Trip to Hoi An
Hello All,
Well, here comes another long travelogue so hit delete if you wish.
I went to Hoi An a few weks ago for a long weekend. I fly to Da Nang and caught a taxi to Hoi An, about forty minutes to the south. Da Nang caught the brunt of Typhoon Xangzane and there was a lot of evidence of damage. Tree limbs were piled up on the edge of the streets, roofs were blown off and some smaller, ill constructed houses were completely destroyed.
The ride to Hoi An paralled the Pacific. I caught glimpses of the water but couldn’t see the beaches. Passed what is know as China Beach made famous by an America TV series about the war. Stayed at the Grassland Hotel which is about two kilometers from the center of town. The receptionists wore beautiful traditional dresses, long silk pants with a full-lenghth dress split of the side to just above the waist. The dresses button up to the neck and always have long sleeves, but are soft and flowing and beautiful. The Vietnamese value white skin and do everything they can to avoid the sun. On motorbikes, the women wear masks, hats and long gloves. I first though the masks were to avoid polution but now I think they are as much to avoit getting burned.
Decided to go into town and the hotel provided a bike for me to ride. Said to park it anywhere and lock it. That was an experience. Though Hoi An is a small town there was still plenty of motorbike traffic and plenty of honking of horns. I just tried to ignore it and go on.
Hoi An was also hit badly by the typhoon. I huge tree was down in one of the small streets and one road was still completely filled with mud which they were trying to sweep up.The town is filled with small shops and is famous for making custom-made clothes quickly and cheaply. I had a pair of shorts made. Picked the material, wanted pockets on the sides, knee length ( haven’t seen anyone here in tennis shorts). They measured me at 11 in the morning and I came back at 6 for a fitting and picked up the final product the next day. They weren’t as inexpensive as I had thought but I didn’t try to barter. The quality is excellent, they fit perfectly and they should last forever.
Evidently, I was there during the full oon of the eighth lunar month (whenever that is). They were having the Mid-Autumn Festival all over the country. Supposedly, the parents have been busy all fall harvesting the crops and now it is time do devote time to the children. The kids of all ages work in teams. They have Dragon costumes. One carries the large head of the dragon with the body streaming behind and the others wear pants that match the body of the dragon, so it looks like a dragon with lots of legs. One of the group beats rhythmically and LOUDLY on a large drum they push around town. While the dragon goes thru lots of gyrations, another member of the group collects money or candy (they prefer money). They were all over town and the drumming lasted til about midnight.
Bought a city tour ticket whcih got me into several tourist sites, an old house, a pagoda, the assembly hall, and a traditional music concert. Very interesting but I have no idea about the icons and symbols. In the pagodas, there are usually several Buddhas and each is presented daily with fresh fruit and water and flowers and candy and incense. But I don’t know why. (The edibles are given to the poor or children after they have spent the day with Buddha. Nothing is wasted). I’ll have to learn more about the religion and what the symbols mean. It would make the visit more interesting. At the end of the traditional music concert the sang the last song to the tune of “Aulde Lang Syne” and clapped rhythmically. This seemed very strange to me but I have been to three musical events now and each ended this way.
In the old house, they had a “Confucious Cup”, the only one in Vietnam. If you fill the cup 80% full, you can drink the tea. BUT, if you go beynd 80%, ALL the contents drain out. It was a lesson in moderation from the great man. If you try to take too much, you can lose everything.
Took a tour to My Son ( pronounced ME sun). It is an ancient Hindu religious center built by the Cham people much like Angkor Wat in Cambodia but much smaller. The area was built from the 8th to the 15th centuries but then abandonned and rediscovered by th French in 1898. During the “American War”, as they refer to it here, the My Son was used as a staging area by the Viet Cong so we bombed the hell out of it destroying about 70% of the monuments. The buildings are of red brick and rather small. The entrance is always facing north and there are no dorrs or windows to the south as it is associated with death. Restoration is taking place slowly. Again I was at a loss as to the many carvings and symbols and thus lost some of the appreciation of the place. But still, it was very interesting.
The bus trip was interesting as well. The bus drives in the center of the road usually to allow the motorbikes to pass on both sides. Of course, we had to weave around the occasional cow crossing the road. We also had to avoid the crops, corn and sweet potatoes (is this a presidential moment?) which occupied about three of four feet on each side of the road. The crops were drying and would be fed to the animals.
Halfway back, we transferred to a boat where they fed us and took us to a traditional woodcarving village. They were doing incredible three-dimensional carvings. Incredible stuff that would take a long time but one mistake and you start over.
Back in town, they were still beating on the drums.
I didn’t get to the beach which was only a few kilometers away. I wasn’t there long enough and there was too much to do. But I did see blue sky and sunshine, something I haven’t see in HaNoi as yet.
So ends another tale in the Travels of Tom Terrific. More to come or you can just ignore them.
Love to all,
Tom
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