Vietnam Vacation, Pt. II: Hoi An, Danang (airport), HCMC, and back to the homeland...

After spending a day and a half in Nha Trang, lounging on the beach, cruising around on a moto (let the record show we wore helmets and were in a “non- Peace Corps country” so this was legal!), and stopping where our hearts desired, it was time to move on to our next stop: Hoi An. We left Nha Trang at midnight on a night train, which ended up being a pretty great way to travel since a) we saved money on a hotel for the night and, b) our beds on the train were not half bad (they had comforters!). When we woke up, we were only an hour or so from Hoi An so we munched on a breakfast of black sesame cakes while craning our necks to watch the passing scenery through the window.

Hoi An is a city of about 122,000 people, set on the southern boarder of the central highlands. It is a culturally thriving place with local crafts as a main staple-- silk lantern making, wood carving, and pottery are still actively produced in the area. In 1999 it was named a Unesco World Heritage site. The streets are small and free of cars, and much of the “Old Town” has been preserved through current family members who continue to open their homes to visitors for a small fee.

While there, Garrett and I bought an “Old Town” pass, which allows you to see five “cultural sites” for 90,000 dong, the proceeds of which go to maintaining the sites. It was worth it to see the above-pictured Chinese assembly hall,  Phúc Kiến (founded in 1757) and one of the preserved old houses, Tán Ký which dates from the early 19th Century. Also worth it so that this ridiculously awkward picture of me in front of the assembly hall could come into existence.

We also got to see the Great Wall with our ticket!

Afterwards, we stopped for some cao lau from a street vendor: a Hoi Anese specialty of thick doughy noodles with marinated shrimp, bean sprouts and greens, topped with pork slices and served with a crispy rice cake.

In the evening, the Japanese bridge swells with tourists and vendors who set up stalls with different kinds of food and paper lanterns, which tourists can buy and send off in the river as an offering or a prayer.

For 50,000 dong (about $2.50) we had a nice view of the sun setting from a paddle boat on the river.

For a minute I was scared we’d be eaten by sharks

But then I remembered that was silly and anyway, impossible

Dinner! It’s hard to see here but those hoanh thanh (won ton) are each about the size of my face.We dubbed them "Vietnamese nachos" = greasy, fried chips with a topping of tomato, onion, chives, pineapple, and ground beef… And washed down with glasses of “fresh beer” for 3000 dong each ($0.10).

Our second day in Hoi An began with a bike ride across the Thu Bon River to Cam Nam Island, easily accessible from Hoi An's second bridge, which is much more imposing in size than the quaint Japanese covered bridge you've seen in previous pictures. I’d read in our guidebook about a bookstore on the island owned by an ex-pat, which was worth the trip not for its impressive collection, but for how awesomely bad its offerings proved to be.

This was among our favorites, since barang (that's with a “b”) is a widely-known term in Cambodia used in reference to foreigners.

And how could this not be a favorite?

Or this? Insta-classic is what I say.

After riding back to Hoi An we went to a restaurant called “Green Moss” for lunch, where you could take a cooking class to learn how your meal was prepared for just $2 more than your order.

 We opted for the pumpkin soup and cau lau with tofu

NOM! Those browned won ton chips on top were amazing

The lady who showed us how to make our meal took a liking to us so we got to come back in the evening to see how our dinner was prepared for free :)

Shrimp wantons: a less greasy and more refined version of the “Vietnamese nachos” we’d had the previous night. These were undeniably better.

Despite how much this looks like a fish, it’s actually grilled eggplant in a brown sauce, with chili peppers, spring onions, lemongrass, and peanuts.

The moon festival occurred while we were in Vietnam (it happens on the first and 15^th day of every month of the lunar calendar) so “moon cakes” were readily available. These cakes have a spongy, angel-food-like exterior and can have various kinds of fillings like ground mung bean, coconut, red bean paste, and taro. Garrett bought one with a particularly interesting ingredient list to bring back to his host family in Phnom Penh, who is half Chinese. ‘Salanganes nest’ –the first ingredient on the list—is used in birds-nest soup as well as in traditional medicine, and is thought to be an aphrodisiac. It comes from the “swiftlet” bird, and currently amasses more than $2000 per kilo in the international marketplace.

We spent two days in Hoi An, strolling narrow streets to stop in handicraft shops, getting new clothes made (I have shorts that actually fit me now!), and even running into a fellow PCV on the street (Spoiler!) Our friend Trophy happened to be traveling around Vietnam at the same time we were, and I spotted her as we were walking to dinner one night. It provided a reminder of how small this East Asian community really is.

After all of our adventures, it was time for us to make our way back to HCMC for our last day in Vietnam before heading back to that ever lovable and exasperating place we call home. We woke early to drive up to the nearby city of Danang where the airport is to catch our 8:00AM flight back to HCMC.

For our last day we ambled aimlessly, seeing what we saw as we went and just enjoying the day.

I can be really awkward. Did you know that?

 I call this one, Snowperson Encased in Post-Modern Bird.

For our final evening, we had big plans to go to a traditional water puppet show and then out for a nice meal in our new clothes from Hoi An. The show was, as predicted, a little hokey, but worth it nonetheless for the accompanying traditional music. You can see video of it below.

Let it be known that *Garrett* was taking the video and **not me,** so you can blame him for the slightly shaky screen and random guy’s tuft of hair that sometimes obscures the view.

As we exited the theater we were greeted by a torrent of rain. We thought we’d be fine in our plastic ponchos, so we braved the storm and headed into the deluge to scope out a dinner location. Within minutes my shoes were completely soaked, my big toe poking through the sole (I'd purposely worn old shoes out since it was raining), and the hem of my new midnight blue silk dress was drenched. Oh and Garrett’s pants were wet too. So we weighed whether or not we would actually enjoy a shmancy, probably out-of-our budget meal in wet clothes as our last memory of HCMC, or if we would rather do something a little cozier which wouldn't require us to further delve into the rain...

As you can see, we chose option number two. It was the perfect end to a lovely vacation, and nothing could have made me happier than eating Pizza Hut delivery with a diet coke in the comfort of my hotel room as the rain beat down outside.

Thanks for tuning in to my travelogue and I look forward to keeping you updated on other adventures and projects in future posts!