Hoi An, Vietnam, May.20 – 24, 2025
Antient Town of Hoi An, Beautiful beach and Vietnam coffee
It was a long way to Hoi An. One of the antient towns in Vietnam. I took a red-eye flight at 01:30 from Haneda. After flight of about 7 hours, I saw the city in twilight from the window of my seat. I could see light from houses, small light from cars on the streets in the twilight. New day will start soon. I like watching this moment from above. I arrived Ho Chi Minh City early in the morning. I exchanged 10,000 yen to huge amount of Vietnamese currency 1.7 million at a Telephone shop and bought a sim card at the same shop before taking a shuttle bus to T-3 building, newly built terminal. I was overwhelmed by the difference between both currencies. It confused me a lot and it had kept me confused. I had to take a Vietnam airlines’ flight to Danang, central Vietnam at 9:00. I got on the green colored shuttle bus on the arrival and waited for the bus to start for a while. This is my first time to visit the country. Noise of motor bikes, Strong sunshine, Hot temperature as high as my body temperature, everything is new to me. From the window of the shuttle bus, I saw the streets of Ho Chi Minh City bustling with motor bikes. The streets are nothing different from other Asian cities. There are billboards of propaganda posters of celebration 50 years anniversary after Vietnam war. I know they fought the war against the United States and finally won and the war ended when I was 12 years old. It is difficult for me now to imagine the wars were once fought against France and later the United States. There are nothing which remind me of the war at least in the city now.
The terminal 3 is the newly built facility. There are still some construction works going in the terminal. It was not easy for me to get to the departure floor with many obstructions on my way. After check-in, I went through the security check by putting off my shoes. I saw some US senior citizens at the gate for my flight to Danang. Some are on the wheel chairs. I guessed they served military forces during the war. It could be their journey to remember the place once they spent their young time. The flight was just about an hour. Mountainous green land spreads out before my eyes. View of green mountains lasted until before touch-down.
As soon as I got out of the arrival floor, I tried and called a taxi using grab. It is a popular apps to call a taxi in Southeast Asia. I heard about it from Miki san, who works in a reefer container maintenance business in Kobe City. For a guy like me who bought a phone just a few years ago, using the apps is quite challenging. Actually it really was. Shortly after I pressed the bottom, I got an offer from a driver. I answered to it and asked. It looks he is very close to my location. However, I was not able to locate his place on my phone. But I was able to ride as he found me. You know they say “Practice makes perfect”. You can say that again. “Practice makes perfect”.
The car goes on toward Hoi An. There were Mountains on my right side. There are a lot of shops and factories of stone statues and grave stones on the roadside. I heard from the driver this area is famous for stone products. (He is using translation Apps. He says something in Vietnamese. Then it translates into English. The phone speak in English. I realized it is very effective. It was just a drive of some 40 minutes. but I learned a lot.
The hotel was near the beach far away from town of Hoi An. It was a quiet and beautiful beach resort. I arrived before noon. After I checked in, I took a complimentary shuttle bus to downtown Hoi an. It was just twenty minutes or something to get to the stop in the middle of the town near historic area. It was over 30 degree. Sunshine was strong. But I started to walk towards the river and turned left to the old town area where the Japan bridge is located. On my way, I found some restaurants and shops. I took lunch at a Vietnamese noodle shop. I ordered a Pho soup noodle and a coke. The restaurant is open to the street facing the river and has no air-conditioning. The restaurant is in an old style Vietnamese wooden building. It is cool inside. There were paintings on frame hanging, which are chic. It looks of family business. I guess they have lived for many years in this house. I heard from the owner that the Japan bridge is very close. So I walked along the river. There was a market. Under the shed of roof, they were selling produce, fish, meat, coffee beans, souvenir, etc. I saw people were sleeping under the shed of trees. They are restoring energy for the rest of the day. Someday we need to take a nap in the afternoon in Japan if temperature is rising. In about ten minutes, I ran into the crowd in front of a structure on the small river. It was the Japan bridge. It is way small than I expected it would be like. It was built long time ago when there was a Japanese community in the town. For me, it looks a bridge built by someone who wanted to build something Japanese. I walked around the area and headed to Hoian Catholic Church north of the area. It took some twenty minutes when I found the church. There were school, sport yard, shops, etc. When I crossed the street toward the church, a young lady came towards me and passed a paper. There are words in English and Korean on it. I found it is about her. I understand she was selling her paintings on the street. She is suffering from leprosy. I gave her some hundred thousands as I did not think I can take a large painting in frame. I stayed in the church some ten minutes. Later I regretted . I should have bought. She may have been glad rather than given money. I stopped by a cafe on my way to the hotel’s bus stop and had a cold beer.
During the stay, I was staying the hotel to attend the business meeting on the hotel for three days. Every morning after I took a walk along the beach, I had a breakfast at the restaurant on the first floor where you can see the beautiful beach. I like coffee. But they have a server of Vietnamese coffee on the beverage stand at the corner. You can drink the hot Vietnamese coffee in the glass adding a syrup of sugar and condense milk. I like coffee in the morning especially it makes me wake up. Green tea is not strong for me to wake up. Vietnamese coffee is stronger and bitter. I found I like it. That is strong enough to keep awake during the meeting, which sometimes get boring. I usually wake up around 4 a.m. and have a simple breakfast of rice and raw egg at home. So I like breakfast at hotel. I can have a wide variety of food there; meat, noodle, vegetables, fruits, sweets, drinks… I do not like business meeting. But I just wished I could have breakfast at the restaurant like this place everyday. It was a paradise for me.