Multi-Cultural Architecture
Hoi An, 22nd
May 2002
Hoi An is a lovely, quiet little town. It still has a fantastic mix
of architecture from the many different civilisations that have
ruled her over the years. There is ancient French architecture,
classic Chinese buildings and in some places a touch of Japanese
style. Luckily, because Hoi An has been made a UNESCO World Heritage
site, most of these buildings are protected and will stand safely
for many years to come.
A number of the houses have opened up for public viewing. Some
places run privately, some by the government. The first place I
visited was a huge, old house owned by a middle aged, retired
Vietnamese man. He gladly invited me in and gave me a piece of paper
with a full & detailed history of the house written in good English.
It turned out that this house was from the French times, and he is
the 7th generation of his family to own it. The man also spoke very
good English and showed me around the house, giving me a chance to
see a bit of Vietnamese lifestyle.
In the main room was what looked like a huge, wooden table with 2
pillows on it. It turned out that this was the bed for him & his
family. He explained that the Vietnamese don't usually use
mattresses, and solid wooden boards are comfortable enough! Ouch,
well you can have it & I'll keep my mattress thank you! He also
explained how until the children were about 10, the whole family
would sleep in the one big bed.
He then took me upstairs, and we passed by dozens of pieces of what
looked like real ancient furniture. Some of the pieces, especially
the old, mahogany wardrobe inlaid with mother-of-pearl must be worth
a fortune! When we reached another main room, he showed me the
family shrines. The Vietnamese believe in ancestor worship, and
there were two shrines, one for the women of the family who had
died, and one for the men. He pointed to the many wreathes that hung
from the wall and explained that his father had died 2 years ago,
and by tradition, all the wreaths & decor from the funeral must be
displayed in his house for 3 years after his death.
After getting me to sign his guest book, I thanked him very much, he
had been a real fountain of knowledge. Just as I was leaving, he
pointed to a slightly concealed bowl with a sign saying 10,000Dong
(50p)donation. Although a big sign outside had said 'Free', I was
really obliged to give a donation, and I was more than happy to due
to his interesting information.
I also visited a few of the other various sights in the town.
They've got it well planned, if slightly expensive. You buy one
ticket for 50,000Dong (2 pound 50, a lot for this part of the world)
then you can see 5 different attractions, including an old Japanese
bridge, a Chinese congregation hall, and old Chinese house, a craft
workshop and more. I toured the town, trying to hide in the shade
from the harsh heat, checking out the various sights. It really is
strange having such a mix of cultures still standing in one town!
The most interesting place was the craft workshop where dozens of
skilled artisans sat around carefully carving, weaving and building.
I also timed it just right to watch a short show of traditional
Vietnamese music. The small group of musicians gathered around in
traditional Vietnamese dress, instruments in hand. Some of the
instruments they played were very interesting, I've never seen them
anywhere else and they are quite hard to describe. Suffice to say,
they played them very well!
I continued walking around the town and did a bit of souvenir & gift
hunting. Vietnam seems to have such a huge selection of fantastic (&
cheap) gifts. Some sections I rushed past though, like the very
stinky food market. (Truthfully, though, I liked passing through the
market because it made me feel tall! The market has a net covering
it, which is high enough for the locals, but many westerners
(including me) are too tall and have to bend a bit to walk under.
It's nice feeling tall!)
Once I'd finished my shopping, I rushed back to the hotel to take a
refreshing dip in the pool. About 20 minutes later, Andy & Gilad
turned up and we went out for dinner.
Dinner was good fun, mainly because we chatted & joked with the
staff and the really friendly kids selling stuff on the streets.
They're so cute & excited you can't angry at their hassling, besides
it's a much better experience to chat with them (almost all speak
excellent English).
We learnt about one little trick they've learned. They'll go up to
foreigners and ask for spare foreign coins. Thinking it'd be nice,
the friendly foreigner hunts through his pocket and hands over a 1
pound/50p/$1 coin. The kid then does this to many tourists, until he
has a sizeable collection, say 5 pounds/10 pounds/10 dollars. Then
he'll find someone who comes from the relevant country and ask them
to buy the coins off them (they can't change the coins in Vietnam,
but the foreigner can take them home to spend). This is a fantastic
idea, because 10 pounds will bring the kid at least 200,000Dong,
enough to last for a VERY long time!
Anyhow, after a great meal of Cau Lau (Pork & Noodles & Vegetables
in Soup) & White Rose (prawns in flour), two local specialities, we
headed back to the hotel.
The rest of the evening was spent swimming around the pool, chatting
& drinking with the other people in the hotel. We did this late into
the night until we were really cold & all wrinkled up, then decided
it was time to call it a night.
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