Landing in Tan Son Nhat International Airport left me with a little knot in my stomach wondering if the “plan” would come together. My suitcase was on the carousel and I breathed my first sigh of relief. The second big sigh was completing the “visa on arrival” process.
I was engulfed in a sauna as I exited the airport. It was still amazingly hot and humid at midnight: 29 degrees centigrade (85 humid degrees!). There were hundreds of people with lots of luggage, not really luggage but boxes of stuff meeting people outside the airport. Scanning the crowd, looking for a perfect stranger, had to be the most anxiety producing moment! Finally, my name – in English! The third big sigh was the charmer! I found MY driver. Meet Duong.
My stay at the hotel was limited to a few hours of shuteye and a middle of the night (4 am) return to the airport for an early morning flight to DaNang. I vaguely remember closing my eyes!
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, is the largest city in the country. It was here that I had my introduction to electricity in Vietnam.
Energy conservation – the key has to be inserted in this wall-mounted outlet for the lights AND air conditioning to work. Brilliant, it is impossible to leave the lights or air on when you are not in the room. The overall management of electricity is another story – it really isn’t managed and these nests of electrical wires abound!
It was a quick flight and my guide, Phung, found me and we were on our way to Hoi Ann.
I had the Cliff notes tour of DaNang: the bunker remains of an American Army installation just south of the city, the beautiful and famous Marble Mountain, and miles of beautiful beaches. Given the state of the economy in the states, I was amazed at the amount of active construction. There were major resorts being built near the beaches, including two golf courses.
There are almost 20 miles of beach along this section of the country; between DaNang and Hoi Ann is China Beach. It is most well known of these beaches having earned its reputation as a favorite place for American soldiers on R & R during the war, on a dramatic TV show, by the same name, in the late 80’s into the 90’s.
Hoi Ann, my destination, is a seaport that was used by the Champa Kingdom from the 2nd to the 10th centuries. This trading port had been home to Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese and French merchants at various times over the years. The efforts of each of the successive regimes to influence development are evidenced in the diverse architecture that remains today. Hoi An, spared the ravages of war, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I found Penny, Jenny and Caroline having breakfast at a virtual oasis of tropical paradise near the Old City.
The Vuon Trau Family Resort was lush and serene, complete with hibiscus, frangipani, fishponds and singing (or talking) tropical birds in large bamboo cages. How cool is this to rendezvous with my friends on the other side of the planet? We had breakfast in the garden and I caught my breath briefly before we headed off to cooking school and a tour of the market.
Penny and Jenny are part of the Moosewood Collective in Ithaca, New York. They cook for a living. I knew that going to cooking school with them would be fun. Our destination was the Morning Glory Cooking School. Here’s an analogy - My Vy : Hoi An : : Stephen Starr : Philadelphia. Both have influenced and elevated the food scene in their respective cities by opening many successful restaurants.
Today, Ms Lu would be filling in for Ms Vy who is taking a maternity leave from the day-to-day business at the restaurant and cooking school. First stop was the market: Ms Lu pointed out the local produce, spices, noodles, rice crackers and seafood. Our young teacher had boundless energy and we were on the go weaving our way through the bustling stalls! I’m sure you know by now how much I enjoy taking photos in the market! As we were leaving, Ms Lu “confessed” that the woman who was cutting pineapple was her mother.
Back in the kitchen at the Morning Glory cooking school,
we donned our aprons and got to work. Ms Lu was a great teacher and our results looked almost like hers!
We made spring rolls, learning the fine art of handling rice papers; crispy Vietnamese pancake with shrimp, mastering the frying of the crepe, green papaya salad and a barbeque grilled chicken (my absolute favorite) to die for!
We were on a tight schedule but wandered through the old city on the way back to our “piece of paradise”.
It was hot and the beach was calling.
We decided to get some exercise and pedal our way seeing the sights along the way. It was a relatively flat ride with beautiful scenery at each bend in the road. A slipping chain required mechanical assistance.
Swimming in the South China Sea – "delicious" is the adjective that my sister often uses to describe perfect water!
The beach was great, complete with umbrellas and lounge chairs. We hung out for a while before continuing our loop on the back roads through small villages where the farmers grow herbs and greens.
They are the most beautifully manicured vegetable gardens. (Mr Bill was having fun as well.) This felt like full circle in reverse, as the herbs and greens in the fields were what we saw at the market this morning.
The owners of our bungalow invited all the guests to a “family” dinner in the garden courtyard. We were a cast of characters right out of a John Irving novel: Penny and Jenny, restaurant people from upstate NY; a retired Canadian couple who spend quite a bit of time in Vietnam volunteering their time to assist NGO’s, a Dutch family with 3 year old son, who were traveling with her mother and a friend; a young couple (university professors) from Utah with 10 year old son, my roommate, Caroline, French by birth currently living in Amsterdam who has traveled to Vietnam 20 time over the past 10 years, and me, the school nurse on an educational sabbatical from Philadelphia. Does Hotel New Hampshire sound familiar? It was interesting dinner conversation, but jet lag caught up with me and I turned in early when my eyelids would not stay open.
And the adventure continues (after a night of sleep in a real bed)…
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