Hoi An
I arrived in Hoi An a day after typhoon Nori had devastated the region. 200’000 people had been evacuated and about 10 people died. Many flights were cancelled and it wasn’t clear at all whether I would get there. Once I arrived, late in the evening, I was actually surprised that my flight had landed in Danang. The way from the airport to the hotel was a real obstacle course. Literally every single tree along the road was now somewhere in the middle of the road and the driver had to carefully circle around them. The area looked like New York after hurricane sandy.
Hoi An is a beautifully historic town along the vietnamese coast. It used to be a very wealthy town of traders and was heavily influenced by China and Japan. Then, as the water became shallower and the neighboring city of Danang developed, people lost interest in Hoi An. So the city has basically been left untouched for hundreds of years without anyone being interested in it. This is what now makes its beauty, as the streets of Hoi An’s old town are basically the way they were in the 16th century.
When I was walking around town I felt a little bit like I had landed on another planet. I knew Vietnam was really touristy and developed. Usually (and sadly) this often means that cities loose their identity and become fully westernized, but not in Hoi An. Hoi An couldn’t be more Vietnamese, I really felt like a landed on a different planet. First of all, the narrow streets and historic Chinese shophouses give the city a timeless feeling. And even though every single house in the old town is selling clothes, shoes or other souvenir items for tourists, the city somehow feels authentic. All of the shopkeepers wear traditional clothes and many of the food vendors and people going to and from the market wear the vietnamese straw hat. The city is also full of old vietnamese bicycles and many of the helmets that people wear display communist symbols.
In the evening, the city could not become more romantic and enchanting. All of the shophouses are decorated with colorful paper lanterns that illuminate the street. In addition, the tradition of the town is to place candles inside of a paper box in the river. The idea is that you make a wish once you place the candle in the river and watch it floating away. People used to just do it on full moon. But as far as I could tell, the night of full moon just had even more candles floating in the river. Watching all of these lights floating downstream into the sea is just a wonderful sight. There were also many boats along the river that served as restaurants and bars. I spent many evenings on these boats, watching the candles and listening to life music.
Another characteristic of Hoi An is its food. Without a doubt, Hoi An has the best food I have had so far on my trip. The dishes I had there were all things I had never eaten or seen anywhere else before. For example, I ate a prawn curry that had been baked inside of a coconut, a squid filled with pork, and a crepe made out of rice and filled with salad, vegetables and shrimp. Simply incredible! You also really feel the French influence in the food. Many places serve freshly baked baguettes, caramel deserts and some version of a crepe.
One of the typical things to do in Hoi An is to order custom-made clothing and shoes. The town is full of cloth and shoe-makers. Even though I had basically not bought anything on my trip so far, I left Hoi An with 5 new pairs of shoes and 3 custom-made dresses. I loved the experience! But I also developed a whole new appreciation for clothing and shoe design. I really did not realize how much work it is! First you have to choose the design which is most likely a hybrid of existing designs. Then you have to choose the fabric for clothing and leather for the shoes. There are millions of questions involved in that process. You have to pay attention to the color combination, decide what fabric goes where, decide what type of fabric you want (silk, cotton, etc), if you want a solid color or a pattern on the fabric. After choosing the fabric, you have at least as many choices for the threads. Of course there is absolutely no visual support for making these decisions and you have to imagine everything in your head. It’s hard hard work…
Overall I really loved Hoi An and was very sad to leave. There wasn’t anything in particular to visit in this town, but the whole atmosphere was so charming, the food so delicious and the people so friendly that it really ended up being a highlight of my trip.
See more images here.
