Well, hello I'm back again with another post. This one is long, I promise. Seem like I'm not an active blogger at all, but I will try my best to travel more this year. Last month, I just got my new phone, Samsung S8 plus. As you know, the phone has an amazing camera and I can even use the 'Pro' mode to take photo as a pro camera. So recently I don't even need any DLSR camera. My baggage can be more simple and light weight since I don't like to bring too many things, including a bulky camera, while travel. But I did this stupid thing this time. Sorry, I'm just full of contradictions.
So finally, after long flights, I'm back to Vietnam with all the exhaustion. I thought I needed a summer vacation to release all the stress that I was trying to let go. Some days before, I had a plan to go to Da Lat with my friend but it was canceled at last minute. At that time, all the feelings about life was summed up with just one word: hopeless. I wondered why all the plans went wrong. I didn't know. Finally, I decided to travel alone. It was just a thought that suddenly appeared in my mind. And this is the first time ever in my life that I made a 'travel plan' real in a few minutes. I told myself that I couldn’t hesitate if I wanna go, so I immediately bought the ticket to Da Nang and booked a room in Hoi An the day before my trip started. At the end of the day, I didn't even think that I did it in few minutes. Then I went there without searching any information except the hotel address.
I got up at 2AM after 4-hour sleep to prepare some things and got a ride with Uber to the airport at 3:30AM. It was tiring because I did not had enough sleep for days. But it’s ok. A trip by myself to a strange new place that I have ever thought about would be awesome, I believed. After an hour flight, I felt great to see the beautiful sites from the airplane window before landing. My country is awesome. I knew this place wouldn’t make me upset.
After checking out, I met a nice local taxi driver who drove me to some places in Da Nang before coming to Hoi An. I asked him to show me a roadside restaurant here to buy ‘xoi ga’. When I came there, it surprised me because it’s just a simple roadside one but there was so many people having breakfast here. I forgot to write down the address but I will find it out to show you. The
xoi ga I bought was 15kVND. It's quite cheap.
After buying
xoi ga, I went to the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, located nearby the famous Dragon Bridge of Da Nang. This museum was small but I found its architecture is quite good. The sunlight through the small windows on the wall shining at the objects on display that made the Cham sculptures a masterpiece. The ticket price was 40kVND. I thought this was not really cheap for a small museum like this. Let's think about the War Remnants Museum, where I bought the ticket at 2kVND, when I was a student.
Then I went to the Marble Mountains which is also known as 'five elements mountains' (五行山) because it was named after the five elements: metal, water, wood, fire, earth. I have heard about it some times and had some curiousity since its name in Hanzi is as same as the name of the mountain where Sun Wu Kong (孙悟空) of the famous novel Journey to the West (西游记) being pressed down for hundred years before Tang San Zang came to rescue him. It's located in the middle of the way between Da Nang and Hoi An, so why not try? The taxi driver showed me how to go up and down the mountain and I found it easy because it had elevator. Surprised? Sound funny but true, there's an elevator for lazy people, for the old and the kid to go without walking or climbing. I bought the ticket at 55kVND. As any other places in Vietnam, I found the sites is as same as any other temples I have visited before. But I think the value of each place is different because of its history. I just went around as quick as possible. I didn’t want the driver to wait for me for too long and I was so eager to go to Hoi An at that time, so I was in a rush. After climbing down the mountain, I went straight to Hoi An.
Love at first sight.
I have seen so many photos of this beautiful ancient town before coming to see with my own eyes. It's absolutely worth traveling to. "What is so special about Hoi An is that this little port town is in an incredible state of preservation. It offers some of the most densely-concentrated sights in Vietnam with its old streets bordered with ancient houses and assembly halls, its pagodas, temples, ancient wells and tombs. In total, more than a thousand places of interest. The architecture of Hoi An is characterised by a harmonious blend of Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese influences. After many centuries, Hoi An is still respectful of its traditions, folk festivals, beliefs and of its sophisticated culinary art. Set in a quiet environment, Hoi An is surrounded by peaceful villages that have crafts such as carpentry, bronze making, ceramic..." (jacktrantours.com)
You can easily find everything about this city on the internet. Just try it.
Since the first to the last day in Hoi An, I have tried 4 places that had Hoi An chicken rice, one of these places is the most famous restaurant in town. I also tried two kinds of breads people recommend at Phuong bakery, the most famous bakery shop in town that everyone needs to queue up to buy. But, honestly, I found none of them delicious because my taste was kinda persistent. I come from the Southern Vietnam where people prefer sweet taste, so when I go to the central cities I can't find anything delicious. Every food I had was not so impressing except the ‘tau pho’ here which tasted like the one in my city. So, honestly again, everyone has their own experience, I can’t recommend you any food and drink here. But last night, I just added some to my favorites such as mango salad I had at Lantern Town reataurant in Nguyen Thai Hoc Str., herbal tea at Mot in Tran Phu Str.
Another one impression this city has left in my mind is the hospitality of all the local. Taxi drivers, street vendors and local residents, they were all really nice to me. When I booked the room via Booking.com, it’s said that the check-in time was 14:00, so I thought I had to go round Da Nang for hours before it’s time to check-in. I tried my best to kill time in Da Nang but no more places to go, so I head to Hoi An at 10:00 in the morning. When I arrived, the receptionists at Hai Yen hotel were all nice to me. They told me that I could check-in earlier and they also gave me a map to show me where and how to go in Hoi An. I would recommend this hotel to all of you. But I think the other hotels here are also friendly. I can see that. The fee for renting a bycicle at my hotel was also friendly at 25kVND/24hours. I found that the prices in this city are quite good and you wont be disappointed to try. Summed up in just one word, FRIENDLY.
I walked around the town in the afternoon with a camera and cellphone. But honestly most of the photos I took were with my phone. I think this phone camera works as well as a compact camera, so I didn’t bring the dumbass heavy camera with me the second day when I went to the beach. Plus, my phone worked well under water so I brought it with me during swimming time.
So the first day, beside the beautiful sites around the town, I only went to Museum of Trade Ceremic. To be honest, I just went to the museums for photos and just a little bit of information. After spending the whole afternoon walking, I stopped by a riverside restaurant to relax when the weather is cooling down. The river is actually just beautiful at night when all the lanterns are lighted and you may hire a boat with a local woman rowing around Thu Bon river so that you can release the candle lanterns onto the river. Especially, best time to visit is 14th Lunar Night every month when it is about the full moon time. At that time, the street lights are turned off and the whole town comes alive with the signature lanterns. The ambience turns surreal and romantic in this ancient town. Many locals from the surrounding districts travel to Hoi An during this night to enjoy the festive ambience and candle lanterns are sold by street peddlers for visitors to release on the river for good fortune. That night when I was there, how pitiful I was to be on a boat with a cute Korean couple. I told myself I would bring my boyfriend here the next time. By the way, this town makes me feel everyday is like a Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节).
I also went to Hoi An Water Puppet Show. Unfortunately, it's said that they just performed for the festival some days ago and they needed time for cleaning before the next performance on Friday (the day I came back to Saigon). I will go there next time.
On my second day, to save time, I decided to rent a bycicle to go to places I knew in town to buy some food at famous local stores, then I went straight to Cua Dai beach. I ride about 3-4km alone to the beach at noon. I thought I was crazy to ride at that time, but when I arrived, I changed my mind. The weather was nice and the beach was awesome. So many western couple were swimming and sunbathing. I thought I must try. At first I just wanted to see how the beach looked like so I didn't prepare anything with me, even my important holy grail sunscreen. But I can’t stand its beauty. Then I immediately came to a local shop to buy new clothes for swimming. White sands, blue sea. Windy and cool in summer time. Everything was perfect. The local also told me that the beach was once long and really beautiful but then there was erosion that washed away lots of sands and coconut trees. It's sad to hear about that. I came back with a little bit tanned skin and found myself lucky to have chance swimming there once in my life.
All the photos below were taken with Samsung S8+ and edited with VSCO x Photoshop.
