Part 7. Spiritual city of Hoi An.
Since there are more and more parts of the description of my Vietnamese trip, I will post links to the previous parts at the end of the story, and not at the beginning. It seems to me that the text will be perceived easier.
I liked Hoi An very much!
I was walking through an old, low-rise city, it started to rain, it was very warm, but not hot, pleasant fatigue buzzed in my legs and there was no person happier than me. I turned my head, looked at the walls, roofs, windows, doors... That's what I love most - these are such spiritual cities, frozen in time. Are there many of them in the world?
Almost the entire city consists of temples, hotels, cafes, shops and sewing shops. And all this in old, old, in places blackened from dampness, houses.
Hoi An is not very much like a city, more like a village, but the most sincere, most charming village. And very old. Every next house is a delight!
Everything is very atmospheric, when you get here you feel your involvement in history. How can you not fall in love with this?
On the way, I bought some strange food. It was a disposable glass, quite large, and something in it looked like milk soup. Have you ever eaten milk soup? ) When milk and pasta? So, in this soup there was the brightest variety of pasta) Big and small, different shapes, some just huge rectangles, white and multi-colored - and it was all amazingly delicious! Strange dairy food was handed out right on the road, a lot of tourists took glasses and sat right there, on an unpresentable terrace, it seemed to me that they were eating this not for the first time.
I couldn't sit still. It was raining, I was walking, smart tourists were hiding in cafes, drinking coconuts, which were knocked down from palm trees by enterprising Vietnamese right there, on the streets. And only motorbike transport traveled, regardless of the weather.
I was walking where my eyes were looking guided by the salesman's homemade map, sometimes checking the map on my tablet. Never got lost, oddly enough)
Met this mansion. It seems to me that there was a similar one in "Slave Izaura". No? )
Our Harmony Hoian Homestay was centrally located and very reasonably priced. From the window, the view of the rooftops and the river is simply wonderful.
The view from the doors is even cooler
It was there that we first encountered a shower without curtains. This is common in Vietnam. And this is very inconvenient) The guest house is not a hotel, there are only a few rooms for guests, good, cozy, clean, but the main services are not there. There was no kettle, cups, hair dryer. Instead of a kettle, for example, they brought us a thermos of boiling water. About cleanliness, however, left a double impression. They clean well, that's nothing to complain about, but they brought us a thermos... and it's so dirty that we gasped. The impression is that no one has washed it since the purchase. The Vietnamese often do not pay attention to such trifles. You need to be prepared for this so as not to spoil your mood. But there is a very sincere staff, most likely, they are all family members.
In the evening, taking a hotel umbrella and a map, I walked around the center for a long time, jostling among the mass of tourists, looking into cafes and admiring the huge number of bright lanterns.
At dusk, Hoi An becomes even more fabulous. It seems that you are in the scenery or at some kind of holiday. This feeling is further enhanced by cleanliness, unusual for Vietnam. Hoi An is very clean everywhere. Even in the market area, you can see how quickly everything is being cleaned.
And, of course, temples add unreality to this city. Temples here are literally every two houses. And each temple is a real work of art. I would probably go there with my mouth open for a week. But I didn't have a week. Traveling time is a non-renewable resource, it is always scarce, and wherever we were, the feeling did not leave us - well, I would like to spend one more day here, so as not to rush, to enjoy and be nourished. But no, every day we were waiting for new places and new experiences. Although, it’s a sin to complain, we will spend another day and a half here.
Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Almost the entire city is an open-air museum. Of course, tourists are apparently invisible here. And they all love to have fun) The embankment is full of restaurants and cafes, music, lights, fun everywhere!
I didn't feel like eating, the milk soup turned out to be very satisfying), and I don't like to drink at all. I just wanted to walk and look at this unusual city. Or sit on a bench, hiding from the rain and just enjoy the colorful embankment. It was a pity to return to the hotel, but fatigue took its toll. The day was very busy. It was the best day of my trip. The Marble Mountains and Hoi An impressed me more than the rest of the trip. Although I will show you a lot more interesting)
And tomorrow we are going to see the ruins of Michon.
Whole cycle:
1. Preface to the story of how I went to Vietnam
2. Morning in the middle of the night or Hello Comrade Beijing!
3. Ho Chi Minh City is delicious.
4. Part 4. Ho Chi Minh City-Dalat.
5. Part 5. What would a day be like if it started in a madhouse?
6. Part 6. Da Nang. Marble mountains.
7. Part 7. The soulful city of Hoi An.
8. Part 8. Why did they destroy Michonne?
9. Part 9. By air, by sea, by land.
10. Part 10. Must see. Halong bay.
