Weekend in Hoi An

Hoi An is a picture postcard town on the central coast of Vietnam and an easy getaway from Hanoi.  We spent a weekend of visiting the old town and playing in the waves.

The city was spared the ravages of bombing during the American War and has benefitted from substantial funding from Japanese cultural foundations for its restauration.

The coiled incense below is sold to wishers and burned in this pagoda. Inscriptions in Vietnamese and occasional other languages request favors, prosperity and other successes.

Our hotel was on the river. One evening we came back to our rooms to see these lanterns floating magically along in front of the hotel restaurant.  They were set afloat upstream and then collected a little ways downstream, creating a dancing light show in the pitch black night.
















Simple boats set out to sea in front of Cham islands.
















No cars allowed in the center of town.  This is a happy change from the honking and pollution of the streets of Hanoi.
















The weekend ended with dragonboat racing on the river in front of the hotel.  The banks were lined with spectators and racers waiting their turn.  Men's and women's teams lined up to paddle ferociously up and down the river.  All under the watchful, benevolent eye of Uncle Ho, pictured below - can you find him?

Long Bien Arts Festival

Next year, Hanoi will be 1,000 years old. Last weekend, the city kicked off a year of celebration at the 999 year anniversary. At the Long Bien Bridge arts festival, the art was not very prolific, but pedestrians were able to take a leisurely stroll without the noise and dust kicked up by the thousands of motorbikes that cross the bridge each day.

The bridge crosses the Red River. In several spots, there are islands in the middle of the river and every inch of these islands is covered with cultivation, flowers, corn, bananas and other unidentified vegetation.

On the sand bars along the river, you could see camps. Boats dotted the river along these encampments and some of the buildings of the neighborhood of Tay Ho look like they are about to slide down the embankment.

Caligraphy by a very finely attired, white-haired man. On the spot art.

Back in the day...

Today, anytime you take the train to go north of Hanoi, you will pass over the Long Bien Bridge. The long leisurly walk we took, gave us a nice perspective on the river and the city beyond its banks. Unfortunately, it also gave us an upclose look at the iron structure that has survived over 60 years of rusting and various wars. Apparently, this doesn't keep it from holding up this train.

One Saturday Morning

Still in PJs, playing computer games and watching cartoons with the friend that had spent the night, the kids were surprised to hear the sounds of drums approaching one Saturday morning. Outside, a parade of dragons was snaking its way through the narrow alleyways behind and around our house. The view from the ground floor was limited, so we raced to the top floor terrasse to get a better look.
A band of 30 or so drummers and dragon carriers both children and adult were gathered in front of one of the houses occupied by a Vietnamese family in our neighborhood. Were they being honored? Bestowed with good luck wishes? Solicited for refreshments (they did pass around something to eat)? After about 20 minutes the parade left our neighborhood in its normally peaceful state.


















Later on that day, biking down to the tennis courts, we saw the dragons majestically displayed in front of our local Dinh (community center). The Dinh was decked out in flags and banners. There were balloon sellers and hot dog stands. The empty comquat field next door had a kiddie train set up and loud music was blaring in between announcements.

It was a village festival. The ancestors were being honored and the living were presented with certificates of some sort.


Young people took advantage of the time to socialize, older generation wore the traditional attire and the kids reveled in the color and excitement. It reminded me of the fais do do's in Louisiana. I never really understood what the precise occasion was or what kind of "official" activities were taking place. What I did understand is that street parties around the world can be so different and so similar at the same time.