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Thursday, November 7, 2013. Hoi An Vietnam Temp: High 85-95F and humid
Hoi An provided us with just enough excitement, offering us fascinating and historic sights and experiences while still allowing for a bit of decompression time. Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in the 1990's, Hoi An was once the most cosmopolitan port in Vietnam, attracting ships from Japan, China, the Middle East, and Portugal. The resultant mix of architecture, religions, and cultures are still very evident today. Bai Non Nuoc, also known as China Beach, a popular R & R site for US Soldiers during what the Vietnamese refer to as the "American War", stretches about 30 miles from Danang to Hoi An.
We arrived at the Danang airport on Tuesday evening, where we were met by our new tour guide, Vu, who is from the Hoi An area. Danang is a more modern airport than Hanoi, and as we travelled out of Danang, we saw many large, new hotels and casinos. Vu told us that although many tourists, especially Chinese, come to the casinos, the Vietnamese people themselves are not allowed to frequent them. As we approached out hotel outside of Danang, we found ourselves in the countryside, dotted with farms, rice paddies and small fairly primitive dwellings. We arrived at our home for the next two nights, the Ancient HOUSE River Resort at about 10 PM. The River House was a beautiful, contemporary sprawling building; the sparkling lighted trees gave an enticing preview of the lovely garden setting. We encountered a small pink gecko in one of our rooms, providing a friendly, if shy, welcome to us.
The following morning we rallied at 9 AM to board our bus and travel into the Old City. Our first stop was at a silk and textile factory. We were greeted at the entrance by a large rack of bright yellow silk worm cocoons, as well as several young women in traditional Vietnamese dress (long pants covered with a knee length tunic, slit to the waist). An interesting demo of the stages of silk production, including spinning and weaving, ensued. As we moved through the factory, it became clear that there was opportunity for a bit of conspicuous consumption. The showrooms were stocked with a wonderful array of beautiful silk fabrics and sample garments. Beautiful colors, textures and prints covered the walls and filled the shelves. Several of our group underwent the process of being measured for their clothing and selecting just the right fabric, styles and details for the perfect piece of clothing. By about 11:30 AM our orders were placed and the seamstresses and tailors began their marathon of production. More about this later.
A walking tour through the old city followed. The streets were old and narrow, lined by shops with an array of products and charming cottages. Our first stop was the Tan Ky House from the 19th century with it's many Japanese and Chinese influences. Once the home of a Vietnamese merchant, the house has been occupied by the current owner's family for seven generations. The house is beautifully maintained, with a common area (?great room), central courtyard, and kitchen area available for viewing, and an area on the second floor for tribute to ancestors. An interesting feature of the house was the block and tackle which allowed the family to raise furniture through a trap door to the second floor during their frequent floods. Some details such as marble slabs at the base of the 41 cedar pillars to combat termites, and a particular design of roof tiles that lent themselves to drainage in the rainy season and cooling in the dry season explained why this beautiful house has survived.
We traveled on through the streets of Hoi An, stopping to tour the Chinese All-Community Hall, with it's huge hanging beehive spirals of incense, the awesome dragon statues in the Assembly Hall of the Cantonese Chinese Congregation, as well as the Museum of Trading Ceramics, which illustrated the vast trading area for this port. Our walk proceeded to the famous Japanese Covered Bridge; built in 1593, it has a temple built into its northern side. As construction on the bridge is said to have been started in the year of the monkey and completed in the year of the dog, monkeys guard the east side of the bridge, and dogs the west.
We lunched together at the Secret Garden in the midst of this lovely grotto tucked away on a back street. Our seven course meal included soup, spring rolls, chicken beef and seafood entrees and a lovely flan for dessert. Following our late lunch, some of us returned to the River House for replenishment time or a dip in the pool, and some continued to wander the streets among the museums, temples, shops and markets. We met together at the Morning Glory Street Food Restaurant for more wonderful Vietnamese Cuisine, before returning to River House to prepare for our 4:30 departure the next morning.
One last order of business for the day remained for some of us - the clothing orders were completed, and final fittings needed to be made. One of us was actually tracked down during dinner at the Morning Glory Restaurant to try her selections on. Two others were met at the hotel at 9:00 for their fittings. Two of the three orders required slight alterations, which were all finished by 4:00 the following morning. Look for members of our group wearing these beautiful pieces of clothing back in the Kent area - perhaps at our next Women 4 Women event!!
a beautiful asymmetric turquoise tunic with black embroidery
a wonderful cashmere navy suit
a lovely traditional Vietnamese silk costume with black pants and deep blue tunic
Stacy Yaniglos
- comments
Amie Cajka Hi Stacy and traveling companions! I am reading your blog while Martha is making brunch and Cameron is munching Cheerios. I've had a chance to read the last few days. Sounds like a wonderful whirlwind of sights, sounds, tastes and textures! Keep writing! Love Amie
Gwend and Dique What a fascinating walk through the city. We'll watch for pictures of those custom silks. Love to see pic of the dishes served. Thanks for the excellent description of architecture and everyday life of city folks.
Martha Ward Wonderful reading, What a fascinating country, your descriptions bring up memories of old movies, news and television shows. It is crazy great you are there. Enjoy, thanks for sharing, what memories for you to savor forever. Love, Martha
Richard H. Interesting day - thanks for providing a nice sense of what it was like.