9.16.2008
Vietnam'08 (Days 7-11)
28th August'08
Hoi An is an old port town formerly known as Faifo. Maritime trade here dates back to as early as the 2nd century BC, when merchants from China and India called there to trade with people of the Sa Huynh culture. It became Faifo around the 16th century, when Chinese, Japanese and Europeans began to join in the exotic showcase of silks, fabrics, oils, among other stuff. Its role as the leading port was eclipsed by Danang when the Thu Bon river clogged up with silt around the end of the 18th century. I guess this proved to be a blessing in disguise, as Hoi An remained relatively unscathed during the French and American wars. Today, the attraction of Hoi An lies in its two-hundred year old Chinese houses and assembly halls, architecture that jump right out of period dramas, old streets and antiquated atmosphere.
It was named as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1999 and from what I see, tourism is the driving force behind the town's economy now.
We had a late start the first morning in Hoi An, having been on the hot, dusty road for past 3 days at a (mostly) unrelentless pace.
Banh Bao
Translated as White Rose, the banh bao is a tasty twist of the shrimp dumplings we're familiar with. My mom should ask them how they fry their chopped onions, she's been trying to get me to like fried onions bit for my whole life, but I've detested it till I tasted Hoi An's white rose!
After our lazy breakfast, we got started on our walking tour.
Lonely Planet recommended that we start our exploration around town at this family-owned chapel, but the place was rather deserted when we ventured inside. I was uncomfortable because it seriously felt like we were trespassing. I was to discover later that it is an old house that supposedly goes back 13 generations.
Tran Family Chapel
中华会馆
This hoi quan offered assistance and support to those who hailed from China, but did not belong to the Phuc Kien (福建), Treiu Chau (潮州), Hai Nam (海南) or Cantonese (广东) groups.
天下为公
礼.义.廉.耻
I'm full of pride whenever I see evidence of strong Chinese identity outside of China. =) Chinese unite!
福建会馆 and our two Hokkiens
Being the biggest and grandest assembly hall, the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall is the most popular among tourists. Because the ticket scheme offered one hall out of 3 for one "Assembly Hall" token, we skipped this hall to escape the crowd.
The Hai Nam Assembly Hall's got a more unique history. It was built in memory of a group of Hainanese merchant sailors whose vessel got plundered by the Vietnamese.
The tragic story
The hoi quan is not covered in the ticket scheme. Yay!
We wandered into a quaint little shophouse beside the hoi quan and found that the owner was Chinese, Hainanese to be exact. You know what? Hainanese are the same whether in Singapore, Vietnam, or Hainan Island.
Upon learning that I am Hainanese as well, his first words were, "baht gong hai nam ye bor?"
Because our ticket entitled us to a performance of Traditional Arts and Music, we asked our way around and finally got to this place, a small centre for performing arts and a handicraft workshop at the back.
Beautiful lanterns
Performance
Before the show started, we were all seated in rows on little chairs arranged by the staff. One of them went around and offered flat looking wooden sticks to each of the tourists. When he came to me, he just skipped right to Xinmin! I looked at him and his sticks, obviously bewildered, prompting him to ask, "Where are you from?"
"Singapore."
He gave me a stick.
Wah, I wear until like that still can get mistaken for Vietnamee...?
The sticks were used in a lucky draw, anyway. The dancing bits were too touristy but I liked the singing and even the strange one-man opera that I totally couldn't understand at all!
Restaurant
We stopped by this place somewhere along the way because we craved our staple drink of lemon juice under all that hot sun! The whole place look like we can go in, swing swords down from our shoulders, and say, "小二！来一碗牛肉面！" The chairs are a spoiler, though. Somebody should really tell them. I made a rare trip to the toilet there, and from the mirror, I realised that I looked like I'd rubbed baby oil all over myself in preparation for some MTV biker chick shoot. -.- FYI, it was mixture of sunblock and sweat.
I don't know why we've got no photo of our Teochew - Xinmin, posing by the gate of the Treiu Chau hoi quan. One of the members inside pointed this roof out to us, so I guess it must be something special?
One our way to the Cantonese hoi quan, we passed by this 'old house' requiring one token from our ticket. It was as good as any, and we decided to go into the beautiful one-storey house that had been in the family for 8 generations, I can't remember!
Quan Thang House
Teak Partitions
One of the girls in the family invited us to some White Rose but we weren't hungry. Other than that, they didn't offer to explain much of the architecture or history of the place. The owner himself is an elderly man who obviously only knows enough English to tell tourists to "Come in! I the owner", ask for the ticket tokens, and inform them that the house has been in the family for 8 generations. My guidebook offers a little more information, ahem. Another woman in the family tried to sell us postcards.
We found the Cantonese Assembly Hall, but the pictures we took look quite chopped. =(
It was starting to get dark and the lanterns on the streets got lit! Nice.
Lantern lit street
Of all the shops in Hoi An, I fell in love with this one!
Picture perfect, but oh how to ship home?
Cau Lau
We had cau lau that evening, one of the local specialities that has yellow rice flour noodles, pork slices and croutons all mixed with sauce. Legend has it that the real cau lau has to be prepared from the water drawn up from one particular local well.
Haha. The restaurant we were at was so empty, we actually saw the owner walking out to obtain (don't ask me how) the vegetables for our meals after we'd placed our orders. Dingy, not to say the least.
29th August'08
We woke up at 0415 in preparation for our My Son Sunrise Tour. Note the word sunrise.
We had wanted to book a regular morning tour to My Son the day earlier. Remembering the fun from our 3 days of motorbike tours, we decided to enquire at the guesthouse recommended by the lady owner of Halo Guesthouse back in Hue. The lady at Nhi Trung Guesthouse informed us that the weather would be too hot and we wouldn't enjoy it, but she could arrange for her brother to bring us on a private car tour if we want.
Me, "So, he's the driver and the tour guide?"
"Yes."
Chiu Ling, "Speaks English?"
"Yes."
Har-dee-har.
Suspecting nothing, we paid US$24 for a private My Son Sunrise Tour, which would require us to depart by 5am.
So 5am on 29th Aug, the four of us were waiting outside the closed doors of Nhi Trung guesthouse. There was no sign of a brother of any sort, let alone a vehicle. Meanwhile, the sky started to lighten and the moon got dimmer and dimmer.
Slightly after five, a Westerner tourist came by and woke the lady up to open the doors for him so that he could return to his room. (Late morning out.) She then spied us waiting and called her brother to check on his whereabouts, so that she could assure us that 'he's on the way'. It was then that she informed us her brother would not be going into the My Son site with us, but instead wait for us to finish it in an hour and a half.
What kind of tour guide is that?
When the car pulled up, a short dark Vietnamese jumped out and they exchanged words in Vietnamese, she then ushered us in. Like idiots, we did. It was the strangest start to a tour, ever. For one thing, the tour guide was absolutely silent. Siqi finally couldn't stand it, and broke the silence by asking "How long would it take to reach there?"
He looked at us blankly.
OMG, the guy does not understand English!
Scammed, again.
In addition to that, he was the weirdest driver ever. The fastest speed at which he drove was maybe about 60km/h, and he kept it constant around 50-55km/h for most of the way. He also turned on a mini-TV showing obscene MTVs with tasteless English music on, all the while his head to the beat. Did he think we'd like it? I tried to tell him to lower the volume, but he upped it!
As he drove us there in the tortoise car, the sun rose. That's My Son Sunrise Tour for you. DUH. When we got there at after 6am, it was practically bright daylight.
The best thing we got out of the scam? We were the only ones in our tour group, which translates to better photo opportunities as we did not have to wait for pesky others for their phototaking turns!
Map that confused rather than guide - very out of scale!
We had accidentally skipped Group H altogether.
Since we had no idea what Group was what, we had a photo-taking fest.
The sacred temple complex of the ancient Cham museum is not as grand as Angkor Wat, but for us girls who've never been to Angkor, My Son is pretty impressive! It is unfortunate that the most impressive tower complex was bombed to bits during the war. Yeah, that insane war again.
On the way back to Hoi An, Siqi sat in the front passenger seat and buckled her seat belt. The guy evidently felt that he should follow suit, too, and proceeded to buckle the belt onto the seat, so that he sat back against the belt.
I burst out laughing from the back, and simply couln't stop.
US$24! You can't blame me for getting my laughs where I can.
We had our big, hearty American breakfasts at around 11am. Guess what after? We retired back to our hotel rooms to hibernate and escape the heat! It was the first time I ever did that on holiday, but it felt really gooooood... And yup it was nice and not so hot when we ventured out again at 4pm!
We visited the places that we didn't manage to on the previous day in Hoi An Old Town.
Museum of Sa Hunyh Culture
This is a 2-storey museum. The first features the exhibits of a culture that existed before Hoi An became a busy port town. I remember funeral urns, lots and lots of funeral urns. The 2nd storey is a strange contrast of displays about the Vietnam War. OOP (Out Of Place!)
The famous landmark of Hoi An:
Japanese Covered Bridge
We were quite disappointed with it, somehow I had expected so much more. Legend has it that a restless monster resided with its head in India, tail in Japan, and heart in Hoi An. After Japan experienced a series of terrible quakes, the bridge was erected to slay the monster by driving a sword through its heart. Can you believe that tiny bridge had that much power?
With nothing much left to do, we headed over the river to have dinner in one of the tiny quaint restaurants. It felt like Clarke Quay on a much smaller, quieter scale.
Thu Bon River, from An Hoi Island
Row of shops alongside river
During our looooooong dinner, we watched boys frolicking in the water, fishermen balancing seemingly precariously on the edge of their sampans in a motionless state, street dogs trotting around and around, tiny local girls who cycled bikes that must belong to their mamas... and lots more. It was great watching the world go by.
30th August'08
Nothing much this day, other than the return train ride from Danang back to Saigon. Except, the train was delayed.
The Crowd
For more than 2 hours! We couldn't understand the Vietnamese announcements that constantly sounded over the PA system, so Chiu Ling got up periodically to harass information out of the woman at the gate.
It was really hot and stuffy at the train station. For the want of something to do, I opened my travel guide and decided to plough through Vietnamese history again. I don't look very enthralled, eh.
Xinmin has a knack for catching my ugliest expressions on camera. Hmph.
When we finally got on the train, it was such a relief, except that the air-condition was switched off for the long stop at Danang! Siqi paced the corridor fanning herself, uttering nonsense while she did. I sprawled on my bunk bed and refused to move in general. Xinmin captured the insane moments in a very wobbly video clip that would not be funny to anybody but the four of us.
Sidenote: I miss you guys!
In preparation of more chicken labeling episodes, we arranged this:
Lunch, dinner and breakfast
A guy came in, presumbably to sell dinner/ breakfast as well. He uttered some Vietnamese, noticed our neat stash, gestured to it with a smile, and left.
The rest of the day passed in a blur on the train. I suffered from the sudden changes in temperature of the air-conditioner, went to sleep that night with a terrible blocked nose, and woke the morning with a full-blown cold. Aaaaahh-choo!!
31st August
We expected the train to arrive in Saigon 2 hours after 0830 due to the 2 hour delay, but in the middle of our instant noodles, we pulled into Saigon train station! =/ It was a mad scramble to discard our noodle cups and heave our barang-barangs onto our backs to waddle down the train.
We checked back into the familiar Red Sun Hotel =)
With no rest at all, we went out again!
Based on the recommendation by Lonely Planet, we decided to try Pho 2000.
Xinmin's pho breakfast
It was the biggest bowl of pho I had in Vietnam! The taste was not too bad, but the place was full with foreigners and there was even a picture of one of the past Presidents of the USA posing with the staff at Pho 2000. I reckon that when travelling in Asian countries, Lonely Planet is so not the makan sutra, reason being that any place made popular by Lonely Planet would be swarming with Westerners and Western-sized portions of food! *Burp* =( No offense to my Westerner friends yeah, but it's the truth that most stalls selling Asian food swarming with Westerners are dubious. Look out for fellow Asians to spot good food!
We had to walk off our heavy breakfast/ lunch and did so at Ben Thanh Market again. I was having a terrible time battling my dripping nose! Somehow, we spent a good part of the day bargaining for toasted 莲子, little souvenirs, and for Xinmin, two beautiful ao dais! People ask why I did not buy one as well? I wish... They look so good, but excuse me won't you stare at me if I wore one on the streets? Hmph.
It was mid-afternoon when we set off to get our evening tickets to the Water Puppet Show.
Having a rest at the Park
I look grumpy don't I, told you I was battling my nose!
While waiting for our Water Puppet Show to start, we decided to visit the War Remnants Museum, formerly the War Crimes Museum.
I started viewing the exhibits bit by bit with this. How laughable. The rest of the exhibits only served to show how much the Americans really believe in what they say.
It was a sobering 2 hours at the museum, reading about the atrocities of the war, how the war can really "fuck minds", learning about how the Vietnamese have to live with the after-effects of Agent Orange... etc etc. There was a deliberate omission of the atrocities of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), but in the end I don't think it really matters. It just opens our minds to how easily wars can spiral out of control, the senselessness of mass murder, and the unfathomable, but horrifying truth of how evil humans can be. It's always easier to fight wars on others' soil, isn't it? Agent Orange wasn't dumped on their land, it was Vietnam's soil and people that bore the brunt of their poison.
America wasn't happy to be forced to fight the war with one hand tied behind their back. If that was the case, I shudder to think how it'd have been if America was allowed to fight with both hands and all their nuclear weapons.
In those moments, I genuinely didn't feel too friendly towards America.
We left the place with heavy hearts.
Sigh. What to do?
Cheering up a little
Water puppetry originated from Hanoi, where people entertained in rice paddy fields.
The performance was rather entertaining, even though we didn't understand a word of it.
Catering to tourists only, the Water Puppet Theatre in Saigon only has 1 programme! The one in Hanoi's got a lot more.
Dreaming of the wonderful dinner we had in Hue, we decided to have dinner in the restaurant Rat Hue, or Truly Hue.
banh beo
banh nam
=( All fell short.
Nothing beats authentic banh beo in Hue!
Xinmin jested that she'd like to go back to Hue the next time she goes to Vietnam, this time traveling south from Hanoi, just for the food alone! I secretly agree with her.
1st September'08
I think I shall gloss the last day over. Nothing much happened, other than that we got up early and said our goodbyes to the hotel receptionist, who saved us from getting scammed one last time. The most atrocious thing was, we forgot to give him a tip! If any of you are planning a trip to Saigon, and wouldn't mind staying in Red Sun Hotel along an alley in Pham Ngu Lao St, please let me know. Help me pass a tip to him!
Okay that sounds weird.
I was glad to reach Singapore, crazy as it may sound, the weather here agreed more with my nose. I recovered, like magic!
And then it's back to work, work, work...Labels: hoi an, saigon, travel, vietnam
