Hoi An: City of Lanterns and Custom Clothes and Leather Items

Thanks to our motorbike drivers enacting a scene from a movie where you chase down a car, or bus in our case, we made it to the airport to catch our flight to Da Nang with plenty of time to spare. Upon landing, we hopped in the taxi and journeyed 45 minutes to Old Town Hoi An. 

Hoi An is a small city on the eastern coast of Vietnam that is best known for its Old City. The city was a major port city and trade center for many centuries, particularly from the 15th to 19th, and is still incredibly well-preserved. The former port city’s melting-pot history is reflected in its architecture, a mix of eras and styles from wooden Chinese shophouses and temples to colorful French colonial buildings, ornate Vietnamese tube houses and the iconic Japanese Covered Bridge with its pagoda.

Now-in-days, the city is a huge tourist attraction. People come to see the architecture, visit the night market, take endless Insta-worthy selfies amount the colorful lanterns that are everywhere and on the river, and shop. The city is known for their excellent custom made clothing and leather products. There are literally shops everywhere in the Old Town where they will fit you for a suit and custom make it in 24 hrs for a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay back in the States; we meet multiple people that flew to Hoi An specifically to have clothing and/or shoes made.

While munching on a chicken Banh Mi as a local shop near our hostel, we saw a flyer for a Cat Cafe fundraiser that was happening the same night. There were kitties involved and so we decided to check it out. Apparently, we didn’t read the flyer properly, because after walking the mile and a half to the rescue cafe and finding it locked tight and dark, we saw that it was actually being hosted at a bar in Old Town; what would have been a 10 minute walk away from our hostel.

Not being discouraged, we flagged a taxi and headed back to Old Town. The fundraiser for the Cat Cafe was having a raffle and we thought, “What the hell, let’s each buy one ticket and see what happens.” Well, turns out that I won the grand prize; a 5,000,000 VND (about $250) gift certificate for an amazing tattoo shop in town. 

Thinking it was faith since there’s a tattoo I’ve wanted forever, we gleefully headed to the shop to see if they’d have time to fit me in while we’re in town. The shop, 1984 Tattoo, has some amazing artists and they were willing to work with me, but after enlarging my design, printing it, and trying to see where it might look best on my body, I realized I didn’t love it nearly as much as I had on the computer screen. 

We thanked the shop, went back to our hostel, and I spent hours trying to find/create something else that I would love. In the end, I decided that rushing to create something this permanent is not a good idea. I’m going to try to sell or give away the gift card (since it’s only good at this shop and only until the end of the year) so someone else can get their dream tattoo. I’m super bummed, but don’t want to get something and regret it later.

Colorful Streets, Pushy Touts, and Custom Boots

Em and I decided to take the day and explore the Old City. We thought we’d wander for a bit and then rent bikes and head to the beach. We woke up to drizzling rain and reassessed a bit. Luckily, there are people everywhere here selling everything, and it wasn’t long before we ran into a little old lady with a basket of colorful plastic bag raincoats; which were perfectly adequate for the bit of rain the day started off with.

After a day of wandering Hoi An, I am equal parts in love with it and equal parts dismayed with it. The Old City itself is amazing. On the one hand: the architecture is phenomenal; with so many different cultures and styles mixed together. The colors are spectacular. I love the colorful lanterns hanging across all the alleyways and the small boats at night that float down the river and allow passengers to drop lit paper lanterns in the river. The street food is tasty and there are tons of Robby and Em friendly things to nibble on.

On the other hand: this is a tourist trap of a city. Every shop, every vendor, every person on the street, is trying to entice you into their store to buy something and they’re very very pushy about it. We had ladies jump off bikes in front of us and ask us to come to their store, people randomly walk by and say “What are you looking for? Shoes? Pretty dress? Leather bag? Come to my shop.” You can’t walk anywhere without being propositioned or even just peruse a store without someone trying to sell you 50 things. 

If you can ignore the sirens call to spend all your money (abet on beautiful hand crafted items), then the fact that there are just hordes of tourists everywhere is also a point against the city (although I did figure out that the crowds dwindle to manageable levels during the week). It is so crowded and everyone just jostles and pushes their way pass you that it feels super claustrophobic. Lastly, while most people here are super nice, there is “no free lunch” and everyone is trying to get one over on you.

Through all of this chaos, Em and I waded. We visited a few of the older homes at the cost of pretty silver rings (“come see our ancient home...free entrance””...look at the beautiful silver that I make...look at this ring, it looks so beautiful on your hand” and dammit if it didn’t). We saw the famous Japanese Cover Bridge (dating from the 16th century). Watched a great traditional folk dance/music/singing performance (I enjoyed this immensely), and finally allowed the frenzied energy emanating from the custom make shops to entice us in to take a look. The sellers are good and I walked out with my wallet a little lighter, but fitted for a pair of knee high custom leather boots that will “fit my massive calves like a glove”. In 24-48 hours I’ll know if it was the right call.

Escaping the craziness of the streets we returned to our hostel for a communal dinner. Three times a week the hostel cooks a massive amount of local dishes and invites all the guests to participate. If you come early enough you can actually help prepare the food. The dishes are varied and mostly vegetarian and delicious. It was also a great way to meet fellow hostelers and over all a great activity.

We hit it off with two South Africans, Tarina and Tiffany, who are teaching English in a smaller town in northern Vietnam; and Ayla. The five of us ended the evening with some exploration of the night market and a beer at the sky bar, drunk while playing multiple rounds of Jenga. Overall, it was a pretty great day.

Ba Na Hills, Where There is a Golden Path and Large Hands to Hold It

While the town of Hoi An is something you come to experience, especially if you need a new wardrobe, it’s not the main reason we came to this area. We actually came to see Ba Na Hills and the famous hands. What we originally had thought was some crazy artist’s dream bridge, turned out to be part of a crazy Disneyland-esque resort park that is famous in this area (and according to the tour leader, around the world). So we booked a day tour and set out on an adventure.

Ba Na Hills is a resort in the Truong Son Mountains, about an hour’s drive west of Hoi An. It was built originally in 1919 as a leisure destination for French tourists, back when Vietnam was a French Colony. The park is located 1500 meters above sea level; high in the lush mountains, and as of 2013 you get to ride the world’s longest non-stop single track cable car (19,032 ft) to get to it. It’s about a 10 minute ride and we were fortunate enough to have great views both going up to the park, and returning later in the day. 

Currently, the park is owned by Sun World and is kind of like a theme park, but with less rides and more just random settings to see. For example, there’s a French Village, a series of gardens, a Japanese Tea House, several Chinese pagodas, a few Buddhas, and the Golden Bridge. The Golden Bridge was what had attracted us to want to visit the park in the first place, as pictures of the giant hands that appear to hold it looked so interesting. It turns out that that is  only the latest attraction to be built in the park (it was built in 2018).

Em and I loved all the perfect spots within the park to experiment with photography and ditched our group pretty early on to go seeking less crowded areas. While the whole park is super kitschy, and it’s pretty pricey (about $45 for the bus ride and entrance fee, but you can definitely save a bit and have more time if you hire a private car to take you there with a few other people), I very much enjoyed it and think its worth the visit (just maybe don’t go on a weekend).

Upon arrival back in town, I headed to the shoe shop to see what 24 hrs could accomplish. While it’s amazing the turn around and construction, my shoes didn’t quite fit and I wasn’t as enamored with them as I felt the cost dictated. The shop assistants, told me “it’s only the first fitting. We fix. Come back tomorrow.” So I will see tomorrow what they have in store for me. 

Asking around, we found out that the store we went to (one of hundreds) is middle of the road and that there are other, far better shops. I couldn’t do anything to change the one pair of boots that I’d already commissioned, but there was a girl at the hostel with some turquoise combat boots that where calling our names and we decided to see how the top shop in Hoi An, Friendly Shoes, stacked up. Em and I each ordered a pair of boots designed to looked like the ones the girl at the hostel had (but in purple for Em and a blue/black marbled color for me). We’ll see tomorrow how they are.

Early Mornings Are How You Catch the Best Light

In addition to the giant hands of Ba Na Hills, Em and I wanted to visit a much older site, My Son temple complex. This complex at one time contained over 70 Hindu temples all dedicated to Shiva. It is regarded as the longest inhabited archaeological site in Indochina, with habitation from the 4th to 14th centuries. The temples were built by the Chumpa dynasties and bare large similarities in structure and design to the temples in Angkor, Cambodia. 

Sadly, much of the site was destroyed during the Vietnam War. The area was part of the People’s Army of Vietnam and a base for the Viet Cong. As a result, in August 1969, the entire area was blanketed in bombs by American forces. Even though tourists visit now daily and there are excavation and preservation projects everywhere, the site is considered dangerous as there are numerous unexploded land mines throughout.

Em and I booked the sunrise tour to visit thinking we’d get there in time to photograph the sun peaking over the temple structures, but it turned out that “sunrise tour” meant you get picked up at dawn and get to watch the sun rise as you drive to the site. While the tour arrives at the park a little late for the magical photography “Golden Hour”, you do arrive before all the other tourists and essentially have the place to yourself (and whatever other early raisers came with you). The downside though is the boat doesn’t run, so you have to take the bus both directions.

When we got back to town, we had a little downtime before heading out on our last adventure for the city, an Eco Tour and Cooking class. Turns out we were the only ones booked for the evening and therefore got a private tour and class. We were a little disappointed in this because half the fun of the cooking classes is getting to meet other people. Daisy, our local guide, though was fun and engaging and made the afternoon very pleasant. The Eco Tour portion of the tour was comprised of getting to ride in a small round coconut boat through the water coconut palms on the Thu Bon River. The coconut boats are small round boats that resemble the inside of half a coconut and were created by local fisherman as a way to avoid paying the taxes required on the larger canoe like boats.

Our guide was a local grandmother who joyfully paddled us along the river, spun our little boat in circles laughingly yelling “Wheeeee! Wheeee!” until I had to beg her to stop from motion sickness, and into the coconut tree forrest. There she gave us tiny bamboo rods with bait attached to them and had us fishing in the tree stalks for these itty bitty crabs. We caught about five and were fascinated watching them scurry around their water jug prison attempting to determine dominance. I loved their bright purple pinchers. After about 30 minutes, we let the crabs scuttle back into the water and headed to land for cooking lessons.

The cooking class portion was held as a family restaurant and most of the items for the four dishes we were preparing were already prepped and ready to go. Daisy instructed us in how to mix the sauces and had us fry up our own fried spring rolls and crispy pancakes. We also started a fish dish. 

It was really interesting to see how using almost the same ingredients (just one or two differences for each sauce) made completely different flavors and textures. I thought what we made was a ton of food, but then the restaurant came out with four additional dishes and we got to truly try all the local delicacies.

The whole tour was different than we were expecting, but still enjoyable and the food was delicious. We were dropped back in town in time to gather our custom shoes from the two different shops. The taller boots still weren’t perfect, but the were paid for, fit my calves, and we were out of time for further adjustments. The combat style boots and the shoes we had custom made for our brother (he’s the more fashion conscience one in the family and once he’d heard about custom shoes he wanted a few pairs), were beautiful and fit well. The experience of getting custom shoes was fun, but I’m not sure that either pair I bought fit better than a generic sized shoe back home. Time will tell.