Open Your Heart to Me, Baby

I hold the lock and you hold the key. On our last day in Ho Chi Minh City, we made sure to fill our bellies with one more delicious bowl of pho before heading up the coast to Da Nang. That meant a ridiculously hot and humid 15-minute walk to the restaurant, which also meant a better look at this city that locals still call Saigon.

There are three very visual things that stood out to me as we experienced Vietnam. One: Vietnam is a gorgeous study in color. Similar to India, I found Vietnam to be full of bright, happy colors. But rather than the jewel tones you find in India, Vietnam is full of saturated pastels. Apple greens, aqua blues, lemony yellows, and bubblegum pinks are common house and storefront colors. Two: Vietnam is full of wheezing, honking, screeching motorcycles. This is the mode of transportation in these parts, and crossing the street is like a game of Russian roulette. Good luck. Three: Vietnam’s housing are rows of skinny, shoebox-shaped buildings that are all 3 or 4 stories tall, with identical adornments on each story. I heard this may have something to do with property tax being calculated by the width of your building, but don’t quote me on that. In any case, it’s funny to see such tall, skinny buildings everywhere.

Thailand trains > Vietnam trains

After falling in love with train travel in Thailand, we wanted to repeat it as much as possible for the rest of our trip. Vietnam trains do not offer private sleeping berths and the best you can get is a four-person ‘soft sleeper.’ Shiv and I got ourselves some top-bunk lodging for the overnight trip to Da Nang.

We read that the Vietnam train runs right along the coast making for some really gorgeous views. And while the views were indeed superior, the train itself was not. The beds were narrower and less comfortable than beds found on Thailand trains. And they never folded into seats – always beds. Ugh. The linens weren’t as clean. We found hairs all over our pillows and blankets, prompting us to cover our pillows with our own t-shirts. Ew. The cabins weren’t as clean, either. There was lots of debris and dust in and around the berths. Sigh. And sharing the berth with other people didn’t seem so bad until the lady sleeping below me decided to wake up at 7:00 am to have some sort of seafood breakfast. Barf.

But Shiv’s a good dude and got us some 333 (pronounced ba-ba-ba) beer for the journey, so things worked out just fine. (PS: you say cheers in Vietnamese by saying mot – hai – ba – yo! which translates to one – two – three – go!) We did a lot of that on the train.

Da Nang

Although our final destination for this leg was Hoi An, the closest the Vietnamese train system gets you is the Da Nang train station. We arrived there around noon. Our hotel arranged for a car to pick us up to drive us the 45 minutes south to Hoi An. With a little ‘Michele’ sign in hand, our driver was waiting for us promptly as we disembarked the train, making us feel like VIPs. We had entertained the idea of staying in Da Nang for a night or two, but ultimately decided against it. China Beach, or My Khe Beach to the locals, seemed like a good draw, but Hoi An also has a beach, so we decided to skip it. Seemed like a good idea, too, based on the drive through Da Nang. Looks as if Vietnam is trying to make My Khe a huge resort destination as there was so much construction going on around the beach. Might be good for a future trip, however.

Hoi An

Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Like Luang Prabang (Laos), it’s a cute, little, foreign-influenced town full of good food, happy locals, and a lot of shopping. From the 7th through the 10th centuries, it controlled the strategic spice trade with Indonesia and later became a major international port in the 16th and 17th centuries. We dropped our bags at the hotel and immediately set out to one of the restaurants that Shiv had picked out for lunch.

‘HALLO!’

‘HALLO! YOU BUY SOMETHING!’

These were the commands heard from multiple curb-side street vendors on our walk over to the restaurant. I am pretty sure something was lost in translation , and it eventually became even comical to hear a simple ‘hello’ greeting being used as a rigid command. I even had one sales lady plead with me to buy her Christmas cards saying (and I can’t make this up), Open your heart and buy something! We learned to just ignore the aggressive demands on our attention during our stay in Hoi An, but did recognize this side of tourism rearing its ugly head again, just like in Bagan.

HALLO!s aside, Hoi An is a delightfully darling little city. Houses and storefronts are all painted a warm honey color and stand no more than 2 or 3 stories tall. The town has two parts: the historic, ancient city in the center and then An Hoi (where da clubs are) across the Thu Bon river. We stayed at the Thanh Van 1 Hotel in the ancient city, probably one of our favorite hotels on the whole trip! The city is made for leisurely strolls and is just big enough to explore in the three short days we were there.

Ho Chi Minh City had such good food, and Hoi An did not disappoint either. The traditional food of this city is called Cao Lau, a delicious pork broth soup with yellow noodles and slices of juicy pork, served with bean sprouts, green vegetables, and crispy croutons. For a truly authentic dish, the noodles must be made with the water from one of the ancient Cham wells hidden throughout Hoi An.

Here are a list of good places to try while in Hoi An:

• Nu Eatery: our favorite restaurant in Hoi An. Cute little restaurant with tasty takes on classic Vietnamese food. Just order one of everything.
• Reaching Out Tea House: a relaxing tea house run by hearing impaired folks, it also has cutesy crafts available for sale.
• Ho Lo Quan: great local spot to get some traditional food, run by Amy who is super friendly. Order the stuffed squid and fresh grilled fish.
• Miss Ly: long-standing restaurant in the city with good and hot food. Order the chicken soup and white rose (shrimp dumpling).
• Au Bang Beach Village Restaurant: beach-side restaurant with a lot of fresh seafood options. They also have large & highly delicious mixed drinks. Take a few down to the beach with you!
• Phi Bahn Mi: our favorite bahn mi spot, a super cheap hole-in-the-wall.
• Madam Khahn: pretty good spot, but we liked Phi Bahn Mi better.
• Sakura: don’t expect much from this restaurant, but their outdoor terrace is a nice place to catch a sunset over the Thu Bon River with a pretty mediocre drink.
• Pho Xua: quick and easy place to get some yummy pho.
• CocoBox: like San Francisco in Hoi An! A healthy, organic little cafe with smoothies, teas, and other yummy delights. We got the banana bread, which came with choco-banana jam. Very good.

One of the trademarks of Vietnam, and Hoi An especially, is its mass availability of bespoke clothing. It seemed as though every other store was a custom tailor store. You can also get custom leather goods like shoes, belts, and bags. It was all too tempting, so I had to try! I designed my own dress and sandals and had them made locally. The process was very easy, and it was so much fun to get creative on designs. I went to Bebe ClothShop for my dress and Friendly Shoe Shop for my shoes. I would recommend both for good service, fair prices, and quick turn-around.

Au Bang Beach

As if the cute town and great food weren’t quite enough, Hoi An is also equipped with two cool beaches. We rented bicycles and biked thirty minutes towards Au Bang beach. Shiv had picked out a restaurant by the beach and we indulged in the freshest seafood and largest cocktails. The beach does not sport the crystal blue waters of Thailand, but we still found the emerald green waters relaxing and worthy of our trip.

After a few hours, we biked back to the hotel to enjoy a nap. We also made plans with our hotel to board a bus the next morning to Hue, Vietnam’s Imperial City. If we had our drothers, we probably would have stayed in Hoi An a little longer because we loved it so much. Cute, laid-back, and full of good food.

Till next time, Hoi An…