Da Nang!

After 4 incredibly relaxing days in Hoi An, we headed an hour north to the city of Da Nang to stay at a hotel close to the airport for our flight out to Hanoi the following day. What we didn't expect to find was such a gorgeous place. What we quickly realized was that we were outside of Da Nang's downtown and in the area closest to the beach, which looked like a ghost town consisting of fancy beach homes, vacant lots, grungy old hotels, fenced off areas for future fancy hotels, and shanty homes. Outside of the main area is a nice residential Vietnamese community. The part of town we stayed in is quite certainly in the progress of changing rather drastically. And as of yet, it is caught in a power struggle between what it is now and what it wants to be, which made it quite an interesting place to roam around for a day.

After arriving to the beach, we quickly understood why developments were shooting up. It was absolutely gorgeous. We spent the rest of our afternoon sitting at a cafe and laying out on the beach.

On our walk to the beach. All of the homes are built in this style: skinny, three story beach homes.

Fresh pineapple juice.

Traditional Vietnamese iced coffee.

There were loads of fishermen out at sea. They use boats like this one to fish in.

For dinner we wanted to try out a more local restaurant, which was good because there weren't any other options around our hotel. Earlier in the day we were scoping out some of the street-side restaurants when we walked up to one to check out the menu (which was completely in Vietnamese). Our curiosity launched us into a gesturing game with the restaurant staff where Jen was able to say/act out that she just wanted to look at the menu while I found myself being pulled by the hand into their tiny, clean, yet shanty-esque kitchen. The woman  holding my hand pointed down at floor to show me the array of their seafood portion of the menu with my own two eyes; the mollusks and crustaceans were sorted out by shape, size, and color into large metal bowls, which were being chilled/cleaned before that night's dinner rush. In my best attempt at being cross-cultural, I managed to make a rather loud "mmmmmm" sound (universal, right?), give her a thumbs up (I need to do more research on this hand sign because it is offensive in some countries...), and said, "Looks great!" If only we knew a bit of Vietnamese! 

Later that day, after more gesture guided conversations with our hotel staff, they suggested we go down another road to the suburban area of town. The first place we went to turned out to only serve coffee and tea. After exhausting all the food words in Vietnamese I thought I knew how to pronounce, Jennifer said "noodle", and they instantly pointed down the street to a local neighborhood restaurant. Most Vietnamese dine at make shift food stalls set up along the side of streets, which are often times in front of shops that have closed up for the evening. The restaurant sets out plastic tables for eating at which are tiny! Jennifer and I looked like giants in our little seats. Needless to say, we got a lot of stares. Plus, we were the only Westerners in sight! The night was incredibly fun and we enjoyed some delicious pho. 

Really flattering...I know. 

Off to Ha Long Bay!

Hoi An: Viet Nam's Lantern Lit Harbor Town

Hoi An is located on the coast of south central Viet Nam. During the first century, this town boasted the largest harbor in all of Southeast Asia. Quite a feat! Especially when today's population is just over 120,000 people (who are incredibly bubbly and kind). A portion of the city, called Old Town, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and rightfully so. What makes Old Town so special is the preservation of its 15th-19th century old cobblestone streets, vibrantly painted buildings, and lantern lighting culture. At night, they shut down the streets to traffic so that you can get lost in the stony byways of historic Viet Nam that are lit up by hundreds of colorful, glowing lanterns. Needless to say, we absolutely fell in love with the place.

Typical street in Old Town

Looking out into the harbour.

Typical street in Old Town.

Adorable lantern shop.

A lantern shop across the water from Old Town.

Beach Life...

What we didn't expect out of Hoi An was a perfect 2 days spent on the beach in pure bliss. The sky was so incredibly blue; we couldn't stop gawking at it. It is refreshing to think that there are some things in nature that cease to amaze human beings like fall colors, mountain ranges, full moons, shooting stars, the first snow of the year...and Hoi An's beach was no exception. The sound of the breeze rustling through the palm trees mixed with the waves crashing onto the shore created the most organic orchestra celebrating the beauty of the day. It was intoxicating.

Quite perfect.

A river we biked by on our way to the beach.

15 minutes from Old Town and you get to look at this...

Clothes, Shoes, Suits, Dresses...Oh my!


Disclaimer: I haven't been this excited to shop for anything since the time I earned enough money to go on a Barbie shopping spree. Yes, I was that kid. 

One of the major highlights of our trip to Hoi An was being able to custom design our own clothing and shoes. The town is the place in Southeast Asia to get clothes custom made at extremely affordable prices. We felt like kids in a candy shop with all the options the stores had in terms of materials and designs. Essentially, for the design process, you can pull an outfit online, sketch something out (which Jen did for her dream dress), or flip through loads of magazines to get design ideas (or mix and match). They can do it all. The next step is deciding what type of cloths you will need for the article of clothing. And then the color. Afterwards, they measure you for that particular item during which you can make altercations to the design. Within 24 hours, you return for a fitting to see how you would like it to be altered. It is addictive... After seeing how well some of our shoes and clothing pieces turned out, we ordered more! My proudest purchases were a suit and two pairs of leather flats for Deloitte! :)

Getting measured for her dress that she sketched out.

At the shop looking through designs. That's My in the corner!

Suit measurement!

Leather options for our shoes.

Jen getting her feet measured for her flats.

Our combined aftermath.

Mmm mmm mmm...


Let's just be honest here. I like food...a lot. Jennifer has been incredibly nice putting up with my routine celebrations that occur every time food is placed in front of me. Hoi An has some incredibly special dishes that can only be found in town. Their pride and joy is cao lầu, which consists of a medley of greens, pork, sweet brown sauce, wonton flakes, and noodles. After commenting on how different the noodles were from others in Viet Nam, we were informed that the secret ingredient to this dish is the Hoi An water (specifically from an ancient well) which is used to make the special noodles. No wonder why other parts of Viet Nam cannot imitate this beauty of a dish! Scrumptious! A very popular snack in Viet Nam is roasted watermelon seeds. If you look down when you are walking from point A to point B anywhere in the country, you are bound to see loads of their little shells lying around. They are pretty tough to crack open! Luckily, our friends helped us open up our first ones :) Aside from that, Hoi An is also known for its specialty dumpling and wonton dishes, which are both phenomenal.

The ladies at the clothing store introduced us to cao lau!  (Plus some watermelon seeds!)

Hoi An's dumpling specialty, the White Rose.

Hoi An's wonton specialty and one of the top dishes of my life.

Heavenly spring rolls.

Yellow fried noodles with vegetables.

We can't get enough Vietnamese iced coffee.

A pork, prawn, and veggie medley 'pancake' that you break apart, roll in rice paper
with lettuce and dip in peanut curry sauce...

Street side goodies. The things in the back left corner are banana fritters.

Vietnamese pork sandwiches are out of this world.

Full Moon Party...

After our second full day of going to the beach and having more fittings for our clothing, we biked into town to pick up a pair of sandals Jennifer had ordered. To get into town, we biked along the scenic bay, cut through a little alleyway into the main city, and were astonished to find 'rush hour' traffic in this tiny town! Literally bumper to bumper motorbikes. One thing we have learned being in SE Asia is that you have to be bold with traffic so we biked our way into the middle of the chaotic mess and made our way through. There's nothing like some adrenaline to get you through traffic! :) After arriving at the shoe store, we found out that the traffic was due to everyone heading into town to celebrate the first full moon of the year. What makes this even more special than any other incredible evening in Hoi An is that they shut off all the electricity in town and light up the night with candles. During the full moon party, it is also tradition to release a floating lantern into the water accompanied by a wish.

We went on a traditional Vietnamese wooden boat to release our lanterns.

These altars were set up in the front of every open establishment.

Outside a lantern shop in Old Town.

The most incredible lantern, complete with a water fountain!

By the harbour.

Off to Da Nang!

All my love,
Emma

Ho Chi Minh City: Former Saigon

Hectic City..

The traffic in HCMC is actually mad. While I believe I have commented on this multiple times in other posts, nothing compares to Ho Chi Minh's road craze. The city boasts 8 million people but 10 million motorbikes...yes, that is impossible but that is what our scam artist taxi driver told us...nevertheless, I'm sure the true count of motorbikes in the city still must be insane!

The true madness is not captured in this photo but just imagine this would be considered light traffic!

Getting anywhere seems like a high-speed road chase where all road rules are off. Essentially, locals hit the road like they are playing a game of Frogger switching lanes without looking, weaving between aimless pedestrians trying to find a break in traffic, and passing cars, trucks, bikes, and pedestrians like it's their job. The biggest exception to this video game is that it is real life! They all must be experts before they ever hit the road!

We rode in these bike/baby carriage things through the city. They passed cars...and went on the other side of the road!

This is actually really common. [Shot taken from baby carriage]

Vietnamese Food...

SOZO (v) - to make new, to protect, to save, to heal, to preserve, to have faith, to make whole, to love, to make joyous, to have control, to worship, to be made pure; everything good that comes from God.

Revelation 22:1-3:
"...and his servants will sozo him."

This hip cafe provided all the comforts that we were searching for to escape the craze of the busy streets of HCM City. After reading over the menu, we learned that Sozo employs underprivileged individuals to help raise them and their families out of the cycle of poverty. As a secondary goal, they serve to empower their employees' families through education. They currently operate 3 cafes in the city and have sent many of their employee's children to college through their business model. Needless to say, Jen and I were hooked...I believe we went there 4 times. As an added bonus, their Vietnamese iced coffee was perfection, and I will admit, we indulged ourselves in a few 'Western' cafe treats like carrot cake and brownies.One night we met a young man named Huong who wanted to practice his English; it was nice to discuss differences in Vietnamese and American cultures.

Beyond Sozo, we found loads of delicious Vietnamese food! HCM City really came out a winner in its gastronomic delights. And, right here, I would like to say (very proudly) that Houston's Vietnamese restaurants have really stayed true to their roots. Yay Houston!

Mmmm mmmm mmmm.

Massages...

After receiving 10+ flyers about wicked good deals for massages, Jen and I caved in. After all, it would fun and we needed to help repay them back for printing costs! After climbing 3 flights of stairs to a small, dimly lit room, the lady motioned for us to take off our tops. Hold up...we requested to have a 'Foot + Head + Back + Shoulder + Neck' massage, and as a novice to the massage scene, I didn't realize that would include us taking off our tops. I'm not shy but I was a little shocked. No worries though! Jennifer and I handled it in a very mature fashion by giggling our way into the bathroom to put on the towels they had given us. After quickly discussing how sketchy it seemed, we walked outside and jumped onto the tables. When in Rome, right? Almost instantly, I felt like I was in the scene of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in that my masseuse was instantly standing on my back! How did she get there? Might I add that she weighed nothing! While we listened to the sweet tunes of Kenny G and instrumental songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Water", we really did enjoy our hour massages. She would hop back and forth across the table like an Olympian vaulter, complemented by squeaky bed sounds. Once more, my maturity really shined through...not! I could barely contain my laughter.  Again, as a novice to massages, I didn't realize they included complimentary (and authentic) rooster sounds echoing throughout the building. Perhaps that's just a Vietnam specialty? Great times :)

The War...

The Vietnamese call what we refer to as the Vietnam War the American War. At first, I was taken a bit aback by it. Then again, after thinking it through, it makes sense, it's all about your origin and perspective - in Europe, most people refer to World War II as 'The War'.

Being that Jen and I were staying in former Saigon for a few days, we decided to venture out to the Cu Chi tunnel system to learn some about the war from Vietnam's perspective. It really struck us as important to do so. One reason was studying abroad in Barcelona - learning about the world through no particular country's lens really shook my academic, social, and economic perspective on the world. Plus, some of the most incredible history lectures I have been fortunate to sit in on have been those where the US was treated as just another country in the world.

The underground system served as a base for many operations for the Viet Cong's Tet Offensive in 1968. Cu Chi is part of a larger network of tunnels that span over 250 kilometers in length. Touring the grounds and crawling through a portion of the tunnels was a surreal experience. Jennifer and I still are processing it; and to be frank, I am not sure if I will ever fully understand what it was like to be there hearing the war's story on Vietnam soil. We left the tour feeling queasy and trying to mask our American identity like we had huge X's across our shirts denoting that we were from the US. It was a weird experience; yet, I do not regret going one bit. It is so very important to strip your identity away sometimes to try your very hardest to understand historical events from all sides. After all, even if you win a war, so very much is lost. And the Vietnam/American War was so recent. You could feel the energy of despair still in the air.

Cu Chi Tunnels

Off to Hoi An (Spoiler: it was INCREDIBLE)

All my love,
Emma