Posted September 5
Hoi An and Hue
Da Nang is perfectly situated between Hue to the north and Hoi An to the south. It makes it simple to take day trips to the two smaller towns, both listed as UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
Traveling to Hoi An is a simple affair. Located about 25 kilometers south of Da Nang, the main road hugs the coastline and then turns inward to the heart of the town. If you book a day trip through a guide service, inevitably the first stop on the way to Hoi An is to take a boat trip on a “basket boat” through a brackish river grove. Here you learn about the boat making tradition and get first hand experience on how hard it is to make a circular boat go straight ahead with just one paddle.
Basket Boats near Hoi An
Fishing demonstration
Fishing for crabs
Hoi An itself is known for a number of traditions, but the most noteworthy is the production of silk and clothing. There are dozens of tailors in town that can make bespoke clothing in 24 hours or less, and for prices that are amazingly affordable, at least by US standards.
The process for the life cycle of the silkworm and the creation of silk thread and cloth are on display at small museums around Hoi An. It is fascinating to watch the processes and to see the artists using silk thread to embroider pictures onto cloth.
Silkworm cocoons. The different colors are different species.
Weaving Machine to make silk cloth
Embroidering a picture onto silk cloth
The heart of the “Ancient City” of Hoi An is a well preserved collection of buildings that are from the 15th and 16th centuries. At that time Hoi A was a bustling commercial center because of its natural port and access to inland markets via the Thu Bon River. It had a very open culture so Chinese and Japanese traders set up businesses in Hoi An along side the Vietnamese locals.
The boom time for Hoi A changed when European traders came along in their much larger ships. The port that served the Asian ships was not deep enough for the European ships, so a new port was developed in Da Nang, and most of the commerce shifted northward. The smaller Hoi An continued to exist and switched to other lines of business like weaving, fishing, and agriculture.
The Japanese Bridge that connects the Japanese section of Hoi An with the Chinese section
The Cantonese Community Hall in Hoi An
Dragon Fountain at the Cantonese Hall
By far the biggest tourist attraction in Hoi An is the Lantern Festival. Traditionally this is a festival on the full moon of each month where candle-lit lanterns are released onto the Thu Bon River. Each lantern represents a wish for the future or honors an elder.
No fools, the Hoi An residents have figured out that if you don’t wait for the full moon and have the festival every night, your gross revenue from lantern sales and boat rentals goes up by a factor of 30.
At sunset, a literal boatload of tourists board countless small boats and head onto the river to recreate the lantern festival, releasing small candle lanterns on the river. It does make for a picturesque and somewhat calming experience.
Hoi An is a great day trip from Da Nang, and the cost for joining a small group tour which includes roundtrip transportation, the basket boat, dinner, and lantern release, is about $25 USD.
Boats getting ready for the lantern festival
One of many, many boats taking tourists onto the river for lantern release
Lanterns on the river
The journey from Da Nang to Hue is a little more involved than to Hoi An. Quite a bit farther, the trip requires a traverse of the Hai Van pass. If it means anything, the notable jerk and idiot, Jeremy Clarkson, during an episode of “Top Gear” called it one of the best coastal roads in the world. Jeremy might be too stupid to know otherwise but should note that this road, built by the Vietnamese Government, is not a park bench, which he has claimed is the only thing that governments should build.
It is, indeed beautiful. In fact, it is all the more beautiful now that fewer cars use it. There is a new tunnel and highway that connects Hue and Da Nang by going through the mountains rather than over them. This has alleviated all but tourist traffic on the pass, and that in turn has made things much better for those wanting to soak in the magnificent views.
A day trip from Da Nang with a small tour group typically goes across the pass in one direction and then uses the tunnel for the other direction.
The winding road across the Hai Van Pass
Da Nang in the distance, as seen from Hai Van Pass
Lang Co lagoon, at the northern tip of Hai Van Pass
Hue itself is full of history. Many US residents may know of it from its critical role during the Tet Offensive (BTW, the Vietnamese call it the Tet Defensive, and since they won the war I guess that’s what everyone should call it) as the site of major fighting between the US/South Vietnam and Viet Cong.
Prior to that, Hue served as the capital and residence of the last Imperial Dynasty of Vietnam. The last emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai, voluntarily (or maybe not so voluntarily, but of his own volition) stepped down and handed over authority of Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh in August 1945. The politics of Vietnam, intertwined with World War II and French occupation, is a spectacularly convoluted and intricate path.
Despite all that, the current city of Hue still hosts the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace grounds that Bao Dai and his predecessors in the Nguyen Dynasty occupied until his abdication. This area is declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Throne Palace, where emperors would appear as head of state
The Throne of the Emperor. It was in this room that Bao Dai officially abdicated and transferred power to Ho Chi Minh
The Imperial Castle, residence of Emperor Bao Dai
Hue is a great visit to learn more about the Nguyen Dynasty, the history of Vietnam during the transition period between 1945 and 1954, and to find out about the palace intrigue that was afoot during the dynasty.
For example, one of the emperors was put in prison for falsifying the documentation that declared him emperor, another was killed by his own cabinet advisors, and yet others were immediately exiled by France during the occupation.
Actually, the sordid inside history of the Nguyen Dynasty would make for a great Netflix series.
The day trip from Da Nang to Hue is about 12 hours and most include lunch as a group. The cost to do the trip is about $40 USD.
The Tomb of Bao Dai, the last Emperor of Vietnam