We woke up early at 8AM sharp trying to witness the old town under the sunlight without the crowd. Today experience was totally different from the day before because Hoi An in early morning is so peaceful and shy. And I liked it that way.
The first stop was Old House of Tân Kỳ, it is one of the oldest house in Hoi An. It was located right next to the main river, with a beautiful old yellow wall, so mandatory photos were taken. We wanted to check out what's inside of an old house, sadly you must pay to visit and we were on budget so we had a peep into the house and went on our way. It used to open for tourists, at least when I was visiting Hoi An, seeing people coming in and out just the night before. But I can't google any information of it anymore, apparently it was confirmed to be closed. So weird!
If you are interested in ancient houses, Old House of Tấn Ký is another popular address. This house is more than 200 hundred years old. The materials used to build the house were expensive and extremely durable back in the old days, explaining why it still looks amazing and new. The owning family is still living upstair, so you can only get to check out the downstairs. I have read the reviews, I agreed with some saying it was not really special to pay a visit, but it would be interesting if you'd like to discover the history behind this old house.
101 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hoi An
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| Notice the monkey on the left? Haha |
We then walk slowly to the famous Japanese Covered Bridge, it is a combination of a temple and a bridge. Ok! I'm using my research and analytical writing skill which I gained at uni (my degree finally paid off haha) to give you a contented history of this monument.
Japanese Covered Bridge was built in the 17th century, by the Japanese obviously. According to legend, the earthquakes were caused by a monster called Mamazu, with its head lying in Japan, its body in Vietnam and its tail in Indian Ocean. Every time it moved, there would be earthquakes, causing disasters affecting the Japanese, the Chinese and the Vietnamese. The bridge acted as an figurative sword, impaling into the monster's spine so it couldn't move its tail and causing earthquakes anymore. In 1653, the people built a temple attaching into the bridge, worshiping a protective God named Bắc Đế Trấn Võ, who would bring peace and happiness to Hoi An. (VTV 2014)
After taking tons of photo, we decided to cross the bridge and check out the temple as well. Just right when I stepped my foot in, the lady sitting in a table right before the bridge was aggressively stopping me and said, "Ticket!" not knowing I'm a Vietnamese. I was like "You need ticket to cross the bridge???" in Viet. She rudely said yes to me, so angry I stared at her and left. There were also Chinese tourists trying to enter but apparently she did the same thing to them. No wonder Vietnam's Tourism never gets better. I mean you need to pay to cross a freaking bridge, I almost had a heart attack. The night before, people were crossing it like crazy, nobody cared and the next morning you have to pay *rolling eyes*.
People and rules like this have worsened the Vietnam's images to the world. I don't why the local government gave these people job, came up with ridiculous tickets and don't seem to give any shit to make Hoi An friendlier to the tourists, even the Vietnamese ones. I'm really sorry if you had the same experience as mine.
Bitter and disappointed, we slowly walked around, thinking where we should visit!
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| Beautiful quiet town in the morning |
At about 8.30AM, we were so hungry and remembered we hadn't tried the legendary bánh mì Madam Khánh, quickly we searched for the address and walked as fast as we could. My friend told me that Mrs. Khanh only sells about 200 breads, first come first serve. So you gotta be quick to have the very yummy bánh mì you would ever have in Vietnam. She is the nicest lady I have ever met, along with her daughter, I assumed. We had 2 special bánh mì and 2 glasses of soya milk, I remembered the bill was 50.000VND, the cheapest meal we had in Hoi An.
115 Tran Cao Van Street, Hoi An
The next destination in our plan was to visit
Reaching Out Teahouse which I wrote a separate post because I love the place so much. Read and you'll know why (✿◠‿◠). After two hour of wonderful morning tea session, we were just strolling away on the streets, glancing on everything.
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| Attempt taking chio photo haha |
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| Spotted Beckham and Harper in Hoi An |
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| Interesting looking house |
We entered some shops trying to buy souvenirs for the family back home, like I must get one or my father would be displeased. Ok! I wanted to give them some gifts from Hoi An as well, since none of my family member has been to this town hehe.
After a few rounds, I found one interesting house, we went in because of that red and black and somewhat scary mask hanging on the wall. There was a coffee store in the middle part of the house. They sell handmade, fascinating stuff in the house's inner part, from Hoi An chandeliers to potteries, some costs really expensive and some was reasonably priced. I picked up a flower vase for my mom for 135.000đ, which for me was sensible. I don't know why I did not take a photo of the front, but I think you would find it eventually. It located near Hoi An Market.
Later, on the way, we encountered this cutie, he was trying to pee but I kept following him. Just look at his puffy butt, I just wanted to grab them and cuddle (ok! This sounded better in my head). Poor thing kept looking back at me, probably thinking why does this lady want to see me go pee pee. He was kinda holding it in, and always checked if anyone was looking hahaha.
The last location we came across on the way back to our motel was Hội quán Hải Nam. It was one of the location with the sign "Free Visit" hanging in front of the gate, and I thought we should came in.
According to history, this temple is an extremely spiritual place of the Chinese Vietnamese from Hai Nam Province, China, living in Hoi An. This place was built to pay respect to 108 traders from Hai Nam, who were victimised by the greedy officials who wanted to steal all the expensive goods the traders had in their boats back in the 19th century. Later, the King, after having dreams about the poor traders as in they tried to tell him the truth, decided to commence an investigation and exculpated them. He also had an order to build this temple in remember of 108 victims who often saved the sailors near Hoi An's coastal areas from disasters, according to legend.
The architecture of the temple was to me, strongly presents the Chinese culture and authenticity, you can simply see that from two photos above. There was a bronze picture, sculpting a story about the history, which at the time I visited, I had no idea what was it about. I tried to take a picture, but decided to delete it, for me it was something that you should see with your own eyes to feel it. To be honest, I don't like to capture moments in spiritual places, I always feel uneasy about it.
Don't be too scared haha, the place is definitely worth a visit when you're in Hoi An.
10 Tran Phu, Hoi An.
And that was our last place we stopped by in Hoi An. For two days, I felt like it was not enough for me to capture the spirit of Hoi An. Living in Saigon for too long got me feeling I was out in a new planet with scenery I don't get to live and see everyday. There will be a time I shall live in Hoi An to get in touch with the nostalgia escaping the modern, fast living lifestyle I'm having.
Until the next destination gets added to my cities I'd like to live in list haha.
