Early Starts in Beautiful Hoi An
It was “wheels up” at 6am in the Lobby for a walk to the market. As we left the aircon in the hotel and hit the humidity, I knew that my lens would fog up, and so it did! While I waited for it to clear, I stood and watched the mist over river - the colourful boats that are so active at night, were now tied up side by side along the river bank. Our group kept walking, until all but one person was out of sight.
I knew approximately where we needed to be, so wasn’t worried. It was a beautiful morning with a haze that added mystery to this little UNESCO World Heritage town. The only people around were locals going for a ride or a walk, and others catching up over a morning Vietnamese coffee.
In the distance I saw a little old woman carrying two baskets that hung from a stick across her neck and shoulders - a very Vietnamese moment. She was dressed in traditional clothes and even from a distance, this was a good photo. She saw me and came towards me, saying “photo” “photo.” No problem - I’d expected to pay her. Based on other similar encounters, I planned on VD100,000 (approx A$6). She said “fifty.” Also ok – I was happy to give her 100. I took the photos, and then opened my purse to get the VD100. As I pulled the 100,000 out, she grabbed a 500,000 note that was also there, and wouldn’t let go. Yikes!
Despite being shorter than me, she was very strong - very feisty and very nasty. We yelled at each other as I kept grabbing for the 500,000. Of course I gave up, let her go, and walked away feeling very uncomfortable. It wasn’t about the money – it was about the physical altercation. I’ve never had this experience before, and I knew better than to not have the cash very available. Ah well …
Gentle breaths in and out! Now it was time to find the market and the group. To cut a very, very long walk short (I really did take a particularly long route), I found Liza and Ira, and the food market, and eventually made it back to the hotel in one piece.
This was our last official day, including our 4th class/critique. These are always positive – always a wonderful learning experience, and with the standard very high on this trip, it’s been great learning for all of us.
While Liza, Ira and Ari put together the final “photo show” with the best of our best, we had time to do whatever we wanted. I went back into town with Monique, Lisa and Sara for some shopping – but it really was unpleasantly hot, so it was brief for me, and I was pedalled back to the hotel on one of those great cyclos - very decadent indeed.
Monday, 10 March 2020
During the Sunday class, Dave asked if it would be possible for those who wanted to, to go back to the fish market early on Monday. One of the group, Connie, had taken an absolutely beautiful photo of a fisherman under one of the enormous fishing nets that they have staked out in the water. Maybe we could get something similar.
Four of us said “yes!” So this morning it was “wheels up” at 5am and off to the fish market, the full moon gradually setting in the dark sky to the west. Today we walked beyond the noisy throngs and found a small stretch of sand that provided some beautiful views of the boats coming and going. As the sun rose and the sky lightened, we saw some of the giant nets nearby, but no sign of fisherman going under them. However one boat was coming close to where I was standing, and a young woman walked into the water to pick up the catch. The basket looked so small - I hoped that they were able to sell it at a good price.
On our way back to the waiting car, the sun reflecting off the bright, colourful fishing boats was glorious.
Walking along the road, we saw one of the giant nets being slowly raised out of the water. A fisherman went down to his little hemispheric basked-boat, climbed in, rowed out to the net and donned his metal conical hat. Using a stick to raise the net just in front of him, he gradually moved under it, working his way towards the centre, the net resting on his metal hat. Unfortunately there were no fish in there yet. But we had some very nice photos.
It was a wonderful way to end a very interesting 10 days in Vietnam.
These trips are valuable in so many ways – this was all about meeting new people, travelling to interesting places, extending my photography skills and experiencing a new culture.
As I write this, we are living in interesting times with the new coronavirus sweeping around the world - who knows how far it will spread. Although Vietnam is managing it well, it has hit the country hard - the lack of tourists was evident everywhere we’ve been. The Silk Air 737 that I flew on from Da Nang to Singapore had a very light load on the outbound leg – the Captain told me that there were only 40 passengers.
Let’s hope that this will soon be under control so that we can all continue to enjoy our travels in Australia and across the globe.
12 September 2020 additional note: I arrived back in Melbourne on 10 March - the WHO “called” the pandemic on 13 March. Since then the virus that caused COVID-19 has circled the globe. In Melbourne we’re in the midst of our second significant lockdown (Stage 4) as we, and the world, wait to see when a safe and effective vaccine will become available. We’ve managed well in Australia (being an island helps), but our economy, as with other countries, is suffering. As to travel - my planned trip to Africa for this year, and one to Antarctica next year, have been pushed out 12 months, and can be pushed out further if necessary. And in the interim, my domestic travel plans are underway!