Days Nine & Ten: Final Days by Andrew Yuan

 

I'm sitting here in the Hoi An Historic Hotel lobby. Starting with Friday, December 20th, the programming had reached the in-country conclusion (with the exception of finals assignments, but more on that later). The majority of the day had been relatively uneventful. Many people spent time resting in their rooms or going on simple walks. A few people visited tailors in their downtime. I know I did.

Our group's activities truly picked up that evening around 7:15 P.M.. This time for dinner, we wandered the streets of Old Town Ha Noi. This dinner was spent eating street food from local vendors. Our selections included frog, octopus tentacle, chicken and vegetable kabobs, grilled rice paper (with toppings), mango ice cream, mango sticky rice, fried potatoes, grilled cheese, and corn.

To me this act was important. Not only was it amongst the last that we did as a group, but it held cultural weight in Vietnam. There are street food vendors all over Hoi An (and Saigon as well!), and was a method of earning income for many locals. From this angle it seemed fitting that we participate in this activity, at least in some capacity. We ended the evening by sitting riverside and enjoying one another's company.

The next morning, in my view, was another simple cultural activity. After our breakfast at the hotel we meet with a local tour guide who gave us each a set of keys to scooters. After a quick lesson, we rode the scooters from location to location. Riding the scooters, was a simple act. However, scooters are extremely prominent in Vietnam. By learning to ride, we participated in a significant cultural activity. An act similar in spirit to eating the street food the the night before.

The first stop was a small local Buddhist temple. The tour guides showed us statues of unicorns and pointed out the significant symbols of Yin & Yang which are important spiritual symbols in Vietnamese culture. We could not enter the temple because it was closed for visits during most of the year - it is typically only open during the Lunar New Year.

We stopped at a local shoe making factory which had to be located outside of Old Town due to the noise of the machines. They showed us the process of making shoes there, which was interestingly made from paper.

After this we enjoyed some Bahn Mi and a light refreshment, nearby the river, where we got to enjoy the view of the river and Old Town from a different angle.  From here the group traveled to see where the fishing boats of Hoi An were docked.  Interestingly, the boats were boarded by way of a type of dock called a 'monkey bridge'.  Interestingly the boats had eyes painted on them, this is important to note because it protected the fishermen and warded off bad spirits.

The group then traveled to see where rice paper was made.   A process using the sun, to form the paper, which is then cooked into rice crackers of noodles. From there, our guide showed us where local herbs were grown in the vegetable garden. This was an important stop because it displayed the production process of food that is widely consumed here in Hoi An.

We ended this 4-hour tour of Hoi An by stopping at a lantern production shop where lanterns are made. These lanterns are culturally significant here. They were brought by Chinese traders centuries ago and serve to protect the lantern owners from bad spirits.

We then returned to the hotel for a few more hours of downtime before our final group meal.  Professor Buske suggested the Tok Restaurant. Everyone got to pick a place to eat thus far, and this was hers. It is quietly situated outside of Old Town, and served wonderful dishes fitting for our final meal as a group. One that would not be in this capacity together again. This meal marked the end of our time in Hoi An, and the end of our time in Vietnam. With only our final reflections, our final exam, and the road home ahead of us. It was truly the end of our adventure.