Five flavours: Day 5 Hue to Hoi An

Soundtrack: “Sharp Dressed Man”, ZZ Top

This should be a short post today, as we didn’t really do much. I don’t really plan these posts, just open up the laptop and words fall onto the screen, so there’s no guarantee that I won’t end up with several thousand words about today. Though I really do doubt it.

Last breakfast of Hue hotel soup and assorted buffet bits. If only I had the time, energy and skill, I could really get used to that Hue soup for breakfast, the meaty stock, lots of lemongrass flavour, and a hint of chilli. I won’t be surprised if I do lots of cooking with lemongrass when I get home.

The good thing about only packing half a suitcase was that I didn’t have to diligently repack for this next bit, no rolling and compression required, just a little scrunch and the case was closed quicker than you can say Hercule Poirot. Our car was waiting for us, so after a last tam biet to the wonderfully cheerful hotel staff we were heading south.

There was a bit more traffic this time around, so our driver had more of a challenge weaving between the trucks on one side and the scooters on the other. Lane markings really do appear to be a suggestion at best in VN, and there were extended stretches where we had two tyres on the marking, rhythmically bouncing on the cats eyes. Despite this, the driver still took the time to point out some local landmarks, like the huge lagoon just south of Hue, 60+km long, and by all accounts full of delicious seafood.

We had a short stop to stretch at another lagoon, this one has become a centre for the oyster/pearl industry. Numerous shops line the lagoon, some even sit on stilts over it, selling pearls and jewelery, coffee and trinkets. I popped open the Lotus Friend Tom Yum flavoured Chicken Feet shaped snacks, and they were indeed chicken feet shaped, crunchy, and spicy, a little like tom yum but with more spice and less lemongrass and tomato. So okay, as a car snack.

Then we took the Hai Van Pass, the scenic route to Da Nang. Over 20km of winding road clinging to the side of the mountains presenting some amazing views first of the coast, then of Da Nang once we crested the range. While it’s a Pass in the noun sense of the word, it doesn’t present many opportunities to engage in the verb, so we found ourselves stuck between some very slow movers for extended periods. On the way down was even more problematic, as there are just parts, including on bends, where trucks just park, turning the whole thing into a single lane and free-for-all as to who gets to go through. Extra time to enjoy the view I guess.

Da Nang in daylight we could see how big the city is becoming, there’s a lot of development at the edges, resorts and other buildings going up, land being cleared for more construction. It felt like we took an hour to get through the traffic from one side to the other, though that might be an exaggeration. The recent change was definitely apparent on the stretch from Da Nang to Hoi An, there used to be a clear demarcation of urban to agriculture then back to urban, now it just seems urban all the way.

Hoi An, it’s good to be back. Our hotel staff are very cheerful and seem genuinely amazed that we’re repeat visitors to the town, so we have our favourite and regular places. They’re even more amazed that we can say a few words in Vietnamese. Obviously most folks only come to Hoi An the once, but that’s their loss.

The other snack of the day were the tempura battered prawn heads (cheese flavoured), and yes they are indeed prawn heads. And cheesy. I probably don’t want to know what they go through to get to this stage, as they were dry, crunchy, but not at all tasting or textured like a regular prawn head. If you don’t look too closely, they are just a crunchy cheese snack.

After checking in we were able to hand our laundry to the hotel. Back in 2014 on our first visit, the going rate for laundry was $1 USD per kilo. Nowadays it’s 40k VND, so almost $2 USD. The hotel rate is 50k VND, but we were happy to pay the extra $0.60 AUD for convenience. Less time sorting this meant we got to our regular massage place sooner. We’ve been going to Lemon Tree Spa since our first post-Covid visit, and while the staff have changed over that time, the service is still good. A full hour of massage for us both worked out at just over $50 AUD, so I’ve started to pay L back for her suffering in the tunnels.

Thanks to some judiciously placed knees my lower back feels wonderful, so we headed to “our tailors”, Be Be 2. When we told the hotel they pointed out that Be Be 1 was closer, but as Be Be 2 know us, there would be trouble if we didn’t go there. And they were very happy to see us, it’s an awesome and strange thing to come back to a store in another country and be recognised and greeted like we’d never been away. They likely also remember us as we tend to have some custom requests. L has been stockpiling fabric for this trip for months (with her laundry off being cleaned and the fabric being turned into garments, her case is almost empty). This time around I’m going for some darker coloured linen shirts (so they won’t show the sweat as much), linen pants for tropical eveningwear, and a jacket, because of course.

Fabric chosen, measurements taken, and saving spent, we went looking for dinner. It wouldn’t be a trip to Hoi An without banh xeo, but unfortunately the place we’ve been to previously has changed and doesn’t have these on the menu. A bit further into the old town we found another place that were more than happy to satisfy our craving. Soon we had drinks (Da Nang’s Larue beer for me) and a pile of wonderfully crunchy tumeric and rice flour pancakes in front of us. Our server took the time to show us how to eat them — it felt like when I’m diligently pretending to pay attention to the airline safety presentation having already buckled up, stowed everything, and counted the rows to the nearest exit (as well as counting the rows to the second nearest). Presentation over we fell on the pile of rice paper and soon had this wrapped into parcels of goodness, sprinked with some wonderful pickled vegetable strips and greens, dunked in nuoc mam, before filling our faces and bellies. And no affront to banh khoai, but I’m not sure these need the extra effort of the peanut sauce.

Hoi An seems busier this time around, not totally stuffed with tourists but we’re definitely not the only white folks here. A good thing, the local businesses seemed less pushy so they’re likely getting some decent money flowing. Back at the hotel our cheerful staff had also dined on banh xeo, so hopefully tomorrow we’ll shake them down to reveal the place the locals go.

Tomorrow also is a full day, we’re off to the ruins of My Son way too early in the morning, have a fitting at the tailors, then going to the big Hoi An show with one of L’s workmates and family.