Humble Hoi An

As I tried to ferret out a little information concerning travel in Vietnam prior to my trip, I began to notice a pattern. Every guide book, every website, every blog, and every friend I spoke to emphatically recommended an extended visit to Hoi An. Now that I've arrived, I can see why.
Hoi An (formerly known as Faifo) is sort of an anachronism in modern day Vietnam. For one reason or another it was barely touched during either of the Indochinese wars and many of the buildings and homes in the river front neighborhood are hundreds of years old - a few have been opened to the public by their current seventh and eighth generation owners. More recently, it was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO meaning that active restoration and preservation efforts of historic buildings are on-going. In addition to all of that, it's just an amazing place to explore and hang out. The streets are narrow, the buildings are old and quaint, the food is delicious, and the people are pretty friendly (if a little aggressive when trying to attract customers to their shops or cafes). Hoi An is also situated in a great location - it fronts the Thu Bon river which flows into the South China Sea just a kilometer or two out of town. For several hundred years, Hoi An was one of the busiest ports in Vietnam and many of the oldest buildings were constructed as warehouses and homes for the Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Dutch, and Portuguese sailors who had to spend months at a time in Hoi An waiting for the trade winds to change direction and blow them home.

In addition to my Da Nang adventure up the coast I've been splitting my time equally between exploring the city, dodging rabid silk dealers, and hiding from the rain. This stretch of the Vietnamese coast has the most schitsophrenic weather patterns I've ever seen - one day it's blue sky and I'm getting sunburned to a crisp (I finally read the warning on my prescription bottle of malaria pills: "Avoid prolonged exposure to sun. Medication may dramatically increase sun sensitivity." Oooops..) and the next a mini-typhoon is inundating the city. Now, if there's one thing I hate, it's the folks I see on river trips who freak out because their vacation is being "ruined" by less than perfect weather. Well, tough shit. That's the way it goes, I think to myself. Now I'm putting my money where my mouth is by taking advantage of the good weather and sucking it up to deal with the bad (most of my clothes are now in varying states of "damp"). At least it's not cold.

If all goes according to plan - and the roads aren't completely washed away in this most recent deluge - I'm going to try and find an ancient Cham temple complex in the mountains outside town tomorrow morning before returning to catch an overnight bus down the coast to Nha Trang. I had considered stopping along the way, but unless the weather forecast changes it doesn't seem worth the time or effort to try and find my way to a couple obscure villages off the beaten path. Word on the street is that Nha Trang marks the southern extent of the Autumn monsoon season and things will start drying out a bit. We shall see...and if not, no big deal. It's just liquid sunshine, right?