FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: How To Be A Tourist In Hoi An

Well preserved Old Town of Hoi An

The travel agent seemingly took my brief of "hit the highlights" very seriously. Today was an exercise in the demonstration of how-many-"touristy"-things-can-you-do-in-day. Wham bam here you go thank you mam. We did so much it was hard to remember what we did.

Our first adventure was unplanned and came about from the need to do laundry on account of sweaty clothes accumulation. We had to do it before breakfast because hey...when breakfast is a buffet you don't want to rush it. Our pick up was at 0900. So Oma and I wandered around the streets outside our hotel carrying 7.5kg of washing. The first few laundry places we saw were unfortunately closed and the ones that were open wanted to charge us a ridiculous $2.55 per kg (Aussie dollar) so we politely declined. A lady on a motorbike came up to us and said she has a shop and could do it for $1.90 per kg and that it would be ready by 4pm but she opened late and we could come back anytime. So of course, naturally I hopped on a stranger's motorbike with said laundry, left my mother on the street to find her own way back home, and got our laundry sorted! 😂 It didn't take long. She did have a legit shopfront which was around 5 min walk from our hotel. Payment was on pick up and she dropped me back to the hotel and thankfully I found my mother safe and sound eating breakfast! All good! It is worth mentioning here that breakfast was the first dining experience that has been sub-par. Not that it is bad, but as Elliot commented, the others have been so good.

The traditional elements that I was tired to document last night

Beautiful bath

Themed vanity and mirror

The view from our balcony

Seating area, ignore the mess...

Our hotel entrance. Colonial architecture but with traditional designs

The breakfast area overlooking the pool which we didn't have time to use! The hotel also had a private beach with free shuttles that we didn't get to use

Buffet breakfast selection

Can't fault them on choice

Traditional Vietnamese offering

Green papaya salad

Sticky rice

Even my mother couldn't tell me what the green thing on the left was...

Waiting for our pick up at the lobby

Our whirlwind of a day started just after breakfast. Our day was divided into roughly 2 halves, with 2 different guides showing us around. The first was run by Vu, a local fisherman who has turned to "eco" tourism to help with income. First up, the traditional Vietnamese rice paddy and water buffalo. The initial plan was to cycle through country paths. That was soon replaced by a minibus ride straight to the local rice farmer and his water buffalo (thank goodness!) because of the heat. The demonstration of the rice planting process also had to be somewhat modified as the rice had just been harvested and there was not enough water at the moment!

We continued to the river towards a fishing village where we had the opportunity to try two different methods of fishing. Well Elliot and I tried, Opa and Oma just watched and laughed from afar. The water adventure didn't stop there. We transferred into traditional basket boats to explore the coconut palm jungle, carefully navigating around the big groups of bright and loud Korean party basket boats! Our final destination was Vu's home, which his father had built. Vu and his family cooked us an incredible seafood meal. Simple, fresh and delicious. Vu told stories of how life used to be, and how it is transforming. Whilst he was excited about the future, he was also concerned that things were moving too fast and that their old ways of life and customs were disappearing as well as the coconut palms which were being cleared for modern development. Whilst the big roads brought in all the day tourists, the natural environment has taken a hit. Vu drove us back to the centre of town to meet up with Hung at a local coffee shop. Some iced coffee was in order to briefly sit out the worst heat of the day. And thus began part two.

The prized water buffalo that was worth more than a motorcycle!

The beach

Captain Elliot

Going along the river to meet up with the fisherman

The net mainly used for night fishing. A clever system of ropes and pulleys operated the raising and lowering of the net. She made it look easy.

Elliot's legs were too long!

Next up, traditional net fishing. It was harder than it looks

Basket boat to explore the coconut palm forest

There's always time for a selfie. And no self respecting tourist would take a photo without donning the Vietnamese hat

It was pretty narrow at times

We've arrived at Vu's house. You can see our lunch table to the right

Coconut palm village

There was a nice breeze thank goodness

Clams

Prawns

Red snapper

Vu showing us his home, made of natural materials only

Hung took us on a walking tour of the Old Town of Hoi An. Hoi An is unique as it was a busy trading port with architecture from Chinese, Japanese and French influences. The old town has remarkably been well preserved, and is absolutely gorgeous making it a prime tourist destination. Tourism has exploded particularly pre-pandemic. A far cry from the Hoi An I visited 25 years ago. Despite, the presence of commercialised tourism, Hoi An has not lost its charm. The one thing that we did not get to see in its glory was the Japanese Bridge, being renovated after flood damage. We also had to forgo wood carving because we ran out of time...

A popular thing to do in Hoi An was having clothes custom made. We took the opportunity at the silk shop to have 2 silk tops, a silk dress, and a dress shirt, all made to order for AUD448. We left the shop at 4pm and it would be delivered by the tailor at 7am the next to our hotel for a brief fitting so he could make minor adjustments if necessary. Simply incredible.

Hung also perceptively organised a 90 minute massage post tour, coming in at AUD32 per person. Bargain. What a champion! My parents were struggling with the heat so Hung suggested that we pick up some banh mi to take away and eat at the comfort of our hotel. The Old Town at night was a highlight with all the lanterns lit up romantically. We honed in on the banh mi shop made famous by Anthony Bourdain. The banh mi menu was long! Hung recommended 2 and we just bought it. They didn't disappoint. The bread was crispy and the filling was packed with flavour. Definitely much better than home!!

Everything is original

This house had Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese elements but I was so overwhelmed by information at this point, I could not remember which was which...sorry!

Yes these ying yang coins is dated 118 BC!

Next tourist activity - lantern making!

It was a lot of fun!

Opa and Oma took it very seriously

As did Elliot

The finished products!

We got to take our lanterns home

Time to look at how silk is made. Another specialty here. They also do amazingly detailed embroidery. We couldn't take photos but they truly were works of art