Today, we’re going to Hoi An for a few days. It will be a change of pace. We will finally be able to rest and take our time. Our host from Da Nang managed to find a driver to drive us there because there are no more buses since Covid. Once settled in our new homestay, we go explore straight away. And… wow!! Hoi An is a really charming city. Sure, it’s a bit touristy, but damn! It’s beautiful! Cars are not allowed in the old town and it’s really enjoyable to wander the streets and alleys. There are barely any scooters and we mostly see tourists on bicycles. There are a lot of stalls, clothing, leather and souvenir stores, restaurants, cafes and sites to visit. Here, we can witness the aftermath of the fload we went through yesterday. The river banks are completely floaded. Côme is delighted to walk through the gigantic “puddle”. We will later visit an old house where the floading levels of past years are marked. We’re actually lucky because there’s the mark of a floading that occured two weeks ago. The water had risen much more then.
For lunchtime, we make the acquaintance of Mrs Ha. A cook from the market that will see a whole lot of us the next three days. Her cooking is simply delicious and every time we go there to eat and try a new dish, we are not disappointed. She will get fond of us and will always give us a discount and huge portions every time we’ll go back (not to mention the small sweets she’ll give for free to Côme). We’re only disappointed not to be able to eat there at night because the market closes at 7 pm. When we enjoy something, we quickly turn it into a ritual. It somehow gives us a sense of familiarity. A feeling that is lacking in this world trip. Granted, most of the times our ritual is about food, but it’s important anyway.
In the evening, the city is even more beautiful thanks to numerous lit lanterns throughout the city. On the river, the boats have lanterns too and the “gondoliers” offer romantic rides to tourists who buy small candles to put on the water for wishes.
The next day, since Côme couldn’t go to the beach in Da Nang and since we’re staying here a few days, we decide to rent a scooter to go to the beach. Côme has a lot of fun, like all kids at the beach right? But we are… underwhelmed to say the least. The beach is ugly, super dirty and the color of the sea is muddy so we don’t really feel like taking a dive. We’ll be glad to go back to the city and stroll once more in the streets.
Today, water level has gone down and the river banks are clear so all the shops, restaurants, bars and clubs are open. It’s a whole different atmosphere. There are also many street vendors trying to sell kid’s toys (luminous gadgets and some sort of self flying birds). We’re glad Côme has learnt to say “No! Thank you!” because the vendors stop trying to sell us this stuff as soon as they hear him say that. We actually didn’t tell you but we’re impressed by Côme. We are constantly walking by tons of stuff a child would have wanted to buy but he is not asking for anything. He knows our backpacks are full and have accepted it.
Amongts the street vendors, we notice an ice cream parlor where a young boy is preparing ice cream rolls. His technique is truely unique. He pours different flavors, fruits and a sort of cream on a cold plate, then chops everything and mix it to make ice cream rolls in about 30 seconds. So we buy him a three flavor ice cream: passion fruit, Oreo cookies and chocolate. It’s delicious! The ice cream is finished in about the same time it took the boy to “make” it. We also buy “mango cakes” to an old grandma in the streets. It’s a sort of coco ball with peanut and sugar inside (yes! it’s called “mango cake”… go figure). Côme loves it and the old lady will be pleased to see us coming back for more!
For our last day in Hoi An, we visit the sites of “interest”: traditional houses and assembly halls. Unfortunately the museums are closed today (it’s friday). In the late afternoon, we’re heading to the market to eat at Mrs Ha’s and say our farewells. On the way there, we walk in front of a Japanese class. The classroom doors are wide open and we stop to show Japanese “letters” to Côme. He doesn’t want to leave anymore and soon, the teacher (sensei) sees us and invite us to come to her class. So we sit behind her students and we learn how to write Japanese for the next hour and a half. Our sensei gives us slates and regularly comes to correct our mistakes. She is fantastic! She laughs everytime she takes a look at Côme’s “drawing” but helps him reproduce the correct symbol, holding his hand. She even borrows one of her student’s cell phone to take pictures of us and film us during her class. So in the end, it’s 7 pm, we missed diner with Mrs Ha, but now we all know how to write “ko”, “ké”, “ku, “ki”, “ka” and “no”, “né”, “nu”, “ni”, “na” in Japanese and we’ve had quite a unique experience with this sensei and her students. If you’d ever tell us we would learn Japanese in Vietnam, we would have never believed you… Once again, Côme impresses us. He stayed focused for the entire class (that’s 1:30!!). He usually can barely stay focus for an hour with Julia for home schooling. But you know, he told us he liked to write Japanese better than French and that the Japanese classes were “cooler” than momy’s. Julia is thrilled to hear that…
As we’re looking for a place to eat tonight, we come across a portrait gallery. The pictures are magnificent and we realize the photographer is French. He has been taking Vietnamese portraits since 2014 and established a museum a few streets away from here. The museum closes in 15 minutes so we rush to visit it. The exhibition is great. Not only the photographer, Réhahn, has exposed his clichés but he has also collected the traditional attire of his subjects and explains his adventures and the traditions behind the pictures. We only wish we would have discovered this museum earlier. Here is the link to his website: https://www.rehahnphotographer.com/en/precious-heritage-museum/
We then resume our search for food. It’s getting late and so more complicated to find one. We end up choosing a restaurant from the main street. It looks alright and the food is not too expensive (it’s still thrice the price we’d pay in the market though). We all take “Banh Mi”, the Vietnamese sandwiches, but we really don’t like them. We pull most of the stuff out of the sandwich (until there’s only bread and a piece of cucommber left) and the owner comes to our table to ask us if we are enjoying the food. Doo is “slightly” embarrassed but he has no other choices, he says no (it would have been hard to lie with most of the sandwich on our plates anyway). The owner explains that they are making the sandwich exactly how locals would eat it so the tourists can have a taste of local flavors. Doo smiles. 5 minutes later, the owner comes back with two waiters to give us 3 bowls of a viscous black liquid and he tells us that this is a sweet soup, on the house, because we didn’t like the food. Now… we’re panicking. We obviously thank him a lot but we tell ourselves: “The F…k!! What’s that freaking thing!?! What do we do if we don’t like it!?!” So, we taste it… and we’re relieved! This “thing” so appalling is actually delicious!! Julia and Doo are feasting. Côme can’t shake off the appearance of the viscous black liquid and can’t eat. No worries, Doo finishes his bowl!!! Our culinary exploration is definitely surprising. As we’re leaving the restaurant, we thank the owner a thousand times for the gesture and this exquisite soup.
In Hoi An:
None of us understood why the “mango cakes” were called “mango cakes” even though there were no mangos inside.
We all learnt how to write a bit of Japanese.
We all loved the yellow painted houses, the lanterns and Mrs Ha’s meals.