Monday, December 25, 2006
A bit about Hoi An, Vietnam
I should definitely write something about Hoi An, the lovely town where I am now staying. Hoi An is different from anywhere else I've been in Vietnam. It's a very quiet, laid-back city which retains a bit of a village-like atmosphere despite the fact that it's crawling with tourists. Hoi An was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 due to its famous architecture which is a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and European influences. The town has three main streets which feature traditional wooden shops/houses. Unfortunately, most of these buildings are now stores, art galleries or cafes catering to tourists. However, it's still quite normal to see elderly women with no teeth selling vegetables from baskets or a traditional funeral procession going by.
The chief sites to see are the famous Japanese bridge which connects two parts of the town. Adjoining the bridge is a small Chinese temple. There are also many Chinese Assembly halls, places where communities from different parts of China gathered to worshop and hold community activities. One of the most fascinating things to see were the old merchant houses. I visited one called the Tan Ky House which is beautifully-preserved and offers a peak into the lives of seven generations of a family which traded rice, tea and silk.
I also took a half-day tour to the famous My Son Cham ruins just outside Hoi An. The Hindu Cham kingdom was built between the fourth and 13th centuries, making them older than the Angkor temples in Cambodia. The temples are very impressive, very much in a similar style to those I visited in Ayutthaya, Thailand. They're set in a lush, tropical surrounding on hilltops. You are warned not to venture off of the laid-out track as the area is full of unexploded land mines. During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong holed up in this area and the Americans bombed the heck out of this area, unfortunately destroying a large area of the temple compound.
During the tour, I met some really friendly, kind Vietnamese young people. The two girls giggled non-stop and took thousands of photos, mugging it up for the camera at each and every temple. The young man was more serious and looked a little bewildered but took everything in stride. They are all young professionals from Hanoi and spoke excellent English.
The boat ride back to Hoi An was lovely. While I'm used to living in close proximity to water in Amsterdam, it's slightly different. There, water is everywhere but it's not an integral part of life for me. I occasionally go on a tour of the canals or sit in a cafe or restaurant by the water. However, here in Vietnam, water is crucial as a transportation network, a place to bathe and wash clothes, a source of food, a necessity for agriculture, a force to battle during floods. More than any other place I've visited, Vietnamese seemed to be defined by water.
The chief sites to see are the famous Japanese bridge which connects two parts of the town. Adjoining the bridge is a small Chinese temple. There are also many Chinese Assembly halls, places where communities from different parts of China gathered to worshop and hold community activities. One of the most fascinating things to see were the old merchant houses. I visited one called the Tan Ky House which is beautifully-preserved and offers a peak into the lives of seven generations of a family which traded rice, tea and silk.
I also took a half-day tour to the famous My Son Cham ruins just outside Hoi An. The Hindu Cham kingdom was built between the fourth and 13th centuries, making them older than the Angkor temples in Cambodia. The temples are very impressive, very much in a similar style to those I visited in Ayutthaya, Thailand. They're set in a lush, tropical surrounding on hilltops. You are warned not to venture off of the laid-out track as the area is full of unexploded land mines. During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong holed up in this area and the Americans bombed the heck out of this area, unfortunately destroying a large area of the temple compound.
During the tour, I met some really friendly, kind Vietnamese young people. The two girls giggled non-stop and took thousands of photos, mugging it up for the camera at each and every temple. The young man was more serious and looked a little bewildered but took everything in stride. They are all young professionals from Hanoi and spoke excellent English.
The boat ride back to Hoi An was lovely. While I'm used to living in close proximity to water in Amsterdam, it's slightly different. There, water is everywhere but it's not an integral part of life for me. I occasionally go on a tour of the canals or sit in a cafe or restaurant by the water. However, here in Vietnam, water is crucial as a transportation network, a place to bathe and wash clothes, a source of food, a necessity for agriculture, a force to battle during floods. More than any other place I've visited, Vietnamese seemed to be defined by water.
