My journeys' excitement left me failing to recognize the repercussions of my friend's warnings of the upcoming holiday. Described as the equivalent of Vietnam's Independence Day, April 30th-May 2nd marked the end of the Vietnam War, the beginning of Vietnam as we know it today. I rushed to purchase a train ticket half way down the coast to Hoi An, and disappointedly landed a “soft seat” (i.e. a plane seat). I was shaken...the idea of spending 14 hours sitting up was harrowing, especially when I could have planned in advance and purchased a train bed. Little did I know, this train ride was one of the most memorable rides I have ever taken in all of my travels. Being the ONLY foreigner on this car of 70 Vietnamese, I found curious and kind eyes befalling me, children flashing their shy smiles between seat spaces, and Hue families opening theirz drinks and dinners to me. I responded with gratuitous smiles and an open heart, knowing this was one of the most authentically real Vietnamese experiences I would ever have.
I landed the next morning, got ripped off by the bus driver from the city of Danang on the way to Hoi An, and quickly realized I wasn't in authentic Vietnam anymore. A kamikaze 30 minute (what should have taken an hour) bus ride later, I touched ground in the famous city of Hoi An. Spared by the generals in the most recent war, this town houses an “old French quarter”, complete with yellow-stone buildings and silken lanterns gleamingly lining the waterfront of a river that runs through it. Seeing few Vietnamese tourists strolling through the masses of foreigners, I was confused as to where Vietnam was amongst this Disney-land-like postcard picture.Disney-land or not, I found what all super touristy places inevitably have; the foreigner's version of chocolate and wine in a continent that puts no investment in these much missed luxuries of the West. Y.U.M.
As my week-long stay continued, the town of Hoi An slowly unwrapped its' true gifts, showing me layer by layer its mysteriously addicting intrigue and beauty. 
As I waited for my suit to be tailored, (from a picture off the world-wide web), I spent a few half days bussing to a some sites outside of Hoi An. Another layer of wrapping paper unfolded another surprise. I found myself attending the annual International Fireworks Competition in the nearby city of Danang. I had NO idea how big this thing actually was. Hundreds of thousands of people massed the streets and bridges along the river to witness the first night of the event. Unfortunately, the tour I was on was unorganized, letting us view only England's meager firework display competing against the makers of the fireworks before ushering us back to Hoi An. The real gift of this night lied in the uneasy feeling of walking amongst the largest crowd I have ever been in.Another day, another Hoi An layer uncovered, I found myself meandering through Mison, an old Cham temple an hour's drive away. This was to be my first experience of the ancient Cham culture, the same culture that built Cambodia's Angkor Wat.
Finally, THE true heart of the city of Hoi An was presented to me. It lied in the work being done by The Hoi An Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission of providing expert health care and medicine to villagers unable to afford the privatized health care here, while helping to facilitate and enable improvements of Vietnam's health care system in general. Fuzzy, fond feelings of Hoi An lit up inside me, like the silken lanterns lining the waters at sundown. I succumbed to the strength in a solid moment of clarity here. Now the question is, when to return...?
NIce flowing post, I love the allusion to layers.
ReplyDelete:ove, Dad