A honeymoon is naturally a special time and mine was even more so, as I had convinced my bride to be, that Việt Nam, would be a great honeymoon destination. Not to brag, but I was right. Việt Nam is to this day the most sensational, crazy and beautiful place I have ever had the pleasure of visiting and this, my first blog post, will be dedicated to telling you the sights and experiences I was lucky enough to have.
Hội An was our first stop for a week and after a long wedding weekend, a total of 36 hours travelling, stopping in Qatar and Hà Nội, we had arrived at our hotel. Upon arrival in Việt Nam you are immediately aware of the heat. We were travelling in late October, but the musty heat we entered was far greater than a British summer time. The second thing you are constantly aware of is the traffic! I myself, to this point, had never left Europe and Việt Nam was my dream destination. What I have taken to describe as a swarm of motorbikes, mopeds and the odd car is a constant feature and anyone who has been to Việt Nam will surely attest to that truth. As someone who has had motorbikes in the past the temptation to rent one for the week was rather strong, but being a newlywed I was instructed clearly, “Don’t you dare!”. I can safely say I did not rent a bike, though the idea of joining the swarm, just for a day, was an exciting prospect throughout our time there.
After some much needed sleep, to combat the jet lag, I made my way into Hội An whilst my dearly beloved continued to sleep. A short walk from the hotel and I was surrounded by the most beautiful buildings in Hội An, all painted yellow, many part of the UNESCO World Heritage site and almost all tailor shops! It cannot be understated how many tailors there are in Hội An. According to hiddenhoian.com there are over 200 tailors in the city, though, speaking to the locals they claimed it was far beyond 600. Either way, 200 or 600, if you are looking for a bespoke tailored suit at a cut price and made in a day or two, Hội An is the place to be!
During my first walk into town my immediate culture shock had died down to a low rumble in the back of my mind and I set about having fun and exploring this new world. Whilst exploring the market place I was paid a rather strange compliment, or at least I hope it was a compliment, by a vendor telling me that I had ‘baby hair’. It was at this point I realised that my curiosity made me an easy target for vendors to coax me in and spend money. When on my own this was not a problem, simply walking at a good pace with a sense of purpose often meant I was untroubled by the vendors, though the same can’t be said for the times I was walking with the wife, it seemed a white, ginger girl was quite the oddity that needed to be investigated by locals! That being said everyone who talked to us was very kind, though this might be due to their agenda of expecting commerce from us.
Some more notes I made on my first town outing were these: Happy hour is between 4-8pm every day! A moped for a day is $10, a 125cc is $15. Dollar conversion is a necessity! Never trust the green man when crossing the road! Simply walking out in a straight line is the best way to get across, do not hesitate! In the majority of tourist shops you can buy a Vietnamese flag and American flags are everywhere too! Finally, even to the most experienced haggler, haggling is hard, these guys really are pros, however, if you take their card and say you will come back that often does the trick.
The next day we decided to venture into town together and see some more of the sights. Stopping at a delightful Buddhist temple named chùa nam quang tự, which proved to be a beautifully simplistic example of a Buddhist temple. We continued on into the old town having crossed the Japanese covered bridge. Built in the 18th century it is one of the few ways into the old town and crossing it as a pedestrian still has a small charge, however, for what lies beyond the bridge itself – some of the most fascinating architecture of all, again, part of a UNESCO protected site – it is very much worth the fee. Hội An’s history as a large port hub is clearly seen in the different styles of architecture ranging from Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. All of these countries have left their own unique stamp on what, all together, is a one of a kind city. After popping into the tailors that I had placed an order in the day before we decided to head back to the hotel for some rest before our next day of exploring.
Waking up nice and early as clearly the jet lag had affected me, I went for a short walk alone down to the beach and back to watch the sun rise over the Pacific ocean for the first time in my life. Upon returning we packed a day bag and set off to our next destination, Mỹ Sơn. We had arranged with the hotel for a car to take us there, wait two hours whilst we looked around and take us back. All told the trip lasted 6 hours and I must say it was worthwhile! Mỹ Sơn is a complex of ruined Hindu temples dating back to the 4th Century, though the later examples date to the 14th. However, on arrival not only did we find temples but also scars from the war. Artillery craters were dotted around the complex and bullet scars on the temples themselves could be seen. It was a fascinating experience to be well and truly on the edge of the jungle seeing the different layers of history that the complex had been through. I cannot overstate how much a trip to Mỹ Sơn is warranted if ever you are in the area. If you time it right you can see a ceremonial dance near the ruins too, it was advertised as 9:30, 10:30 and 12:30, however, when we arrived at 12:30 they only had 10 minutes left! When you arrive at the complex there is a small shuttle bus that takes you from the parking area down to the ruins and this runs regularly and like clock work, which is good as the 2km walk in the heat would not be a wise choice as shelter from the sun is hard to find.
With a rest day in between Mỹ Sơn and our next adventure, to Da Nang, we were both enthusiastic and excited for the visit. Da Nang is around a 40 minute drive from Hội An and there lies the Chùa Linh Ứng Buddhist complex which is a must see. The temple sits on Sơn Trà Mountain, a peninsula to the north east of the city, and its Lady Buddha statue can be seen from the beach in Hội An. Standing at 67m (220 Feet) the Lady Buddha at Chùa Linh Ứng is considered to be the tallest statue in Việt Nam. The whole complex is a beautiful array or Pagodas, temple areas and of natural beauty. The views extend back down to Hội An and across the bay overlooking Da Nang. A short visit to see all that is there would still take half a day, though in such a place of beauty, why anyone would want to make a short visit would bewilder me. Having taken in our fill we went back down into Da Nang to see the Dragon Bridge and naturally buy some odds and sods for family and friends!
The final day in Hội An was taken up wandering the old town for one last time, visiting various shops, picking up my tailored suits and generally having fun. Hội An is still to this day my favourite place on earth. I cannot overstate its beauty and to anyone thinking of travelling to Việt Nam, you would be mad to miss it. As a final note of this part one of my Việt Nam trip I would like to mention Layna tailors, where I bought my suits, The Hoi An Trails Resort, our hotel and finally to a man named Kong, who owns an antique shop on the main road into town and whose art still decorates our stairwell to this day. The conversations we had about Hội An, its history and his memories of the war were truly fascinating.
195wanderer.com 