PART 1: FISHING FARMING AND FABRIC

7-9 July 2013. Days 8-10 of 17. 
Danang, Hoi An, An Bang Beach, Cua Dai Beach VIETNAM. 
Overnights in Hoi An VIETNAM.  

How about waking up to the blaring sound of communist songs - that's what happened at around 9am on the "Reunification Express" overnight train. I got up and saluted my fellow local passengers in the corridor. Not long after, we pulled into a station and the train was swamped with local vendors selling breakfast. They tussled and argued between them on who was going to take our order. Bundy started ordering from one lady when suddenly another started screaming what sounded like abuses at Bundy so he quickly switched. We ordered a black coffee with milk and she scurried away.

The platform was lined with portable kitchens and food. Seconds later she reappeared with two plastic cups with a small shot of brown liquid. It was strong but filled with sickly-sweet condensed milk. We drank it reluctantly since we needed the caffeine. Bundy and I wondered why all the kids flocked to our cabin. Maybe it was the "promise" of treats. We reckon it was the stimulating conversation! By 2:30pm the one million strong city of Da Nang started appearing in the train window and it was not long until we were pulling out of the train station and on our way to seaside Hoi An, an ancient city of 122,000, first settled in the early 14th Century by the "Cham" peoples which most anthropologists reckon came over by boat from the Java Kingdom in Indonesia - I agree - only because the fifth-sixth generation have a very Indonesian look to them. Da Nang itself is a good example of modern powerhouse Vietnam. It is thriving on electronics manufacturing - mainly white and brown goods as well as PCs - Korean and Japanese companies employing most locals to leave a healthy 2% unemployment rate.

The Russians have bought up most of the seaside coast from Da Nang to Hoi An (some 30km) and have started building resorts. What is leftover has been bought up by the Chinese for Casinos. What a sad formula. Sad because it works! Hoi An on the other hand is famous for its "three Fs": Fishing, Farming (rice and fish) and Fabric (tailor-made everything). Our hotel on the the other hand was humble, hidden and very very hip! 15min out of Hoi An and backing onto a river it comprised individual

mini-units fitted out in grey slate and wood more akin to a Pacific Island theme rather than an Asian coastline style. Once we were settled in we olived, cheesed and wined before heading into the old town on the hotel shuttle for what turned out to be, by 12 out of 12 vote - the best food we have eaten to date. The "Mermaid Restaurant" was established in 1992 and was the first restaurant opened to tourists in Hoi An. The fit-out is not flash but the food is. Hoi An has the following signature dishes which we shared: Ban Bao or White Rose (rice dumpling stuffed with minced prawn and vegies), Hoanh Thanh Chien or Fried Wonton (Deep fried prawn dumplings topped with crab meat, tomato and onion), Chao Lau (flat noodles mixed with croutons, bean sprouts and park slices), Banh Xeo Hoin An or The Hoi An Pancake (rice and bung bean pancake stuffed with minced pork, shrimp and bean).

After dinner we walked around the old town of Hoi An by night and Patsie, in particular, marked out her shopping targets for an all-out assault the next day. This is because apart from electronics manufacture in Da Nang, this area is known for its textiles and shoes. Especially tailored womens outfits. Bundy, Nick G and I were more interested in getting back to watch the Wimbledon Mens Singles Final! Both parties got their wish and we faded into the night with clothing orders and aces!!! The next morning (Mon 8 July) began with breaky by the river. A good start indeed.

The best way to see Hoi An is on foot. This is because it is small, has lots of detail and is closed to all forms of motorised vehicles. Our foot journey began with the covered Central Markets and once we entered the fish section I got lost. I always hang out back taking photos and am always mindful of where the group is in front of me so I can run up to catch up to them so as to not delay them. This time they seemed to move ahead much faster and I lost sight. I was alone. It was good and bad. Good because I can tour faster than anyone else and take National Geographic photos. Bad because if I could not reconnect then I would miss the other half-day tour of the fishing villages. I achieved both. I visited the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall and Quan Comg Temple (next door to each other) where the old Chinese traders of the 15th and 16th Centuries would gather for meetings in one and worship in the other.

The building's interior was much the same as what we saw in Chinatown in Saigon - lots of red, wood carvings and coiled incense hanging from the ceiling. By this time the steam bath had started and I was dripping wet from sweat as I continued touring. Next stop was the Old House of Quan Tang and Tan Ky. The later is the oldest building in town dating back to the early 13th Century. The ornate An Hoi bridge and waterfront An Hoi Island area is the most picturesque in town and flooded with cafes and people (especially kids).

My next stop was the famous Japanese Covered Bridge with a story all of its own. Is started life as an ordinary stone bridge but when Japanese traders came to town they realised that according to their mythology the back of a huge dragon stretching from India to Japan actually passes under this stone bridge and every time the dragon back moved it would cause earthquakes in Japan. According to their mythology the only way to stop this was to build a temple over the bridge and suppress the serpent's back through prayer. They started building a wooden temple over the bridge in 1593 in the year of the monkey and completed the bridge in 1395 in the year of the dog so you can see one of each animal, adorned as a god with incense burning, at either end of this bridge.

Lucky for me my tour guide, Loi, explained this to me since I stumbled upon my little Boo-Dah group as I walked away from this bridge knowing they would eventually visit it because it is a famous landmark in Hoi An. I was relieved to see them. We went back to the bridge for this explanation and back to the Old House of Tan Ky to look inside. Six generations of Chinese have lived in this house and it is adorned with antique wooden furniture embossed in painted mother-of-pearl with ornamental vases everywhere.

I was surprised that we could sit on the furniture and sip green tea as the house staff explained each piece. Hoi An has countless shops with local paintings, antiques and most of all fabrics for tailor-made clothes. The girls had already placed their orders the night before and would head back at 5pm today to pick up their spoils... The kids however had their minds focused on fishing and it only took 30min to get out to a secluded part of the river where we boarded our on wooden skip to head out into the main river and bay of Hoi An.

Our skipper was called "Captain Cook" and our female "first mate" was a blast with the kids - very enthusiastic and engaging and learned all their names off by heart. The kids then climbed on board a tiny wooden canoe to go fishing by net with a young couple who have been doing this for 17 years in this location. The wife powered and steered the boat by oar while the husband taught the kids how to cast and gather in the net. Each one had a go and amongst the seven of them they gathered in 15 fish of mostly palm size and under. The young kids shrilled with delight each time a fish was pulled out of the net and they kept counting them.

Fish under palm size are taken home and placed in a dam (left over rice paddy) and farmed to full size. Those over palm size go to the market for income. This couple typically work an 8-10hr day catching around 8kg of fish which sell for the equivalent of $AUD10 - what a way to make a living - but they are happy, live on the water and tell us that they have plenty to eat. You cannot get much healthier than fish, rice and vegies - this is why they live so long in this area since they do not eat any processed food and none of the three "white western killers": flour, sugar and salt. The skip then traveled to a swamp full of "water palms" whose coconuts have no liquid inside, just husk.

The kids then boarded three floating vessels shaped like half a coconut and driven by a boat staff member and took them for spinning rides and to collect palm leaves inside the marshes. After 30min our kids emerged with palm leaves folded into all sorts of shapes including crowns, birds, sun glasses and even a grasshopper. You can imagine their delight. The crew were simply great with them. After this it was off to lunch on another skip equipped with a kitchen in the stern and a big long table with chairs down the its length.

Everyone went for a refreshing swim just before lunch and I stayed on the beach for a little kip during lunch since I planned to run straight after. The kids were sad to leave the crew after lunch and by 3pm we were back at the hotel. I went off for a 10km run to Cua Dai Beach and back and everyone else hit the afternoon hotel shuttle bus to town to pick up their tailor-made clothes. I blogged away once back to the sound of French Chardonnay (there are no local wines so the next best thing os French given the past colonial connection).

I then met everyone for dinner at 7:30pm at our now favourite restaurant in Hoi An and the entire trip so far: The Mermaid Restaurant. Tonight we ate the rest of the "specialties" menu: grilled white tuna with mango salsa, mackeral and tumeric in banana leaf, minced pork with grilled eggplant claypot, mixed meat and seafood hotpot. I dumped fresh thinly sliced chillies plus paste on mine for an extra sweaty but happy experience. We all washed down this incredibly tasty food with buckets of cold local lager beer.

The fish dishes were easily the best given the daily fresh local fish and the myriads of finely chopped local vegies and spices. I final Sav Blanc in our cool hotel rooms put us to sleep faster than any warm milk known to humankind!!! Tue 9 July was a free day in Hoi An given it also fronts the South China Sea. Myself and my brother Nick G (also known as G1 and G2 respectively) decided to go for a huge run leaving at 9:15am. G1 and G2 ran the 5km to Cua Dai Beach where Nick G turned back since he wanted to take the kids cycling.

I kept going another 5km to get to an exclusive beachside resort just beyond An Bang Beach. I then went for a 2km swim in the South China Sea further north towards Da Nang passing 2-3 other resorts. Our guide tells us that all these resorts are owned by the Russian mafia who use them to launder drug money. After my swim I frolicked around the resort pool and I must confess all I could see was snow white skin Russians and Chinese in the pool. From here I ran the 5km back to Cua Dai to get on the 12:30pm shuttle bus back to our hotel.

It did not turn up so as I was jogging out of town Nick G and Ethan yelled to me out of the blue - they are the only ones who ended up cycling here with everyone else at Hoi An for more shopping! What a lucky break - I was in no mood to jog another 5km back to the hotel given it was 1pm and steamy hot. I got on Ethan's bicycle and put him on the back and we all cycled back to the hotel - a cold poolside coke greeted us and we washed away the sweat and heat of a fabulous physical morning. The rest of the day was spent poolside and blogside.