Hoi An, hetkeseisuga 90.000 elanikuga linn, oli kunagi champa rahva pealinn. T2nap2eva elavad champad Edela-Vietnamis ning moodustavad riigi v2ikesest muslimikogukonnast enamiku. Hoi An oli sajandeid v2ga t2htis sadamalinn ja meelitas seet6ttu ligi kaupmehi yle kogu maailma, kellest paljud ka linna elama j2id. Paljud neist tulid Hiinast ja Jaapanist ning nende kultuurilised m6jud on Hoi Ani j22davalt iseloomustama j22nud. Hoi An ei ole seega koht vietnami kultuuri n2gemiseks, vaid pigem saab seal nautida tykikesi paljudest eri kultuuridest koos. Hoi Ani asukoht j6esuust veidi ylesvoolu oli purjelaevade ajastul plussiks, ent paraku ei olnud see sugugi sobilik suurtele aurulaevadele, mist6ttu kaotas linn t88stusrevolutsiooni j2rgselt kiiresti oma t2htsuse. Piirkonna t2htsamaiks sadamaks sai hoopis Hoi Anist natuke p6hjas asuv Da Nang, mis on t2nini suur laevanduslinn.
Hoi Ani juures on k6ige silmapaistvam ta imekaunis vanalinn, mis on ylimalt h2sti s2ilinud. Vanalinn on yhtlasi mootors6idukitele t2ielikult keelatud – mis on Vietnamis haruldane, ning v2ga meeldiv! Me saabusime linna varahommikul, p2rast ysna ebameeldivat ja pikka 8ist bussis6itu, mist6ttu suundusime me otsemaid oma kylalistemajja m6neks ajaks magama. Kui me keskp2eva paiku v2lja saime, l2ksime me esmalt kohalikku Ajaloo ja Kultuurimuuseumit kylastama, mille k6ige lahedam osa oli tegelikult ta viimasel korrusel asuv, ja Muuseumist t2iesti eraldiolev kunstin2itus. J2rgnevalt veetsime me terve ylej22nud p2rastl6una niisama vanalinnas ringi uidates, kauneid t2navaid nautides, k2sit88poode imetledes ning m6ningaid vaatamisv22rsusi kylastades, sh Jaapani Silda, mis on yhtlasi ka linna symbol. Kui p2ev 6htusse veeres, jalutasime me m88da jalak2ijatesilda vanalinna vastas asuvale j6esaarele, et kuulsat 88turgu kylastada ning kuskil 6htust syya.
Ma pole seni siia toidust kirjutanud, kuna mul on tunne, et toit on s88miseks, ja kui einet maitsta ei saa, siis mis sellest ikka kirjutada. Reisi jooksul oleme enamasti s88nud ylimalt maitsvaid toite, ent ka yhtteist p2ris keskp2rast (eelk6ige Indoneesias). Hoi An on aga tuntud kui Vietnami toidupealinn, ja see on juba omaette muljetavaldav, kuna kogu Vietnami k88k on olnud imemaitsev. Linna kuulsus oli aga 6igustatud – me saime seal syya eriliselt h6rke toite. Minu jaoks oli tipuks banh bao vac ehk valge roos – 6rn riisipelmeen, t2idetud hiidkrevettide ja/v6i sealihaga. Kohalik nuudliroog sealihaga, cao lầu oli samuti maitsev, ning wonton mis me s6ime oli uskumatult hea – tegu oli maisijahust tehtud 6hukese praetud kolmnurgaga, mille peale oli kuhjatud k6iksuguseid h2id juurvilju ning kalmaari- ja ananassitykke, ja k6ige peale pandi m6nusalt haput kastet. P6him6tteliselt nagu vietnami taco. Parim toit mis me s6ime ei olnudki yldse restoranis, vaid pigem t2navas88kla/turu moodi kohas, kus me istusime pisikese laua taga, pisikestel plastmasstoolidel – nagu Vietnamis kombeks. S88gid maksid k6ik umbes 1,5 eurot ja k6rvale j6ime 6lle, mille eest maksime 15 senti klaasi kohta. Yhes6naga saime syya nagu kuningad.
Teisel p2eval Hoi Anis kylastasime me My Soni, iidset champa templikompleksi. Tegu on umbes tuhandeaastase hinduistliku pyhapaigaga, mis on sarnane Kambodzha Angkor Watiga v6i Indoneesia Borobuduriga – k6igil on n2ha India m6jutusi – ent kuigi My Son on v2iksem ning kahjuks halvemini s2ilinud, on tegu Kagu-Aasia vanima selletaolise templiga. My Son seisis sajandeid vihmametsas unustusteh6lmas, kuni prantslased ta 19. sajandil taasavastasid. Vietnami s6ja ajal kasutasid Viet Congid My Soni baasina, mist6ttu sai ta ameeriklaste poolt k6vasti pommitatud. Paljud ehitised olid kas t2ielikult h2vitatud v6i t6siselt purustatud ning kompleksis ringi jalutades on 66vastav k6ikjal pommikraatreid n2ha.
6htu veetsime me taas Hoi Ani vanalinnas, kus me kohtasime juhuslikult teisi r2ndureid kellega koos me olime varasemalt bussis s6itnud. Vietnamis on naljakas see, kuidas peaaegu k6ik turistid reisivad m88da enam-v2hem sama rada, Saigonist Hanoisse (v6i vastupidi), peatudes vahepeal samades kuulsates paikades. See t2hendab et tihtilugu saab uutes paikades n2ha samu n2gusid. 6htust syyes tutvusime me ka yhe shoti-poola paariga, kes, me avastasime, olid j2rgmisel hommikul sama rongi peale minemas mis meiegi, Hue suunas.
P2rast lamamistoolidega odavate busside kohta internetist 6udusjuttude lugemist olime me otsustanud edaspidi rongiga reisida. Seega olime me Huesse s6iduks ostnud endale rongipiletid, ent pidime selleks esmalt 30 kilomeetri kaugusele Da Nangi linna j6udma, kuna Hoi Anis rongijaama ei ole. Otsustasime kohaliku bussiliini kasuks, kuna tegu oli odavaima v6imalusega. Olime internetis varasemalt lugenud, et bussikonduktorid kysivad v2lismaalastelt kahekordset piletihinda ning meie kylalistemaja omanik manitses meid samuti kindlasti mitte maksma rohkem kui 30.000 dongi (1,20 eurot), seega olime me valmis enda 6igusi kaitsma. Enne seda aga proovis meil naha yle k6rvade t6mmata taksojuht kes meid bussijaama oli s6idutanud – tyyp yritas meilt v6tta 100,000 dongi, vaatamata sellele, et taksomeeter n2itas selgelt 50,000. P2rast temaga v6itlemist ei tundunudki buss nii hull. Me j2rgisime internetis n2htud soovitust ja kontrollisime, et piletihinnad on tegelikult bussi ukse k6rval n2idatud, seega kui konduktor proovis meilt m6lemalt 60,000 dongi kysida, n2itasime me ukse suunas ja andsime talle teada, et teame kyll kui palju me maksma peame. Selle peale ta lihtsalt naeris ja j2ttis meid rahule. Ma kirjutan sellest vahejuhtumist, kuna sedasorti suhtumist, et v2lismaalasi on OK petta, leidub Vietnamis k6ikjal. Eriti halb on see vanema generatsiooni seas, kes ilmselt tunnevad, et p2rast s6jaraskuste yleelamist on neil on 6igus teistelt v2lja petta see, mis nendelt varem 2ra v6eti. See loogika on muidugi vigane ja pikemas perspektiivis teevad nad endale karuteene – Vietnam on yhe madalaima turistide taaskylastustasemega riik, vaid 5% kylastajatest tuleb siia tagasi. Teiste reisijatega r22kides v6i internetist teiste muljeid lugedes on selge, et vajadus koguaeg pettuste suhtes valvel olla ja kohalikega pidevalt v6idelda j2tab pysivalt halva kogemuse. On m2rke, et sedasorti kylastajate ebaaus kohtlemine ehk v2heneb noorte p6lvkondade pealetulekuga, ent uus seadusandlus aitaks olukorda ehk rohkem parandada, enne kui on liiga hilja ja Vietnami maine kui turismisihtpaik rahulolematute r2ndurite poolt pysivalt kahjustada saab.
Erinevalt Hoi Anist on Hue t6eline vietnami kultuuri keskus. Linn, mis on t2nap2eval koduks umbes miljonile inimesele, oli Vietnami pealinn Nguyeni dynastia aegu. Nguyenid valitsesid 19. sajandi algusest kuni 1945. aastani, mil keiser v6imu Ho Chi Minhile yle andis. Gia Long, dynastia esimene keiser t6i pealinna Huesse ja k2skis sinna ehitada ekstravagantse uue Keiserliku Paleekompleksi. Kompleks sai valmis 1833. aastal ning v6ttis enda alla yle 10.000 ruutmeetri, oli ymbritsetud nii kivimyyri kui vallikraaviga ning hoidis endas kymneid luksuslikke ja rikkalikult kaunistatud ehitisi, mis j2rgisid kummalist Aasia ja Euroopa arhitektuuristiilide segu. Peale tseremoniaal- ja valitsusehitiste leidus kompleksis ka Nguyenite esivanematele pyhendatud templeid, alasid keiserlikuks l66gastumiseks, keisri ja ta haaremi privaatsed eluhooned, keisri ema ja vanaema eluhooned, riigikassa jpm. T2nap2eval on Paleekompleks UNESCO Maailmap2randite nimekirjas ning seal k2ivad pidevad restaureerimist88d – kurikuulus Hue halb ilm on Paleekompleksi l2bi aastate k6vasti kahjustanud, ent suurem kahju tuli Prantsuse ja Ameerika s6dadest. Eelk6ige USA 1968. aasta Tet rynnakust, mille k2igus ameeriklased kompleksi pommitasid ning h2vitasid peaaegu kogu Keelatud Linna – keisri luksusliku privaatsete eluhoonete kompleksi.
T2nap2eval on tegu on Hue suurima turismiatraktsiooniga – ja seda 6igustatult. Me veetsime seal yle kolme tunni, jalutades ringi kompleksi hiigelsuurel alal, mis on m6nusalt rahulik ja t2is kauneid dekoratiivaedasid ja tiike. Me saime ka olemasolevaid ja restaureeritud ehitisi imetleda, mis on oma luksuses t6epoolest imetlusv22rsed – ent samas, n2hes ja lugedes keiserliku dynastia suurushullustusest (nt valmistati keisrile igaks eineks yle 50 eri s88gi, millest ta siis oma valiku tegi) ei ole sugugi yllatav et riigis sotsialistlik revolutsioon toimus. Yllataval kombel aga oli tegu rahumeelse v6imuvahetusega – revolutsion22rid ei tapnud Nguyeneid (erinevalt teistest riikidest kus sarnane olukord toimus) ja nad isegi elasid Paleekompleksis m6nda aega peale v6imu kaotamist edasi.
Kuna meil oli Hues vaid yks t2isp2ev, ei olnud meil piisavalt aega, et teiste kultuuriv22rtustega tutvuda (sh nt keisrite hauakompleksid, mis on v2idetavalt samuti ekstravagantsed) ning otsustasime pigem renditud jalgratastel m88da j6ekallast s6ita. Hue j6e22rne on enamjaolt yks suur park, mille promenaade 22ristavad paljud kummalised ja kaunid skulptuurid.
Hoi An ja Hue olid m6lemad fantastilised, ning p2rast L6unas veedetud aega meeldivalt omap2rased. Nyyd suundume me P6hja-Vietnamisse – kirjutamise hetkel oleme me rongis, s6ites pealinna Hanoi suunas, mille kylastamist oleme me juba pikalt oodanud.
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After a week in the South, we headed north toward Central Vietnam, to firstly visit the ancient town of Hoi An, and then the former imperial capital Hue. Both places are former capitals and rich in culture.
Hoi An, today a city of 90,000 people, used to be the capital of the Champa people, who today live in the South-West of Vietnam and make up the majority of the country's small Muslim population. Hoi An was a port city of immense importance for centuries, and therefore attracted merchants from all over the world, many of whom settled in the city. A lot of them came from China and Japan, and their cultural influence has come to define the city. Hoi An is not really a place for Vietnamese culture, but rather somewhere to experience tidbits from many other cultures together. While Hoi An's location upstream from the river mouth was excellent for sailboats, it was not suited for large steam engine vessels, and so the city rapidly lost its importance with the onset of the industrial revolution, having been overtaken by Da Nang in the north, which remains a big shipping port to this day.
The most striking thing about Hoi An is its gorgeous Old Town, which is remarkably well preserved. It is also off-limits to motorised vehicles – something very rare in Vietnam, and very enjoyable! We arrived in the city in the early morning after a fairly unpleasant overnight bus journey, after which we went straight to our homestay for some additional sleep. When we went out again, we first went to visit the local History and Culture Museum, the highlight of which was actually a small art exhibition on the fourth floor, and not the actual Museum itself. Afterwards, we spent the whole of the afternoon just strolling around the Old Town, enjoying the beautiful streets, perusing the many artisan shops, and visiting some notable landmarks like the Japanese Bridge, which is also the symbol of the city. As evening fell, we went across the pedestrian bridge to the small island just across the Old Town, to see the famous Night Market, and to get something to eat.
I haven't really written much about food here, since I rather think food is for eating, and if you can't taste it, there is not really that much to write about. Throughout our trip we have had mostly excellent food, but also some mediocre stuff (mainly in Indonesia). Hoi An however has a reputation as the food capital of Vietnam, and that's saying something since Vietnamese food is delicious. The hype did hold true and we ate some amazing things there. The highlight for me was banh bao vac or white rose – a delicate rice dumping, filled with prawns and/or pork. Their traditional noodles with pork, cau lầu were delicious as well, and the wonton we had was to die for – a deep-fried triangle of corn (?) flour, topped with veggies, squid and pineapple, and doused in a super tasty sour sauce. Sort of like a Vietnamese taco I guess. The best food we had was not in a restaurant either, but rather at a food court/market type place, where we sat at a tiny table, on tiny plastic chairs, as is usual for street food places in Vietnam. The dishes cost all around 1.5 euros, and a glass of beer was 15 cents. Needless to say, we ate like kings.
On our second day in Hoi An, we visited the ancient Champa temple complex of My Son. Built around a thousand years ago, the Hindu temple is similar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, or Borobudur in Indonesia – all share the same Indian influence – but while My Son is smaller, and unfortunately less well preserved, it is the oldest such temple in the South-East Asian region. Forgotten for centuries in the jungle, it was discovered by the French in the 19th century. During the Vietnam war, the Viet Cong used My Son as a base, and as a consequence, it was heavily bombed by the Americans. Many of the buildings were either destroyed or heavily damaged, and it is chilling to see how the whole complex is full of bomb craters.
The evening we spent in the Old Town of Hoi An again, where we bumped into a few fellow travellers who we had shared bus rides earlier. It is funny how in Vietnam nearly all tourists follow the same rough pattern of travelling from the Saigon to Hanoi (or vice versa), stopping along in the same famous places. That means that more often than not, you keep seeing the same faces in the places you visit. We also met a Scottish-Polish couple over dinner, who, turned out, were taking the same train as us to Hue the next day.
After reading some horror stories about the cheap sleeper buses, we had decided to switch to train travel instead. We had booked tickets to Hue, but needed to get to Da Nang city, some 30km north, since there was no station in Hoi An. We took the public bus since it was by far the cheapest. We had read online how the conductors on that bus will definitely try to get foreigners to pay double the price, and our homestay host also made it clear that we should not pay more than 30,000 dong (1,20 euros), so we were prepared. Before that though, the taxi driver who drove us to the station tried to take 100,000 dong from us, despite the meter reading only 50,000. After battling with him, the bus wasn't that bad. We had followed online instructions and checked that the prices are actually written outside of the bus, so when the conductor, as expected, tried to get us to pay 60,000 dong each, we made it clear that we had seen the prices and he laughed and let us be. I write about this because this kind of attitude that it is OK to rip off foreigners is rampant in Vietnam. It is particularly bad among the older generation, who I guess feel that after what they were through, it is their right to 'get back' what was taken from them. This logic is unfortunately completely flawed, and in the long run it really seems that they are principally screwing over themselves – Vietnam has some of the lowest return visit rates in the world, with just 5% of tourists coming back. When speaking to other travellers, or reading things online, it is clear that having to constantly be on guard for scams and to have to battle with locals to get fair treatment really leaves a permanent negative experience. There are signs that this culture of disrespecting visitors will perhaps diminish with younger generations, but government regulations would go a long way to help the situation as well before it's too late and Vietnam's reputation as a great destination is tarnished by too many disgruntled visitors.
Hue, as opposed to Hoi An, is a true bastion of Vietnamese culture. The city, which today is home to about a million people, was the capital of the country under the Nguyen dynasty, who ruled from the beginning of the 19th century until 1945, when the emperor abdicated and gave power over to Ho Chi Minh. Gia Long, the first emperor of the dynasty relocated the capital to Hue and ordered the construction of an extravagant new Imperial Citadel. When it was finished in 1833, the Citadel stretched over an area of 10,000 sqm, was surrounded by a brick wall and a moat, and included a hoard of luxurious and extravagantly decorated buildings, designed in a curious mix of Asian and European influences. Apart from ceremonial and governmental buildings, the citadel also included temples for ancestral worship, areas for imperial recreation, the private living area of the Emperor and his harem, the private living area of the Emperors mother and grandmother, the national treasury and lots more. The Citadel is today part of the UNESCO World Heritage list, and is under constant reconstruction works – the notoriously bad Hue weather has had its impact on the buildings, but the more serious impact came from the French and American wars in the 20th century. Most notably, the place was bombed by the Americans during their Tet Offensive in 1968 which unfortunately destroyed nearly all of the Forbidden Purple City – the luxurious private quarters of the Emperor.
Today it's the main tourist attraction of Hue, and deservedly so. We spent well over 3 hours strolling around in the huge area, which was wonderfully peaceful and had lots of pleasant gardens and ponds. We also enjoyed marvelling at the extant, refurbished buildings, which are truly magnificent in their luxury – but at the same time, seeing and reading about the excesses of the Imperial dynasty (e.g. for each meal, the Emperor was served over 50 dishes that he could choose from), it is not surprising that the country had a socialist revolution. Surprisingly though, it seems to have been a relatively peaceful one, since the Nguyens were not all massacred (unlike in similar scenarios in other countries), and even continued to live in the Citadel for some time after abdicating.
As we only had one full day in Hue, we did not have time to see some of the other cultural monuments (like the tombs of the Emperors, which are apparently similarly extravagant), but rather opted to use the bicycles we had hired for a ride along the river. The riverside in Hue has been mostly been made into a park, which has a huge number of wonderfully bizarre statues strewn along its promenades.
Hoi An and Hue were both fantastic, and a wonderful change after the South. Now we head to North Vietnam – as I write this, we are on a train to the capital Hanoi, which we are very much looking forward to experiencing.
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| Kaunis Hoi An // Gorgeous Hoi An |
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| Hoi Ani vanalinn // Old Town in Hoi An |
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| Jaapani Sild // The Japanese Bridge |
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| Altar koer-jumalale // All hail the dog god! |
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| Jaapani silla sees // Inside the Japanese Bridge |
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| Kohalik k2sit88 // Local handicrafts |
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| Sattusime 6htuses Hoi Anis peale pulmapaarile // We happened on this wedding couple one evening in Hoi An |
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| Kaunis 6htune Hoi An // Beautiful Hoi An in the evening |
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| My Soni templi varemed // My Son ruins |
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| Siin on n2ha uut ja vana telliskivimyyri My Sonis - uus, ca 30-aasta vanune myyr on vasakul, ja juba hallitab. Paremal on tuhande-aastane myyr, mis on veatu ja mille peal ei kasva isegi mitte sammalt. Kivid on kokku pandud minimaalse orgaanilise ainega, ent t2pselt ei tea keegi mida nad kasutasid (arvatavasti teatut tyypi puuvaha) // Here you can see the new and old walls in My Son - the new, 30-year old wall is on the left, and is already crumbling and mouldy. On the right is the thousand-year old wall that is still pristine and has not even lichens growing on it. The bricks were put together without mortar, using only some organic matter, but no one knows exactly what (probably a type of tree resin) |
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| Paolo nuudlisuppi nautimas // Paolo enjoying his noodle soup |
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| Paolo oma 2sjaostetud bambusfl88ti proovimas // Paolo trying out his newly bought bamboo flute |
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| Hue Keiserliku Paleekompleksi v2ravad // Gates to the Hue Imperial Citadel |
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| Hiigelsuur pronksist tynn (leia pildilt piiluv Paolo) // Massive bronze tub (also, find a peeping Paolo in the photo) |
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| Karpkalad palee tiigis // Carp in the Citadel's ponds |
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| Osad hooned olid veel restaureerimata // Some buildings were still waiting to be renovated |
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| Keisri ema uhke eebenipuust riksha, p2rlmutrist kaunistustega. Selle tagasisaamiseks pidid vietnamlased ta prantslastelt oksjonil suure raha eest ära ostma. Suur osa Vietnami kultuuripärandist on ikka prantslaste käes, ja nood ei ole nõus neid tagastama, vaatamata Vietnami mitmetele pärimistele. // The Emperor's mother's ebony rickshaw, with inlaid mother-of-pearl ornaments. For the Vietnamese to get this back, they had to buy it off the French in an auction for ridiculous sums of money. The French still own a lot of Vietnamese cultural and historic heritage and are unwilling to return it despite numerous requests by the Vietnamese. |
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| Wifiema (ehk), Hue pargis // Mother of Wifi (maybe?) in the park in Hue |
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| Pargis olid k6ndivad t2navavalgustid // Walking street lights in the park |
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