Even in historic locales, it’s sometimes hard to get a feel for life in days gone by. The endless barking of souvenir vendors selling smartphone accessories and the dodging of motorbikes are a reminder that you’re in a modern-day tourist area. But when the sun goes down in Hoi An, a sense of what was begins to emerge. The vendors head home to their families, the commute slows and the lanterns that lit the streets 500 years ago illuminate a revived town.
That moment you realize you’ve taken the same picture roughly 20 times is when you know you’re seeing something special. Our memory card is full of variations of Hoi An street scenes. The bright colors, interesting angles and haunting lighting is a photographer’s dreamーeven for point-and-shooters like us.Just after breakfast time, the small cafes began to empty out and the streets quieted before the daily rush of tourists arrived. This knick-knack vendorーstill in his pajamasーcaught a few winks during the downtime.Ornate decorations floated all along the Thu Bon River, including this one depicting Maudgalyāyana, a disciple of Buddha, emerging from a lotus flower.The Japanese Covered Bridge was built sometime in the 1700s, linking the Japanese and Chinese merchant settlements in Hoi An. A small Buddhist temple is attached to the bridge, the only one of its kind in the world.A moment of serenity in the streets of Hoi An.
On the ides of the lunar month, the electric lights in the ancient town are turned off and all motorized traffic is blocked, leaving only the lights of the lanterns. We visited in between these holidays, but just a regular night in Hoi An is a close replica.
Nice by day……and nicer by night!The lanterns at this shop were a big tourist draw for shoppers during day and photographers at night.A boy on a bike coasts through the lantern-lit streets.
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After 35 days of going, it was nice to finally have a day with nothing on the agenda. We took a taxi out to An Bang (pronounced On Bong) Beach early in the day and found a couple of lounge chairs under a bamboo umbrella. The little dot in the water to the right of my feet is Viktoria. Can you spot her
Several bamboo bowl boats were lined up on the beach. Local craftsmen have been making the boats for centuries, using a mixture of tree resin and rice bran to waterproof the vessels. They seem impossible to manuever, but the bowl captains have mastered it!On the left is the face of a man who’s been traveling for 35 days, yet somehow his wife is looking radiant and energized. What gives?!
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The UNESCO World Heritage town of Hoi An, located on the South China Sea, is a snapshot to another era. It’s location made it an ideal trading port for much of the last millennium, but political changes and changes in river conditions in the late 17th century turned Hoi An into a ghost town.
As a result of its loss in status, it became a forgotten part of Vietnam’s evolution and remained untouched for much of the next two centuries. Thanks to this preservation, the city now draws tourists from all around the globe looking for a glimpse of life in old Vietnam.
We knew our tour group would be making the trip from Hue to Hoi An on a public bus, but we were all surprised when a luxury coach showed up. Complete with reclining lounge seats and a complimentary bottle of water, it was a far cry from the #17 city bus from the airport in Hanoi. Sure enough, we picked up and dropped off passengers all the along the four-plus hour route.
The bus route passed through several small towns, offering a glimpse of the daily workday. Several people were raking out rice on the sidewalks and even into the streets to separate it from the stalks. I’ve read that the rice stalks are placed in the streets to allow passing cars to act as a grain thresher, separating the rice from the stalks.
The non la (conical hats) and carrying poles are still everyday tools for street vendors in Vietnam. Three ladies in Hoi An’s old town were selling fruit and thought I needed to try the gear on for size. I overpaid for some mangos and lychee afterward, figuring the extra amount was for the fun memory.
The Thu Bon River is still an important part of Hoi An. Fish are cleaned and sold at the public market on the rivers edge, but the river is mostly packed with tourist boats. We met an old boatsman named Captain Dan who promised to show us pictures of all of his American friends if we came back for a boat trip the next day.
The Hoi An Market Water Well is among the many tourist sights in the city, but we were more amused by the blatant disregard for the posted rules sign which clearly states both “Please do not sit on the well” and “Please do not park your motorcycle.”
Many of the old buildings have been repurposed for restaurants and shops, but still maintain the original architecture and external wear unique to coastal towns. Like Hanoi’s tube houses, the buildings in Hoi An have layouts unique to the city. The shop fronts the street with living quarters sandwiched between two courtyards behind it. The back of the building has a storage room facing the river, making it easy to load products out of the boats directly into the shops.
When we returned from exploring the old town area, these three little girls were riding their bikes in the parking area of our hotel. When we asked to photograph them, the girl on the left jumped into action. Clearly the ringleader, she got them all into position for the photo. The girl on the right followed along, but the girl in the middle didn’t quite trust us…
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The homes in Hanoi’s Old Quarter still reflect the family-driven architecture of the late 19th century. Many are three to five stories tall, but very narrow in the front while stretching deep into the lot. Properties were taxed based on width, so buildings were constructed with the narrow faces. The first floor typically contains a shop on the street side with a workshop in the back. The family resides in the upper floors, with as many as three generations living in the same home.
While orienting ourselves in the Old Quarter, this man came up and pointed out our current location on the map. He then gestured several times to our camera, indicating he’d like us to take his photo. We obliged and he said goodbye, heading back into his shop. I guess he wanted us to have something to remember him by… done and done!On Hang Dau (Shoe Street), brand name shoes made in Vietnamese or Cambodian factories spilled out onto the sidewalks. The authenticity may be dubious, but the prices are not. Unfortunately, larger Western-sizes for men are pretty hard to come by.At Ngoc Son (Temple of the Jade Mountain), a visitor left an apple on the tiger’s head as an offering. The tiger is a symbol of stability in feng shui.The Hanoi Opera House was built over the course of 10 years beginning in 1901 during the French colonial era. The opera house still hosts both Vietnamese and Western productions today.Hanoi is teeming with posters and in-construction decorations in preparation for the country’s 70th anniversary of independence on September 2. Should be quite a party!Walking toward Hoa Lo Prison (better known as the Hanoi Hilton where U.S. senator John McCain was held captive with other Americans during the Vietnam War) the skies began to turn a dreadful shade of purple. We managed to grab a taxi before it got too bad and watched the streets of the Old Quarter turn into a river from the dry hotel lobby. It was easily the most amount of rain I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something coming from a Cascadian!
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When we visited Halong Bay on the second day of Intrepid Travel’s “Explore Vietnam” tour, I didn’t really know what to expect. I have to admit, it was a pleasant surprise.
“Halong” roughly means “descending dragon” in ancient Vietnamese, leading to the mythological story of the creation of the nearly 2,000 limestone peaks rising out of the water. The entire area was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Archeological findings show humans lived in the area as early as 18,000 BC.
We left for Halong Bay during Hanoi’s morning rush hour. High taxes on automobiles make scooters and motorbikes the preferred mode of transportation among the nearly 3 million Hanoians.Along the way, we stopped for coffee and a quick tour of a small pottery and ceramics manufacturing company. A small area in the shade of the large vases was set aside as a break area. A low, narrow bench provided a place to sit and have tea or a smoke from a điếu cày (farmer’s pipe), basically a giant bong used with very powerful tobacco.Inside, a woman puts the finishing touches on one of the ceramic bowls. She worked quickly and precisely, creating a unique scene on each piece.Immediately upon arriving in Halong City, we boarded a boat and set course for a harbor on Bo Hon Island. The view back to the city over the Gulf of Tonkin was magnificent.Inside the limestone was a surprise… Sung Sot Cave (literally Surprise Cave). After climbing several stairs in Vietnam humidity, we descended a few steps inside the cave, when the area opened up into a theater of geology. Stalactites and stalagmites, natural hot springs and rock formations capturing the imagination (“doesn’t that one look like like a lion?”). In the late 1990s, the Chinese helped to install a pathway and colorful lighting to “enhance” the experience for tourists.From the overlook near the cave exit, many other tour boats joined us at the cave. A older Japanese man asked me in English where I was from. He really got a kick out of it when I answered him in Japanese and told him we lived there. Fortunately he was more interested in practicing his English than testing my Japanese!Fiddling with the nighttime settings on our new camera, I managed to capture the moon over the gulf on a cloudy evening.
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On our first full day in Hanoi, we wandered the Old Quarter. With a history spanning more than 2,000 years, the streets are a living, breathing history lesson. Each street is named for the types of items sold on the ancient streetsーHang Gai (Hemp Street) is now a silk paradise while metal workers now reside in the shops of Lo Ren (Blacksmith Street).
We started the day at the Ho Chi Minh Museum, part of the Communist leader’s mausoleum complex. The museum leans heavily toward Communist propaganda, but with a conceptual art twist. The story of Vietnam during the Uncle Ho (as he’s lovingly referred to by the people) era is told through abstract sculptures and immersive pieces. It’s also full of school children who we were told visit the mausoleum annually.Uncle Ho’s Soviet counterpart, Vladimir Lenin, has his own ominous statue in a park across the street from Hanoi’s Army Museum. Workers are preparing for the 70th anniversary of Vietnam’s post-World War II independence.A woman selling vegetables on a busy street near the Old Quarter.A parked bicycle is transformed into a fruit stand on a sidewalk on the outskirts of the Old Quarter shops.The Vietnam flag flies proudly from many homes. There’s a widely accepted story about the origins of the flag, but we haven’t heard much about the conflicting accounts of that story.Another mobile fruit market attracts customers.A flower vendor sizes up a pair of bouquets for a customer on the ever-present scooterIn the afternoon, we took a street food tour through Hanoi. Our first stop was for Pho Ga Tron, made, a popular summer dish made with cold noodles, veggies and peanuts. For three hours, we ducked into various stalls, apparently-empty shops and even through a garage into the second floor of a shop/home for some of Hanoi’s best eats.Hanoi’s version of green papaya salad, a dish that’s also popular in Thailand. Our guide told us it’s called the “single woman’s snack” in Hanoi because it keeps women slim and also has bust-enhancing superpowers. Who knew?Vietnam is one of the world’s major coffee producers and they do some unique things with it. This artful drink is called egg coffee and is served with whipped egg yolk on top. It was surprisingly good!
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After a week in Hong Kong, we headed west to Hanoi, Vietnam. After an easy flight, we boarded a city bus for a one-hour ride through countryside and small townsーthe only foreigners on board, although nobody seemed to notice. Soon, the roads grew more crowded and motorbikes appeared in droves as we approached Hanoi. We alighted at the final bus stop and walked through Hanoi’s Old Quarter toward our hotel. Along the way, the pace of life at dusk left our photos with blurs representative of the activity on the street.
The facades of the homes throughout northern Vietnam maintain influences from the French colonial era, while the sides of the home are often plain concrete. It’s hard not to stop and photograph each of them.We followed this balloon vendor for a few blocks as he tried to unload one of his many Minions.He finally made a sale of a red rooster!Hungry and in street food heaven, we stopped at the first banh mi stand that looked good. Banh mi is like a Vietnamese submarine sandwich, usually made with a pate spread on a fresh baguette topped with meats, shredded daikon (big white Asian radish), cilantro, jalapeños and mayo. We went with the fried egg and a couple local beers, which were served hot from a crate beside the stand.
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