When we were researching where to go in Central Vietnam, we saw many glowing photos of the picturesque town of Hoi An lit up at night by thousands of colorful lanterns. So we decided to end the Vietnam leg of our trip with four nights in this gorgeous town by the Thu Bon River ("Mother River"). But first we had to get here. There were a few sights we wanted to see along the way, so we booked a private car to take us from Hue to Hoi An via the Hai Van Pass.
The scenic Hai Van pass is one of Vietnam’s most dangerous roads during bad weather. We were lucky to catch it on a sunny, clear day but during the rainy season when it's shrouded in fog there are often accidents. As a strategic road linking Da Nang to Hue, American convoys traveling this pass were often targeted by Viet Cong attacks. To protect their troops U.S. forces reused several French-colonial-era bunkers that are still standing today.
Nowadays there is a tunnel through the mountain which is much faster and more direct, but many tourists still prefer going over the mountain pass for the views. Our driver Quy knew all the best spots to stop and take photos.
We had requested to stop at the Linh Ung Pagoda complex. It was built pretty recently, completed in 2010. The structures and statues look shiny and new.
There is a statue garden full of small Buddhas and a sinuous dragon staircase.
But I can’t resist a big statue, and even though it is not very old or historic, the Lady Buddha is very tall. At about 220 feet it is the tallest Buddha statue in Vietnam, nearly 30 stories high. It is distinctive in that is depicts a Buddha in female form, as a symbol of compassion and mercy.
From one of the terraces at the Lady Buddha, we had great views of the very modern port city of Da Nang, with its high rises and miles of beaches.
The other stop we wanted to make was at the Marble Mountains (Ngu Hanh Son, "five elements mountains"). There are five “fingers” of marble and limestone jutting up from the surrounding land. Atop one of these hills (Thuy Son) is a collection of four pagodas and five caves.
It was quite a warm afternoon so we made quick stops at a few of the pagodas but spent most of our time in the shady and slightly cooler caves. The Huyen Khong cave was my favorite — it had two openings in the ceiling letting in beams of light and an enormous serene Buddha carved out of the marble.
Supposedly a visit to this holy place will bring you luck. That remains to be seen but we were very glad we had a chance to stop here and see its beauty for ourselves.
We arrived in the town of Hoi An in the middle of a heat wave. Daytime temperatures soared into the high 90s (with oppressive humidity to boot). The umbrellas we bought back in Singapore have come in very handy, rain or shine.
We walked around the old town for a bit and ordered Banh Mi sandwiches for lunch from Banh Mi Phuong, a shop made famous by Anthony Bourdain on his culinary show. I got some definite "Subway" vibes from the sandwich artist assembly line behind the counter, but the comparison to our bland American sub chain stops there. "Banh Mi" is just the Vietnamese word for bread -- but what they do with that bread is extraordinary. They take a perfectly crunchy, flaky, soft-in-the-middle french baguette and stuff it with deliciously seasoned meats, herbs, sauces, pickles, and chilis. Too bad the barbecue pork one I ordered was eye-wateringly spicy. I could barely eat half of it before surrendering the rest to Kevin, whose ability to tolerate spice is way superior to mine.
As we walked back to the hotel, we saw some chili peppers drying in the sun. A subtle reminder to me to maybe request my food “not spicy” when ordering here!
Because of the sweltering daytime heat we decided to enjoy the pool and the beach by day, and do our sightseeing by night. Our hotel pool was pretty busy and crowded, so we took the shuttle and had a really pleasant afternoon at the An Bang beach about three miles outside of town.
In the evenings it cooled off enough to do some touristy things, and Hoi An really comes alive at night. We visited a theme park called “Hoi An Memories Land” which highlighted the long trading history of the town and the many cultural influences here. There were several dance performances, like this choreographed water ceremony.
And a martial arts demonstration centered around a battle against a tiger.
And of course, lanterns…
…So many lanterns!
The main spectacle was the one hour musical that showcased the history of Hoi An through song and dance. It was incredible in scale, with a cast and crew numbering around 500 people and a massive outdoor auditorium and stage. There were light projections, lasers, tall ships, rowboats, bicycles, and even a movable elephant prop supporting the epic story.
We enjoyed strolling around Hoi An’s historic Old Quarter during the evenings. The town has a long history dating back to the 7th century and the Cham kingdom that was located in this region at that time. From the 1500s to the late 1700s Hoi An was the most important trading port in Southeast Asia. It fell into decline after the larger port city of Da Nang superceded it as a trade center. It languished for years and was slow to modernize -- for this reason it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999 because many of the buildings in the old quarter have been so well-preserved since the 18th century. We happened to be in town around the time of the full moon lantern festival, when every shop and restaurant was brightly lit by lanterns, people played folk songs and traditional games, and there were never-ending rows of market and street food stalls along the riverbanks.
Kevin joked that the city must have one heck of a power grid to support all the electricity usage.
Even the river is full of lights -- there are sampan boats ferrying passengers around to see the glow from the electric lanterns and lower handmade floating candle lanterns into the water.
Upriver are the bigger boats (also festooned with lanterns, obviously) that take larger groups out on the river and around the outlying islands.
We had a phenomenal dinner at a restaurant called Morning Glory Signature. Kevin had crispy pork and I had the sizzling pepper beef. We also ordered a side of stir fried morning glory. Sauteed with garlic and fish sauce the greens cook down a little like spinach and taste pretty similar to it; in fact morning glory is sometimes called "water spinach". It's a very common vegetable in Vietnamese cuisine.
We took a final stroll along the river to make sure we saw and photographed every single lantern before heading back to the hotel. (Seriously, we took an overwhelming amount of night photos that I refrained from posting here. You’re welcome.)
We leave Vietnam knowing that we barely scratched the surface of this diverse and complex country. I was touched by the generous and genuine people that we interacted with — they were so eager to share their history and culture with us. Many were just excited to practice their English skills. One little girl about age 7 bravely walked up to our table at dinner and shyly said “Hello. Where are you from?” When I answered "America" and complimented her very good English she just beamed proudly and walked off with a huge happy smile on her face. We definitely will take home some wonderful memories of this incredible country.
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