Pho in Nha Trang
Boat in Nha Trang
Train from Hoi An to Hue
Candle in HoiAn
HoiAn
Eve, here. Sorry that ended a bit abruptly...our bus person came. Anyways, we're in Hoi An now. We had quite the little adventure getting to Hoi An from Nha Trang. We decided to take the bus because it went directly to Hoi An--there's no bus station here. From the moment we got on the bus, it was all downhill. A sleeper bus: three rows across, little reclined seats--our legs were much too long, our bags were squishing us, and then....the Viet pop music started. Oh, and the bathroom was broken for an 11 hour trip. I was frowning, especially since I hadn't had any dinner. After about 15 minutes on the bus, they announced we were switching buses. Great, one with a working bathroom. Problem: this bus' seats did not recline. Since we were leaving at 7 pm, and expecting to get into Hoi An in the morning, it was important that we were able to sleep. We decided to jump ship and take the train. Problem: if there were no train tickets, we'd be stuck in Nha Trang for several days (because of the New Year). Luckily, there were ticketse available, and we had 4 hours to kill before our train, so we went to the Louisiane Brewery, a Western hangout that actually brews its own beer. Most romantic place we'd been so far, definitely--candlelit table, looking over a pool and the ocean. The moon was shining, the weather was perfect..but the food wasn't very good at all. This has been the case every time we do NOT eat street food. If you come here, the little streetside pho or bahn mi (Vietnamese sandwhich) stands are absolutely the way to go.
The train trip to Hoi An was lovely--we had hard sleeper tickets (6 to a room, just a pad, but we like it that way) and shared our cabin with a very nice family with two little children. Slept well, enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery, just like you'd imagine stereotypical Vietnam. Rice paddies, people working with the conical straw hats, and using water buffalo to till their fields. We arrived at Danang in the morning, and were planning to take a bus to Hoi An. Best laid plans. We obviously were not clear about where we wanted to go (the bus station) because the taxi driver ended up taking us all the way to Hoi An. There was definitely a very uncomfortable moment when we realized we were much past the bus station and going somewhere--we made him pull over until we talked to a friend of his who spoke English, and confirmed we were going to Hoi An.
We arrived at Hoi An, a very small town that's famous for its old city (and a UNESCO World Heritage site), which looks very Chinese to me, with its curved roofs and hutong style homes. We found a hotel, had lunch, and walked around the Old City. We walked over the Hoi An river to Cham Nam island, where we found the Sleepy Gecko, an Australian-run bar. We watched the world go by from an upstairs veranda, all alone, looking at Hoi An on the opposite shore and people commuting with their motorbikes on the river as a cool breeze flowed through. Later that afternoon, we sampled Hoi An's speciality (at a small Vietnamese restaurant): Chau Lau noodles, which are very chewy/doughy, apparently made with the town's well water. It came in the bowl with roast pork, herbs (including one that tasted exactly like fish), lime, and pork skin croutons. Later, we would order the same thing from a supposedly 'nice place' and it was terrible. Yet more evidence that the best food is from places that cater to the Vietnamese and have plastic patio chairs that would be sold as child's chairs in America.
Ron taking over-
The evening, last night, New Year's Eve, was probably the best moment we've had so far this trip. It was a full moon, which meant that it was "Legends Night" in Hoi An--bicycles and motorbikes are banned from the roads in old town, there are glowing lanterns hanging from the trees, and everyone is out walking with their families. Lucky for us, Legends Night fell on New Year's Eve. We spent time at various bars, sitting outside and watching the world go by. Not sure if it was for Legends night or for the New Year, but they seemed to have areas around old town that represented different countries around the world. People were dressed in the Vietnamese interpretation of each country's culture, and there was dancing and music that presumably matched the nation. For example, in the England area, there were people in Buckingham Palace guard outfits and a cardboard statue of Big Ben, and the loudspeaker would ring every once in a while. It was clear, however, that the Vietnamese do not have a firm grasp on every culture- as you would expect, the Dutch area had a windmill and the stereotypical Dutch girls with the bonnets and clogs, but then the boys wore red and blue felt cowboy hats, flannel shirts, and tight jeans, and they all square danced together to fiddle music. I'm clearly just not well informed regarding the vibrant Dutch cowboy culture. Later, as Eve and I had a beer at a streetside table at a bar, these various country teams would form a parade through the old town. Very cool.
The best part of the night was taking a little shallow long boat on the river. The little boat was piloted by a tiny Vietnamese woman, who was nevertheless an excellent paddler. In Asia, it is a good luck tradition to light a candle in a small cardboard lotus flower, and then to place the flower on the river to float away. The effect is many small lit flowers floating along, and it is strikingly beautiful. So Eve and I were being paddled along through these light and beside the banks that were packed with people dancing and singing at the various country areas. And, of course, there was a bright blue moon above us giving everything not lit by the tree lanterns and lotus flowers a soft white glow. It was a very special moment, and the boat paddler then gave us our own lotus flower, which Eve released to flow downriver. The paddler took quite a shine to us, and intermittently laugh with what seemed to be real delight, as well as pointing out the various sites and randomly saying, "Happy New Year!"
Needless to say, we are quite pleased with ourselves that we left Nha Trang, which would have been quite a party but would not have had the very Asian festival flavor that our New Year's ended up being.
Well, I believe we are on to Hanoi, more updates to come!
Writing to you from the future, 2010 (for the next 7 hours at least), with much love.
