Hoi An Local Customs

A special person in Hoi An, and to whom a statue is built in one of the central streets, is the Polish architect Kazimierz Kwiatkowski (1944 - 1997). He was the head of the Polish Committee for the Restoration of Vietnamese Historic Monuments and did a lot of work in Hoi An, helping restoring old buildings and bringing them to their former beauty.

The same architect did some work on My Son, too - and wished that in the future, with proper restoration, will be regarded as important as Angkor (Cambodia), Dagan (Burma) ou Boroboudour (Indonesia).

The best massage in town is performed by a lady in her fifties, whose name I have sadly forgotten, with only one eye and a great sense of humour; she lives in a simple house in the outskirts of Hoi An and was once married to an American. Her father was an acupuncturist and she learned from him all about the pressure/power points to be touched in the human body.

We found her by chance - since she deosn't have a massage parlour nor dviertises her services in the market, like many other. She was recommended to us by Massimo, the owner of the Good Morning Vietnam restaurant.. and what a great massage it was. If you want a great no-frills massage, go and ask him to call her for you.

You won't find a massage table or a bed - just some wooden planks in her simple house that she uses as a bed... and outside her hair-dressing shop (pictured in the photo).

Once every month the Vietnamese celebrate full moon (15th of lunar month). Like on Saturdays and Wednesdays the old city is closed for vehicles and all Vietnamese come out to the old city to enjoy live Vietnamese music and party happenings. Lots of candles are slowly drifting down the river stream and the Vietnamese burn sacrifices to Buddha outside their homes or businesses. I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing this twice. Full moon and black moon (1st and 15th of lunar month) are ‘Veggie days’ for the locals so instead of the usual “Com Ga” (rice with chicken), “Bun Bo Hue” and “Pho Bo” (Beef noodle soups) most street vendors and authentic Vietnamese restaurants offer good vegetarian food. If you’re scared of street “meat” then that might be a good time to first experience no-meat street food.

One of my big pet peeves is watching travelers drink nothing but Coke when on the road when they could try lots of local beverages at a fraction of the price. If a poor kid from Africa came over to the states for the first time, I’d be all for him trying his first ever Coca Cola but that is quite a different story. Actually, it’s not. You are in a foreign country so why not try something local? Many people are afraid to try anything not served in a can as they figure it will be full of local water and thus impure. This might be the case in some instances but not necessarily so and it should not lead to such paranoia that you are unwilling to sometimes take a chance. Sugar cane drinks are sold in any Third World Country warm enough to grow the heavenly stalks. The cane is pushed into a grinder and the resultant nectar is a naturally sweet juice. In Hoi An, they mixed this with the juice from kumquats, a smaller version of an orange. This concoction was positively addictive and slurping them down while on the river front was a lot cheaper and authentic then sitting in some backpacker café having an over-priced Coke. Actually, they were too cheap. We had six of them for 18,000 dong (a little over a dollar) and had a tough time sleeping that night we were so amped up on the sugar!

Okay, I admit it. I actually paid to take this woman’s photo. I’m sure I’m not the first nor last one to do it either. She had the quintessential look and she knew it. She actually solicited it and I couldn’t resist. It was cheap, much more so than the air ticket to her homeland. I normally refrain from this as it breeds a new form of begging that should not be encouraged.

Squatting is a way of life in my Third World countries and Vietnam is no exception. Though this habit probably began out of necessity of not having anything to sit on, it is probably a healthy alternative to our more sedentary lifestyle. Women especially are seen in what seems an uncomfortable position for hours on end. I found the ones out on the boats especially graceful.

With your Old Town admission ticket not only get to walk the timeless streets of Hoi An’s Old Town but you get to visit a number of other attractions. These range from old timber homes to various ethnic meeting places of Hoi An’s colorful past. Another feature is a display of local handcrafts as well as a concert of traditional local music. This is located on Nguyen Thai Hoc, right in the heart of the Old Town. The music is quite interesting and worth taking the time to enjoy. It’s free with your entrance anyway.

Local women have a novel way to carry their wares and it is amazing to see these small women carry what must be equal or greater than their weight on their narrow but strong shoulders. By counterbalancing two baskets on either end of a bamboo pole, they manage to carry what otherwise might be unmanageable.