Saturday 19 April
We enjoyed a good night’s sleep at our new hotel. Dorthe and I think we have got the best room of the hotel with direct access to
a balcony overlooking the garden and the swimming pool. After a very nice breakfast – coffee/tea/different kinds of juice, omelette, baguettes, ham, marmalade and fruit – it was time to gather our washing and bring it across the street for washing and that was also where we rented our bikes. The laundress did not ask for name or room number, just took it and promised it ready in the late afternoon. After we had got our bikes it was time to get out in the Vietnamese traffic which in this town mostly consists of bikes and mopeds, and pedestrians can cross the street without too much difficulty. But before anything else many of us went to the dressmaker’s where we chose materials and were measured for various outfits. Prices were worked out and approved of (we found the prices very reasonable and accepted them at once). After that we went to the silversmith’s where we saw lots of beautiful jewels, lots of chains and rings – mostly in silver, but everything can be bought in both white and red gold and here we also gave our orders. After that we went to a silk factory where we were shown around. We were told all about silk and for instance saw how a picture could be made into a beautiful silk painting. It took a long time to make and was very costly of course – I think a sum of about 200 dollars was mentioned. Most of the morning had gone and it was time for lunch which we had near the beach. The beach is about 4 km form Hoi An and when we went to the beach after our meal we were all very impressed and I thought to myself that this might as well have been Hawaii – there were palm trees, sun beds, parasols and the South China Sea with waves like in the North Sea. We hired sun beds, lied down under the parasols and before long we had all been out for a swim. As it is so hot it felt a bit cool when you got into the water but it did not take you long to dive into the waves even though you a not a great one for going swimming at home. And it was also very nice afterwards – better that a shower which has been our only way of cooling down up to now. There was a lovely sandy bottom and the waves were not too big – very, very nice! As soon as we settled down on our sun beds some women wanting to sell fruit and souvenirs gathered around us. I talked to a very nice girl and she told me that she was there when she did not go to school. She spoke English quite well and she also helped the other girls when it was needed. It is Henning’s birthday today and there was a big party at our hotel. We were about 40 people for dinner in the hotel garden – people from Hoi An, Henning’s friends from Hanoi and other parts of North Vietnam, the young Swiss couple and the Danish group.
It was a very nice evening with a lot of talking and there was also some singing. There is a tradition for solo singing in Vietnam and several of the guests sang for us - tuneful songs that go well with our taste.
We also gave a number when we sang a birthday song for Henning. A party in Vietnam ends earlier than in Denmark so about 11 o’clock pm the Vietnamese guests went home and our little group went to bed after our first day in this paradise.
Video with party in Hoi An. Højre klik evt
Sunday 20 April
Today’s trip was a visit to a small island near Hoi An. So at 8.30 our international group – Vietnamese, Swiss and Danes picked up our bicycles which we were going to take along and went down and got on board a small boat that took us to one of the small islands near the coast.
At home we are used to a fresher air as soon as you are on a boat, but not here. There was hardly any wind but the boat was roofed so we were protected against the sun. The town looked picturesque from the seaside and it did not take us long to get to the island where our first stop was at a woodcarving factory and we also visited a small shipbuilding yard and a brickyard. It was very interesting to visit such a small community although it was very hot to cycle round. The houses here seemed smaller and poorer but were built in the same style as we have seen them elsewhere and there were many beautiful, blooming trees everywhere. Although it is Sunday today they worked at the factories we went to but we also saw men sitting at small cafés while women and children were at home – and inside! When passing the houses we were often greeted with a ‘hello. They seemed to find our visit to their community interesting and we liked their greeting and waved back with another ‘hello.’ On our way we had to pass a bamboo bridge which of course was quite uneven and seemed frail so we got off the bikes and walked across but a young chap passed us at full speed on his moped! After we got back to Hoi An we were quite tired and looking forward to lunch. It had been very sunny and hot and we all have quite a nice tan now. Our Vietnamese friends cover most of their faces with scarves so they almost look like bank robbers and put on long gloves in order not to be tanned by the sun while we undress as much as we find it suitable. After lunch there was no fixed program. Some went to the dressmaker’s for a fitting, others wanted to buy silk curtains or a dip in the pool and the rest just wanted to relax. We met again at 7.30 with our bikes to go out and eat. While we were eating the electricity suddenly disappeared but they soon lit some candles. They are used to it and we have also seen it before but it did not last long before the light was back again. We do not find the traffic too difficult but compared to what we saw in Saigon there is no traffic here of course.
Monday 21 April
Although we have been in the tropics for ten days now the heat is still hard on us. Today we should really have visited the Marble Mountain but as we would have had to climb it about noon we decided to wait till the day we leave Hoi An when we can do it earlier. So we went straight to Da Nang where we visited Village of Hope – a school for deaf children and also for orphans.
Henning is a sponsor for two of the children and has told us a great deal about it. We were welcomed by the director of the school. He told us different things about the school which has 140 pupils from the area. He did not speak English so an interpreter was present. Only the deaf children are taught on the premises, the orphans live there but go to different schools in the town. They all live together in small communities – ‘families’ - and a big ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ is responsible for the ‘family’ and not very many grown ups live there. Unfortunately there was no teaching while we were there. They had a break before lunch which gave us a chance to see their rooms and talk to some of them. There is one big room for each family – a table in the middle and six beds along the walls which means two children in each bed!
One of the girls was in her room doing her lessons so we got the chance to see her schoolbooks. I was mostly interested in her English book and she read a little aloud from the book and I asked her some questions which she could all answer!! But many of the pupils understood only little English. Outside they were playing and we noticed several big guys and thought they must be the big ‘brothers.’ But no, they were a group of young Australians who were here for three weeks as a social project in their last school year. We were invited to have lunch together with the pupils and were placed at different tables which gave us an extra chance to speak with them. They helped us along with the food and offered us more and then it was time to say good bye. Before returning to Hoi An we went to a museum in Da Nang called the Museum of Cham Sculpture where we saw many fine sculptures dating from the 7th to the 13th century. Most of the afternoon was free to do what we felt for. Many of us went to the dressmaker’s to see if our clothes were ready or for a fitting but there was also time for shopping, bathing or resting. At 7.45 we went out again. We had been invited to dinner at some of Henning’s friends’ house. Before dinner we were upstairs in the house to see their prayer room both for their ancestors and for Buddha. It was a big and beautiful room. Afterwards we had a delicious dinner and for the first time there was no rice at all! After dinner we went upstairs again and had tea and fruit and were entertained with singing and guitar playing. We repaid them by singing our national anthem and other songs which we thought we could, but ended up singing tra, la, la. On our way home - and most of the time when we cycle - Jørgen sang for us – he will have to be the band leader! The temperature is perfect now so it is really a pity to go to bed!
>Tuesday 22 April
What have we done since we are so lucky as to be on this wonderful trip? Today we have been on a trip to an island called Cham Island 20 km out in the South China Sea. We were picked up by taxi and driven to the harbour where we went on board a boat that sailed us to the island. We were 15 people – and the boat was just big enough for us. The sea was rather calm but as we sailed very fast you felt the waves when they met the boat and some of us did not find it too pleasant but nobody got seasick .It was an impressive sight to come to the island which is covered with trees on the hillside and a small village hiding for the wind at the bottom of the hills. When we got ashore we went into an information centre where they gave us a leaflet in which we could read that Denmark was co- operating with Vietnam about different projects on the island. We were very pleased to hear that! After that we walked across a rice field walking on the dike between the fields. To watch the group cross this field looked very picturesque – some have bought straw hats like the Vietnamese, and the group looked like people on their way home from work as they walked along. We saw a fine pagoda and there was also a school next to it but they were busy so we were not allowed in.
We walked to another harbour on the island where we split up in two groups. Finn and Jørgen were going snorkelling while the rest of us sailed to the other side of the island to go swimming. We came to the most wonderful little bay with hammocks and sun beds under palm trees – and there were even coconuts in the trees! We were offered water and pineapple and then went swimming of course. It was very hot so the swimming was refreshing but to lie in the sand afterwards was something you could only do for a few minutes. But although we have not done much sunbathing we all have a nice tan by now. The two ‘snorklers’ returned after a nice experience but there had not been very much to see. At 12 o’clock we drifted up to a restaurant where we had a delicious lunch. There we were – enjoying the meal and a beautiful look on palm trees, beach, the sea and fishing boats. After lunch it was time for a rest in the hammocks and one more swim before returning to Hoi An. This time it was like flying across the waves but in between we got a cascade of water into the boat which just made us laugh. A wonderful trip! At home again some went to the dressmaker’s or to the jeweller’s to see if our orders were ready to pick up and others went to visit the famous houses of the town. We know our way around by now so it is not a problem to find something to do. When you walk in the streets you only have to cast a quick glance at the goods before they say – ‘you buy from me’ … They even call you from the other side of the street or maybe they come up to you and start a conversation with you in the middle of the street, and when you have talked to them for a little while they ask you to come along to their shop and buy. They are really salesmen. But they are all very kind so although they are very insistent you do not get angry with them. Again tonight we have been out to a private dinner .Our host used to have a restaurant and the table was laid outside and again some delicious food. Also tonight there was beautiful singing from the Vietnamese and after our group tried again without much success Jørgen got up and sang a sailor’s song for which he got much well deserved praise To end the evening we had fruit and tea and then we returned to our hotel on our bikes after yet another nice day in Hoi An.
Wednesday 23 April
Today’s program for the morning was a bicycle ride in Hoi An and the afternoon was free. Kirsten and Leif stayed at home as Kirsten was not well. A doctor was called for and ordered some medicine and a diet for five days so Kirsten hopes to be all right again tomorrow if she takes it easy today. We drove through big and small roads and places we had not seen before and our first stop was at a school where we were allowed to visit some classes. We noticed how plain and simple the classrooms were compared to our standard but the pupils were smiling and eager to talk to us and they were not afraid of starting a conversation in English. They sang a song for us and waved happily when we left. Later we visited a boat builder’s yard and a small factory where they produce a kind of snack which by the way we tasted last night. We had an invitation for lunch from Phi - she is the lady who has the shop where we buy our gold and silver things. She is a busy lady so it was at a restaurant and different to what we have had before with many vegetables and meat which was rolled into very thin spring rolls. Very exquisite. If we found it difficult to roll them one of the staff would help us.
The afternoon was not as hot as the morning, but maybe because we took it easy. Some of us went to a hairdresser’s where we chose a pedicure and a face mask or even a hair cut while others went to the beach and some thought that it was time to send a post card to Denmark. And there were also dresses, skirts, shorts or other things to be picked up from the dressmaker’s so we were all quite busy I think. We met for dinner at 7 pm at the hotel – invited by the manager. Some of us wore newly bought dresses or shoes just made to fit. Those from the staff, whom we had seen most, were also invited and we had a very enjoyable evening. The food was once again very delicious and our Vietnamese friends eager to help us if we could not cope. They want the best for us and often put an extra shrimp or spring roll in our bowls .By now we are quite good at eating with chopsticks. There was quite a lot of singing and for the first time we came out of it well. But in Vietnam a party does not go on for half the night. After a couple of hours the manager said good night and thank you so we did not go to bed very late.
Thursday 24 April
We had quite a lot of rain last night and also some thunder but the temperature was as usual when we got up and today has been a hot day. According to our program this was a day off but we all had a lot of things we wanted to do. But at one o’clock we had an invitation for lunch. It was our dressmaker - Bui - who had invited us to come to her brother’s house for lunch. She is building a new house and had no room for us at her own house. Her brother is working at our hotel and we have seen a lot of him at the hotel and know him quite well so it was very nice to visit him in his house and we had a very nice meal. But before and after we were busy collecting things we had ordered – clothes and jewellery and we also went sightseeing in the famous houses of this town. In some of the houses the persons who show you around may be descendants – it is said up to the tenth generation - of the people who built the house Some went to the big market and some wanted to go swimming but told us later that there was too much wind today so bathing was not allowed. At 7.30 pm we were all ready once again with our bikes outside our hotel and going out to eat. We had been invited to dine with Lou and her family. She is a teacher in Hoi An and has a deaf daughter that Henning helps financially. The family has recently built a new house – big and very nice and a nice room for the children and even a computer. The house has two floors, and if the nearby river floods which it sometimes does, they can live upstairs till the water is away again. Lou had been busy in the kitchen and made us a very nice dinner – and for those who wanted it, they served rum with the dinner! This was our last day in Hoi An where we have felt really at home. It is 10 o’clock – the others are relaxing in the garden before we all go up to pack the last things into our suitcases and tomorrow morning it is time to say good bye.
