Day 13: Hello again, Hoi An!

Our bus from Hue to Hoi An was a short 3 hours. Painless. Painful on the other hand was walking back and forth trying to figure out where we were, and where the hotels were. We’ve grown accustomed to the system of getting on a bus, and getting off at the bus driver’s restaurant, mini-stop, or hotel of choice. You know, the place where he gets a little kickback from the owners for bringing them business… We usually make it a point to walk across the street to buy our water and snacks, or in this latest case- Andrew stayed outside with our bags, while I checked out a room, before telling the girl that maybe we’d be back. It was dark, and the hotel seemed far from the city center. I suggested that we walk closer towards the center. Hoi An is my favorite city in Vietnam. I had a really great time with friends I had made traveling through last time, and was excited to show Andrew around.

I didn’t even mind lugging my backpack towards the center and felt so grateful Andrew didn’t mind either. I told him so, and told him that I thought he was a really great travel partner. That is, until I asked where we were going, and realized he had no particular hotel in mind. Homeboy spent an hour looking online and through Lonely Planet for places to stay the night before. Our throw down (not really) on the street went a little something like this:

me: Why would you spend an hour looking at places and not even pick one out?

A: I don’t know, I thought you would know where to go… You’ve been here before…

me: FOUR YEARS AGO!

A: Well, it seemed like you just wanted to walk around…

me: With my backpack? Seriously? No! I never want to “just walk around” with fifty extra pounds on my back! Never. No. Seriously?!? No, I never want to do that.

A: … So do you still think I’m a great travel partner?

me: No.

And so we walked. I checked out another hotel, but wasn’t satisfied and told Andrew we could find a better one. Namely, one with a swimming pool, like the one I stayed at last time. And then… magically… we rounded the bend, and the next hotel was the very same one I stayed at four years ago! I hiked up to the fourth floor to check out a room, told the girl we’d take it, and flopped down on the bed.

A: Aren’t you so glad I’m such a great travel partner, I mean, it’s a good thing I found this place.

me: I said you weren’t. Remember? And you didn’t even find this place.

A: No. You think I am. You said it in a moment of sincerity. I know you meant it.

me: I’m getting another room.

Obviously I didn’t. Although, at $12.00 a room, it wouldn’t have been the worst thing. We went for a swim and then walked through town. The amount of tailor shops has nearly tripled (or so it felt) but the relaxed town had not lost its charm.

After a busy and loud Hanoi, it was so nice to stroll through the town, restaurant hop, journal, and people watch. It felt good to be back, despite having a not so great travel partner. I tease, but after I attempted to “fact-check” our conversation with him, he would like me to mention that he disputes the above account (even though I’m totally right) and he didn’t appreciate the voice I used when I read his lines of the dialogue. (Casey, you would have appreciated it!)

Day 12: Huế

Huế was the imperial city of the Nguyen dynasty up until 1945. It’s a much smaller city than Hanoi, with not a whole lot going on in it outside of the historical monuments in and outside of the city limits. We crossed the Perfume River, walked to the Citadel, meandered through The Imperial City, and photographed a lively market before spending our first night in a 14 person hostel room.

The Citadel is the structure that surrounds The Imperial City. It’s basically a wall. Andrew was frustrated we couldn’t get closer – in other words, that he couldn’t climb on and or into it. I wasn’t as enthusiastic.

It was also a little bit hard for me to get excited about The Imperial City as well. (Sorry, Nguyen dynasty) I’m sure a lot of it has to do with how much damage was caused when the North seized the city during the war. It did seem as though more of The Imperial City was open to the public compared to my past visit. Right now, there is a large restoration project going on that was apparent as we walked through hallways filled with freshly painted red panels, and construction hummed in the background. It also seemed as though Korea is helping with this restoration project, evident by the large SAMSUNG sign over the large SAMSUNG tv with a brief explanation of the grounds brought to you by… SAMSUNG!

We walked through the city towards the market area, passing by lots of dragons and food stalls that made for a colorful and entertaining walk. I loved the colors, especially when compared to the dull grey that dominated most of the cityscape of Hue. Vietnam tends to be bright and vibrant in the countryside, but rather dull (and dirty) in the cities. Obviously, this is true of any city/country comparison – the dragons and food stalls tended to brighten things up a bit.

The market was busy. Busier it seemed than the markets of Korea, and of our favorite market experience in Burma. Vendors were one after the other, often several selling the same varieties of vegetables right next to each other. Motorbikes zipped through walkways and roadways alike, and it was as if every stall, or every vendor, or every different kind of good to be sold bled into the next item. Sometimes literally, as meat was chopped up and blood dripped down past baskets of fruit. It was chaotic. and it was unnerving to photograph. Usually, I feel right at home photographing a market (there are quite a lot in Seoul, and I visited many while working on Seoul Suburban), but here I was a little more timid than usual, and soaked up the chaos more than weaving in and out of vendors for photographs.

My favorite part of the market were the hair salons that lined the one end. That is something that was not seen in Korea and I loved the juxtaposition of the fruit, vegetable, meat vendors on the sidewalk while women sat in a salon getting their hair permed, colored, or cut within.