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HOI AN & DA NANG
Hoi An
Hoi An
town is small and peaceful, the kind
of place where you may get stuck for
a few days, whether it is
intentional or not. Originally known
as Faifo, this antique town is
bordered on its southern side by the
Thu Bon River, along which there's a
number of small cafes. Despite the
fact that it is now a tourist haven,
the artistic atmosphere and local
friendly people create an inviting
environment.
Hoi An
was an important port developed in
17th century and remained
so for a long time. There used to be
canals parallel to the streets, so
merchandise could be loaded straight
from the back of houses onto the
boats. Hoi An’s continuance as a
port lasted right up until the early
years of the 20 century, when the
river became silted up forcing the
cargo ships to call at Da Nang
instead.
In the past Hoi An has been used by
the Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch,
French and the large remaining
Chinese community where all sorts of
produce and wares were traded.
Remnants of these past traders’
influences can still be seen lining
the streets of Hoi An. There are
nine different types of historical
sites in Hoi An with an average age
of 200 years. They include private
houses, family chapels, community
halls, communal houses, temples,
pagodas, bridges, wells and tombs.
Many of these buildings have been
maintained close to their original
form, allowing you imagination to
recreate a prosperous trading town.
The houses are small and colorful
with wooden doors and two round
"wooden house's eyes" above, window
shutters and ornamental furniture. A
pleasant change from the iron bars
and metal grates of other towns.
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Hoi An is full of shops selling
artwork, from lifelike memorial
family portraits, to stylized images
of Hoi An houses and streets. Next
door to the art shops are places
selling souvenir statues, ceramic
plates, and ‘antique’ bowls. At the
market place beside the river, you
can pick up almost anything you
want. Tourists are often being lured
into the markets to buy silk and to
have quality garments tailor made.
You can have anything from dresses
and trousers to shirts and hats made
for a cheap price.
Another noticeable quality of Hoi An
is its relative silence. There are
few cars and people do not feel the
urge to use their horns every two
seconds. The streets are filled with
the hum of voices, motorbikes and
the shuffling of thongs along the
ground. Hoi An is small enough to
get around on foot, and you will
need a set of wheels if you are
going to Cue Dai Beach, or on a day
trip to the Marble Mountains or Da
Nang.
A relaxing activity around sunset is
to hire a boat from the waterside by
the market place. Many of the locals
will wait on the river and offer you
this service throughout the day and
night
Merchant Houses
Many of the old merchant houses are
lived in by the locals, but
fortunately are beautifully
preserved. They ca be typically
described as having a narrow and
lofty interior with a barrel vault
ceiling. The street entrance has a
shop front where the merchant used
to display his goods. This is still
used for his purpose n modern Hoi An
with its numerous galleries and
antique shops. There is also a back
room where the merchant’s family,
apprentices and servants lived. The
entire inside of the house is made
of deeply polished hardwood. Walls,
columns and entrances are decorated
with poems, words, symbols, and
patterns. Much of the heavy ornate
furniture are originals, however
some pieces are replicas. Private
houses in this style open to
travelers include Tan Ky House that
has staff that speak fluent English
and French.
Japanese Bridge (chua Cau)
This bridge was built in 1953 by the
Japanese, although this may be hard
to pick by its name! Its base is
made of stone and the rest of
ironwood, jackwood and other
hardwoods. The bridge’s purity has
been ruined over time with Chinese
and Vietnamese ornamentation. There
is a pagoda built into one side of
the bridge. The bridge is still used
as a popular thoroughfare and is on
the western end of Tran Phu street.
Phuc Kien Community Hall
This is a Chinese Community Hall,
but has other uses as a temple,
shrine, place of ancestor worship,
and a venue for conferences. The
Chinese maintain practicality in
their worship but since most things
in life ca not be guaranteed,
superstition also plays a large part
in their religious beliefs. The rear
contains an altar dedicated to the
three gods of health, wealth, and
longevity. Three is even a goddess
who will stop your baby crying for a
sufficient tip. Other community and
assembly halls include: the Hainan
Chinese Assembly, the ChaoZhou
Assembly Hall etc.
Assembly Hall of the
Cantonese Chinese Congregation
This is beside the Japanese Bridge
at 176 Tran Phu street and is a very
well maintained, bright and colorful
assembly hall. It was founded in
1786 and shoes must be removed
before entering.
Da Nang
Da Nang was the landing point of
both the French and the Americans
during their stints in Vietnam. When
the French established a garrison in
Da Nang (then called Tourane), more
soldiers died from disease than the
associated fighting in establishing
the garrison. There is now a small
cemetery dedicated to them.
During the Vietnam War, Da Nang was
the home to one fifth of all US
servicemen based in Vietnam. This
made Da Nang on of the heaviest
defended cities in South Vietnam,
yet it eventually fell to the North
Vietnamese in 1975 with hardly a
bullet fired.
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Da Nang marks the halfway point
between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
and was the first place to organize
its own local communist party
committee. The city is fairly
featureless, and if you are coming
from the tranquil setting of Lang
Co, Hoi An, or anywhere for that
matter, Da Nang is an extreme
disappointment. It is a busy, dusty,
colorless city, the fourth largest
in Vietnam, and one of the largest
business centers. Unless you are in
Da Nang for business, chances are
you will pass straight through. Da
Nang does have a fascinating Cham
Museum that contains an excellent
collection of Cham art. However, the
main reason for staying in Da Nang
is in the surrounding region. China
Beach, the Marble Mountains, Hoi An
and My Son are all within striking
distance of Da mange, though it is
more pleasant to stay in Hoi An and
visit these sights.
Lang Co Beach
If you were not planning on staying
in Lang Co, a drive through may
change your mind. The main street is
lined with palm trees enticing you
to go for a swim in the crystal
clear waters that lap onto fine
white sandy beaches. Lang Co is on a
sand spit peninsula with a sparkling
lagoon on one side, and a long beach
lining the South China Sea on the
other. This is one of the most
beautiful places in Vietnam, and is
yet to be developed extensively for
tourists, which is probably a good
thing.
Hai Van Pass
Travelling by road between Lang Co
and Da Nang, you will have to get
over the Hai Van Pass. This pass is
created by a spur from the Truong
Son Mountain Range that extends to
the coast. This extremely
mountainous road, with its
sensational views, is the cause of
many local vehicles breaking down.
So if you are on one, allow yourself
plenty of time. The view from the
top of the pass is extraordinarily
beautiful and well worth a stop to
take it all in.
The train goes through tunnels at
the base of the mountain and along
the shoreline, so you will miss out
on the spectacular views from the
top. However you will see some
awesome scenery nonetheless.
Cham Museum
The Cham Museum is the main
attraction of Da Nang and is worth
the trip, even if it is from Hoi An.
This old sandstone building houses
an excellent collection of Cham art
and sculpture. The museum was built
between 1915 and 1916, with Da Nang
being chosen due to its proximity to
the themes of Cham architecture, and
was enlarged in 1936 as the
collection of works increased. There
are now over 300 pieces of sculpture
and they are all original pieces of
work. The subjects of the sculpture
range through a vast ten rooms of
the museum bears the name of the
district in which the relic were
found.
China Beach
China Beach extends north and south
of the Marble Mountains and was made
famous by the war and subsequent TV
series. China Beach is within
cycling distance of Da Nang and it
was this close proximity that led to
it being used as an R&R destination
for American soldiers during the
war. It is a long beach that
stretches all the way down to Cua
Dai beach at Hoi An, though you will
get a larger surf at China beach.
China beach actually hosted
Vietnam’s first International
Surfing Competition in 1992. There
is some controversy as to whether
this was the real China Beach or if
it was the beach called My Khe,
further to the north.
My Khe Beach
My Khe is the beach directly east of
Da Nang on the South China Sea. By
road it is about 6 km from the
centre of town to the ocean, by
crossing the Han River via the
Nguyen Van Troi Bridge. Turn left
after the river crossing onto the
main road, then a right after a
couple of kilometers, and follow
this street until you hit the water.
My Khe Beach and China Beach are
only 65 km apart and they are
connected by the same stretch of
coastline and uninterrupted sand.
This proximity to each other makes
it easy to understand to confusion
towards the real ‘China Beach’, as
it is essentially the same beach.
Marble Mountains
The Marble Mountains are made up of
five limestone outcrops in isolation
from the surrounding plains, each
riddled with caves and grottoes,
with some made into pagodas and
shrines. Each mountain represents
one of the five elements of the
universe, being water, wood, fire,
metal and earth. The main mount,
representing water, has a path to
the top with two entrances open to
tourists. You can also enter from
the second entrance at the reverse
side, farther down the road, which
is a much less strenuous climb. The
top offers spectacular views of Da
Nang and the surrounding Marble
Mountains. A better vantage point is
reached through a small hole at the
top of one of the caves, with the
views including China Beach and Cham
island.
As you start climbing the stairs,
you will be accosted by young
children offering to guide you or
sell you stone carvings. The guides
can be quite good value, as for
payment they often just want you to
buy a small stone carving, a great
pressie for the folks back home.
Come of the larger caves have been
transformed for religious purposes,
and Buddha statues are guilt within
them along with all the associated
guardians. Some of these caves are
quite eerie with the pungent smell
in incense sitting in the air and
the walls all covered in bullet
marks from small arms fighting
during the Vietnam War.
During the Vietnam war there was
some violent fighting which went on
in cave to cave battles. In Huyen
Khong cave, one of the large holes
in the ceiling was caused y a bomb.
Within this cave there are a number
of shrines, temple guards and Buddha
statues, and there are still
stalactites on the ceiling. Off to
the side of the cave there are two
small stalactites that are believed
to represent breasts, one is
dripping whilst the other is dry.
According to legend, when Emperor Tu
Duc entered and touched one of the
stalactites, it stopped dropping and
never has since. At the base of
Marble Mountains there are a large
number of stone carving shops
reminiscent of Mahalliburipuram,
India, as all you can hear is the
endless chipping away of stone. All
these stores are very keen to sell
you a three foot high temple dog.
My Son Sanctuary
My Son
has what is arguably the best
collection of Cham art and
architecture in its natural setting
in Vietnam. It is somewhat of an
arduous journey to get out there,
but is well worth the effort. If you
are not willing to risk life and
limb to visit Angkor, at least My
Son will give you a little taste of
what it must be like. Though some of
the monuments were destroyed by the
war or thieves, but what remains is
still considerable. Many of the
structures are overgrown with dense
vegetation but you can get inside
some of them.
Cua Dai beach
The
beach is the closest to Hoi An, very
beautiful and is well worth a visit
to cool off when the heats starts to
get to you. The only eyesore are the
bizarre changing huts and bungalows.
It is an incredibly long beach with
loads of room to wander off for a
bit of personal space, which is so
difficult to find in Vietnam. If you
spend a day at the beach and elect
to take a deckchair, you will be
asked to buy either a baguette, some
lovely pineapple or a drink,
otherwise you will have to pay for
the seat. All these prices are
inflated, but the pineapple in
particular is delicious. |
