Hoi An, The City of Food, Tailors, and Lights

Jon and I spent our last 5 days in Vietnam in the central city of Hoi An. It was lovely. The city is ancient and was one of Vietnam's earliest trading ports on the South China Sea. Japanese and Chinese traders lived in the city for several months a year and established their own sections of town and, today, the architecture of the Old Homes reflect a blending of Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese styles. The Portuguese, Dutch, and French were also early traders in the city and left their marks as well. Fortunately, both wars left the city relatively unscathed. The old quarter of Hoi An was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and the town is proud of its special history.

Three things about Hoi An are particularly noteworthy. First, the food is incredible. Central Vietnam is famous for its cuisine and Hoi An holds the seat of honor. Whether one ate on the streets or in restaurants, the food was fresh, light and held a lovely combination of subtle flavors that would dance in your mouth and make you smile. (But hey, I am a Martin, and the way to our hearts is through our stomachs. I was in food heaven.)

Second, there are 500-600 tailors within about one square kilometer of the old city. I have never seen anything like it and it makes absolutely no economic sense. But there it is. The Lonely Planet even says, "let's admit it, the tailoring business in Hoi An is out of control." I suspect people saw the success of the first tailors and want to get it on on a good thing, but the over supply of tailors keeps their prices low and they have to work very hard day and night to compete. However, consumers can get personally tailored clothing at very low cost. The tailors come up with their own designs, but mostly they have no problem copying anything you might want. Just bring them a picture from a magazine and they're off. I love to look at fabrics, especially silks, but found that "just looking" was not an acceptable option for shop owners, and because I wasn't going to buy anything I had sneak sideways glances at shop windows while walking a safe distance in the middle of the streets.

Third, it's filled with colored lights -- on the streets, on buildings, even floating on the river that bisects the small town. In part it was Tet, but Hoi An also throws a big party on the 15th of each lunar month. In any case, the results were stunning, as we walked the city each evening.

It was nice to spend a few days in one place, and Hoi An couldn't have been an easier place to enjoy our last few days in Vietnam. Below are some photos.

The streets are relatively uncrowded, since cars are banned from the older sections of town.

Tet brings out the lights; in Hoi An, the river is filled with fantabulous "light sculptures" of animals, floating in the river.

Lights, part two: Hoi An is also famous for its colored lanterns; at night, certain streets glow with the lights that lie within these ornate paper and silk creations.

The houses in Hoi An are very old, and were left undamaged by the wars; here's an interior atrium in one of the ancient riverside houses made of timber, tile, and stone.

The Japanese built a bridge over a canal to "their" section of town (Hoi An was a central trading port for centuries); there's a pagoda off to a side of this bridge, not shown.

A shrine to the Buddhist goddess for sailors: The rear of the main hall is dedicated to the worship of Thien Hau Holy Mother. Her statue sits in meditation. On the left, there is a model of a 1875 sailing boat.

One of the many tailor factories, filled with bolts of fabric, sewing machines, and the occasionally exhausted shopkeeper.

Time warp: Some Russians were filming a movie about a U.S. soldier in the Vietnam War. Due to its untouched city streets, Hoi An serves as a film location, and we happened across this scene on a walk.

Jennifer took a cooking class, held on the outskirts of town; here's the organic garden that supplied ingredients. 26 families work this farm and they only use seaweed as fertilizer once a plot has been harvested.

The Hoi An market -- a scene repeated in every Vietnamese village and town; dozens or hundreds of small stalls selling every food imaginable.

A food stall vendor, cleaning her products. She is sitting on her table, barefoot, and if I had captured her smile, you would have seen a bright red tongue and black teeth stained from her years of chewing betel nuts.

Jennifer at the cooking class, preparing rice noodles.

Jennifer's prepared meal -- Pho Ba, beef noodle soup. One of six dishes we made.

Hoi An sits just inland from a long beach, whose northern terminus is China Beach and the neighboring city of Denang. We took our motor scooter there to enjoy fresh crabs!

In the afternoon, the ladies that run the meat stalls in the local market take a break to play blackjack ... ante is 20 cents, and Jon managed to lose to the dealer.

Hoi An -- to us, the City of Lights and Food.