We flew into Danang, Vietnam, on a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur, our final approach taking us over the rice fields and houses on the edge of the city. Unfortunately, flying into Danang meant we had to go through passport control in Danang. It took two hours. We’re pretty sure Danang offers the worst immigration experience on the planet.Finally, we headed over the Hàn River, and past the new Sun World amusement park with its giant wheel …And made a stop at Lotte Mart to pick up a couple of necessities on our way to the hotel. The store is just a big store, selling everything from food to furniture, but the covered parking for motorbikes is awesome.The Boutique Hoi An Resort was as we left it two years prior. Still on the beach …We had expected to arrive at the hotel mid-afternoon, but our delay at the airport lead us to have a quiet dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. The blogger had Caramelized Pork with Rice and the photographer had her favorite Hoi An original, Cao Lao. Our first morning, as we waited for friends to arrive from Saigon, we watched Seattle win the Super Bowl.Since our friends hadn’t been up to Ba Na Hills, we figured that would be a good touristy trip.The best part is the long cable car ride over the peaks and lush valleys …The second best part is people’s reaction as they come upon the mashup of buildings on a hilltop in the middle of nowhere.Our best guess is the place is supposed to be some kind of fantasy theme park …It does have a couple of rides, like a slow-coaster and a carousel swing ride, but it’s mostly just somebody’s imagination run wild with a checkbook.The signature attraction is the Golden Bridge …It has become iconic, and it does have a sweeping view, but it is largely tourists jostling for their instagram shot or selfie and moving on.The next day was spent in Hoi An Old Town, shopping and eating.We ate Vietnamese, of course, but for one dinner we ate at Maazi, an excellent Indian restaurant we had found down a narrow alley on our last trip. After our friends left, we spent at least a part of each day on the beach, either listening to the surf or walking in it …Many parts of the beach have continued to lose sand. The cycle seems to be winter storms carve it out and wash it away, then everyday waves wash it back in, though maybe not as much or maybe to different spots. Enough was lost recently to expose the remains of a 500 year-old ship wreck. It has not been excavated or carbon-dated, but researchers claim the type of wood and building techniques are consistent with merchant and war ships built in the 1,200s to 1,500s.The giant sandbags that had been placed perpendicular to the beach as breakwaters, in the misguided hope of preventing erosion, are now mostly eroded themselves. A few scattered pieces remain and form almost-islands. This dog fell asleep on one and the tide was coming in. We’d like to have been there when he woke up. Walks on the beach always took us past small offerings and bundles of incense, but during the week of Tet, the quantity and quality of offerings increased, often accompanied by a fire pit, where votive papers were burned. Pre-assembled bags of paper replicas of money, clothes, food, even mobile phones, cars and houses are sold everywhere and burned to send wealth and comfort to one’s ancestors (or spirits, or gods, but mostly ancestors).A few days saw clouds and even passing showers, remnants of the rainy season just past …But most days were clear, with a steady onshore breeze that made for the perfect days one expects of February and March in Central Vietnam. At night, the horizon is often aglow with the lights of fishing boats, many of them just over the curve of the earth.Some days we’d go into Hoi An Old Town for lunch or dinner. And shopping. Old Town is only a couple of miles from Cam An beach, where we stay, but much of the land between is still rice fields.Once in town, Tet flowers were being sold on nearly every corner (above and below) …We’d wander the streets and narrow alleys on our way to favorite restaurants …Like Cocoplus, where we had Banana Flower Salad and Mi Quang – a chicken and lemongrass stew with noodles and greens …And Masa Taqueria, where we ate too many different kinds of tacos – Carne Asada, Chicken Tinga, Pollo con Mole, and Frijoles Negros …And Saat, another Indian restaurant, where we ate Mughlai Chicken and Chicken Ularthiyath, with all the fixings.For one lunch in town we ate on the river, at Grandma’s. Pepper Elder Salad with Stir Fried Beef and Passion Fruit Dressing and Hoi An Chicken Rice with Soy Sauce, Chicken Broth Drizzle, and Sweet Chili Relish. Really good.Even though we’d done it before, we made the mistake of going into Old Town during Tet. Some people never learn.Even the river was crowded …When it came time to head back after dinner, no taxi or ride share was willing to brave the traffic. Fortunately, the hotel runs a shuttle, and we knew where it dropped off. It ran way late, of course, but at least we had a ride.We didn’t go into Old Town just to eat and get jostled. It took us two tries – because it was closed during Tet, unbeknownst to everyone we asked – but we made it to Thanh Ha Pottery Village, on the river just north of Hoi An.A pottery center for hundreds of years, clay is still worked there, by old and young. The tradition of making unglazed pottery was centered in villages like this throughout the Champa Kingdom for nearly two thousand yearsAt the entrance to the village is a gallery and museum that showcases the different styles of pottery that characterized each village …And displayed both ancient works and miniature replicas of the temples built from clay bricks, tiles, and decorations that were also made in the villages.One gallery illustrated the history of the region in clay relief (above and below).Out front is a garden of miniatures, famous structures of the world reproduced in clay. From the Colloseum …To the Taj Mahal. In Old Town, we often ate non-Vietnamese, because we ate Vietnamese almost exclusively otherwise. At Viet’s, across the street from the hotel, we ate Bo La Lot (ground meat and herbs rolled in piper lolot then grilled) and Pho Ga.At Co Hong’s – our favorite across-the-street restaurant – Phuong Hong made Vietnamese BBQ Ribs, as a special request, and Vegetable Curry.Another time, she made her Vietnamese Beef stew. Like her beef ribs, it’s not on the menu and she makes it special. The photographer had Fresh Snapper Fried in Tomato Sauce. Phuong is the best cook in the neighborhood.When we were too lazy to make it past the front desk, we ate at the hotel. One evening we enjoyed their set menu: Tamarind Fish Soup, Lemongrass Chicken with Chilis, Stewed Pork in Clay Pot, and Stir Fried Green Cabbage with GarlicOn Lunar New Year’s Day, the family next door, who runs the laundry-micro-market-massage/nails/hair-salon-grab/tour-driver business, invited us to dinner. The mother put out a spread of favorite foods. Only the daughter speaks English well, so she translated. She’s in her third year of a Tourism Management degree and sharp. We learn a lot from her, about their daily lives, the economics of supporting a family in Vietnam, how men don’t work as hard as women, and the like.We didn’t want to go empty-handed, so we found a bakery that made a lucky-fortune Tet cake for us. Chocolate under money-bag icing. It got eaten.There are so many restaurants within a stone’s throw of the hotel, that some evenings we’d go beyond the immediate ones. Just a block inland, a street runs along the river and makes for a nice walk. The mouth of the Bon River is close, so many fishing boats treat the river as a harbor.We’d cut back up to the main street at the pickleball courts ….At one of the road-side restaurants, improbably named Broccoli, we enjoyed Lemongrass Skewered Pork and Stir Fried Beef with Lemongrass and Chili.The sun finally rose on our last day. Other than a brief visit with friends and some random explorations, our time was mostly about relaxing on the beach. And food.This little corner of Vietnam – and the Boutique Hoi An that we call home during our stays – is far from perfect, but it is one of the few places we’ve found that we’ve been drawn back to.This being our fourth visit, we wonder if we’ll return again.
