Winter Woolies & White Skin
Hoi An, 23rd & 24th
May 2002
The next two days in Hoi An were quiet days. While we'd been in
North, the weather was steadily getting wetter, the rainy season is
on its way. However, down here it's still nice & hot, and REALLY
sunny. Hoi An has a fantastic beach nearby, so Gilad & I hired bikes
and took the short cycle down there. Gilad warned me that there
would be loads of people on the beach trying to sell things. So I
was prepared for the worst.
When we got there, it was very quiet, there were few tourists, but
plenty of vendors, like Gilad had said. So of course they all
pounced on us. It was quite interesting, compared to the vendors in
Bali, they were quite mild. However, they had a different technique
that was very persistent and could get a little annoying. If you
said 'No' to them, they'd ask for your name, then give you their
name and say "If you buy, you buy from me!", in a very strong voice.
They'd only move on once you'd agreed. And if you broke one of these
verbal contracts and bought from someone else, then they'd pounce on
you, "You promised, you lied" and try the guilty approach.
Nonetheless, even with the constant hassling, it was a beautiful,
golden beach, with lovely rolling waves. Even though it's been hot
for all my time in Asia, it hasn't been sunny for a while, so I
carefully restricted the amount of time I spent in the sun.
Conveniently, the beach had countless, huge, wicker sun-umbrellas
with comfy deck-chairs under them. Very tempting to use, and only
5000-10,000Dong (depending on your bargaining skills). The day
passed quietly, we just soaked up the sun & played in the waves.
There were two interesting events that happened while on the beach.
The first was that I noticed the way all Vietnamese women selling on
the beach, cover every inch of their skin from the sun. They wear
thick trousers, 2 or 3 long sleeve shirts, elbow length gloves,
woolly gloves, conical hats, and half-a-dozen bandannas around their
faces. The reason for this is simple enough, in Vietnam, white skin
is a sign of beauty, so these women are trying to keep their skin
white. Tanned skin indicates you are a commoner that has to work in
the sun all day, just like in Victorian England. How history repeats
itself. Although we think they look strange, all wrapped up in this
intense heat, they must think we're equally as strange running
around in skimpy clothes in the sun!
The other fun event was playing with the kids in the water. Later
on, Andy joined us, and when Andy & I ran into the water, we were
joined by a dozen young, Vietnamese boys, who wanted to have water
fights and to be thrown into the air so they could make big splashes
in the water. After 20 minutes of constant picking-up & throwing, we
were really exhausted, so we ran back up into the shade.
The next day, I went on a half-day trip to a place called “My Son”.
Andy & Gilad didn't want to, so I went alone. I'd been told that
this is one of the 'must-see' sights of Vietnam.
However, after a 2 hour bus ride to get there, it wasn't
particularly spectacular. “My Son” is a largish collection of Cham
style ruins. There are a number of sites with very old, crumbling
buildings gathered around them, some dating from 1000s of years ago.
Although it was interesting to see, they're a little too far to make
the trip really worth it. Plus they charge 50,000Dong ($3.50) to get
it, quite steep.
More interesting, were the people I met while touring around it. One
guy, a 52 year-old American, had fought in Vietnam for a year when
he was 19, and he had some interesting tales to tell & some views to
share. It was shocking how many of the American solders suffered
from Post-Traumatic stress from the fighting. This man himself, had
spent the 23 years after returning home, living as a hermit in the
mountains because he couldn't cope. Since then he's been receiving
treatment and he decided to return to Vietnam to see it from a
different perspective. Many Vietnam veterans return here to do
community work to try to help restore the country.
After the tour, we returned back to town & I met up with Andy &
Gilad. Hoi An town is famous for one main thing - tailor shops. In 5
years, the number of tailors grew from less than 20, to over 200!
The choice of clothes is quite amazing. The shops can make almost
anything for you, in less than 24 hours. They will measure you up,
then make an outfit to your size. The quality is usually good and
the prices are VERY low! For $20, you can get a brand new suit! I
was really tempted, but as my bag is already full, and posting it
home would cost more than the suit, I decided not to bother.
However, in the future, I will have to return here and get a whole
new wardrobe for a ridiculously low price! I'm sure girls love it
even more out here, the sheer size of selection of hand-bags and
shoes is mind-blowing!
Anyhow, after a quiet afternoon (I'd burned a little from yesterday
on the beach, so I'm not exposing my flesh today. The hours soon
passed and before we knew it, it was 7pm, and our bus to Nha Trang
was parked outside waiting for us.
Next Diary Entry >>
|
