we weren’t getting anything made (or so we thought) we decided we only needed a day to explore the small town and focus on EATING (which is also a popular pastime in Hoi An!). However, funny enough, we happened to walk by a popular shoe store and we enquired about how long it would take to make shoes for us. When they told us they could get them ready for that evening, and that shoes we liked start at about $40, we were sold. Tom got some beautiful, perfectly fitted loafers, and some nice brown dress shoes with a matching belt. I got dressy sandals (since the only sandals I have left are my scrubby, comfortable ones, since my nicer ones were 1-left in Thailand and 2-the strap broke) and winter boots! All good quality leather and all fit to size! Priceless in Tom’s situation, since he has trouble finding any decent shoes with his shoe size!!! I am excited to get clothes done in Ho Chi Minh after the shoe success! And we VOW to return here for a ‘mini’ shopping spree :P I know I am supposed to not crave things like the meditation course taught me, but it is hard in Hoi An! The place reminded us of our good friend Richard—if he could create a mini town for himself Hoi An would be it. I think he would be dancing in the streets, with frequent stops at various tailors and cafes :P
Other than our shoe endeavour, we ate like kings in Hoi An! I think we had a ‘snack’ every hour on the hour the entire day we were there! We tried to sample all the local dishes, and I must say we were not disappointed!!! The food was impeccable! Lots of seafood, lots of noodles, more spice compared to the south, and incredible flavours! We love you Hoi An! We will be back!
We had a night train from Da Nang so we just sat at our Da Nang hotel for about an hour (after giving back the motorbike) and then got a taxi to the train station. This was the only night train we planned to do while in Southeast Asia ---they really tired us out in India! This night cabin was much better than the Indian sleeper trains so we were more comfortable. The scenery was beautiful too, although it was dark when we passed one of the most beautiful parts of the train trip between Da Nang and Hue. Oh well, yet another reason to come back to this beautiful country.
To be fair, there are pros and cons to every place. Also, it differs tremendously when you visit a place versus when you live in a place (as we learned through discussions with Julia & Bart). As a tourist in southeast asia, you mostly see all of the stuff that caters to tourism, so you don’t see the everyday difficulties. Oddly enough, you do see a lot more of the ‘everyday life’ in India, mainly because it is more of an independent traveler place, a place where they don’t really cater to tourists and you have to fend for yourself. In Southeast Asia, it is quite easy to take a travel path that keeps you quite far from the locals and the local customs. We have been trying very hard to get as close to the ‘everyday life’ as we can, but we are still tourists in a tourist catering country, so it is not as easy as in India.
However, some observations I have made:
The Vietnamese language is ridiculously difficult. We became familiar with rudimentary Swahili in Tanzania, and Tom had a few basic Thai words down when we were there. India had so many different dialects in the places we were that we didn’t really bother to learn Hindi (although we should have and I regret we didn’t get into it more). Vietnamese is insane! We have barely mastered thank you! Everything is in the pronunciation and accentuation of the word, forget the actual letters! The same spelling can be said and meant in a variety of different ways! Just like Chinese! So hard for our Slavic and westernized tongues to grasp! Although they are grateful when we stay thank you in Vietnamese, I bet most travelers don’t even bother with that….
Another thing is the personal space issue. People do not respect your personal space here. Whether it is motorbikes on the road or people sitting next to you on the train, you do not have a ‘personal bubble’ here (as Julia so aptly points out). It can get quite frustrating at times---i.e. do not stick your foot out onto my train seat please! Gross! It is just a cultural thing, I know, but not one that us westerners are comfortable with ….
The Vietnamese are great sales people. They bug you and bug and bug you to buy stuff. Everyone wants a quick buck, and in the tourism hotspot that Vietnam is becoming (?has become) it is easy to see why they want to make money off of you. You cannot blame them, they just want to use tourism to their advantage. But, unfortunately, as with Thailand, you notice when a place starts to become too touristy—the people become less sincere and more greedy. The true essence of the culture gets lost. Sadly, we have seen that here too –and to be fair, as travellers, we have added to that negative change! However, it is heartwarming to have moments like driving through small villages or meeting people who are sincere and open, happy to meet you and know about you. We have had those kinds of encounters too, and we really cherish them. On a quick side note, this is the main reason we want to see Burma/Myanmar now and not in 5 years: the place just started to open up to tourism and we have heard/read that the people are so genuine and so sincere- the most amazing people, as fascinated with you as you are with them. So we want to see it before it becomes another Thailand; see it in its purest form, in its real cultural integrity…..
The people we have met in Vietnam have been mixed. On many occasions they have been very helpful and kind, but in other cases you meet ultimate scammers and cheaters (AKA the ‘douchebag’ boat). In any place you are bound to meet both types of people, but I am happy to say we have been lucky and have met more of the good characters while here. The Vietnamese are also incredibly hard working. We saw the hard workers and long work hours in India too, but the Vietnamese do it to a different scale. Leaving for the airport at 6am there are plenty of people already at work in certain store fronts or construction sites, and if they are not at work yet they are all enjoying their morning Pho already! And they never seem tired! They always seem awake and alert! A morning state I have NEVER achieved! I am happy just to fall out of bed :P
