Food, massages, hair cuts (and color for me). Walking, exploring, taking it all in. Our days have been slow but isn’t that the whole purpose behind “slow travel”.
By definition, slow travel is “a mindful approach to tourism that prioritizes quality, immersion, and connection over rushing through a checklist of attractions.” I’d say we've earned that merit badge for most of our trip. Justin always chooses an EV if he can — that’s just who he is. We’ve taken cars, trains and busses instead of flying a few legs. We’ve certainly done our part to support the local economy! Here in Hoi A specifically, we’ve engaged with the community to be able to experience the culture a bit more deeply.
I was successful with getting my hair colored in Thailand so I was willing to try here as well. When I told the receptionist what I wanted, she asked me to take a seat and wait, the color specialist would come to consult with me. Ok. No language problem here! An hour or so later I was experiencing a Vietnamese hair wash. How did I not know about this? I will definitely need to have this experience again and quite soon. Shampoo; head massage; herbal ingredients; conditioning; face, neck and shoulder massage; deep relaxation…bliss. And, my hair looks great!
Hoi An has more than 300 structures that are designated as world heritage sites. There are bridges, traditional wooden houses, temples, communal houses, museums, family chapels, and more. The tourism industry in this former major port city (15-19th centuries) has it down to a science: you buy a ticket to go see 5 sites. You pick from about twenty and the money goes back to refurbishing. The have rules that you need to go see one state owned site, one family owned site and one museum. The ticket only costs about $5 and many of the sites don’t require a ticket at all. Just taking in the sites, sounds, and smells leaves one gawking. The influences from the Chinese, Japanese, and French combined with that of the Vietnamese create a melting pot in architecture, cuisine and culture.
This stop in Hoi An was one of the first anchors we set in this trip way back when we started planning in June or July. Hoi An celebrates a lantern festival on the 14th day of each lunar month. This month, it was 2 February. Even though the moon was full, it was cloudy and drizzly and the lantern festival was really a bust. Thankfully, Justin and I had enjoyed the decorated boats the nights leading up to the actual day.
And, we did have a boat ride home from the market one day. We’d bought another new suitcase and instead of just taking a River boat ride, we asked the nice lady to take us home…a. River taxi. She said sure. When we got close to our hotel however, we weren’t really sure how we were to scale the bank of the river to get to the road. Yes, I had on a dress and sandals. Yes, we had a suitcase full of new treasures. Yes, we are stinking old! Yes, we went up on a set of stairs or rather an old ladder leaned up against the river bank. Thankfully there were no pictures taken during our extraction.
Meanwhile, the food here is amazing. Most evenings when we head out we have a plan of where to go for dinner; all too often we get sidetracked and end up at another amazing location. We did go back to Chau one evening; simply delicious! Tonight, we had Greek. Imagine if you will, a combination of Greek/Vietnamese street food. Not too bad! Too many evenings we had ice cream for dessert. Our favorite ice cream shop also had pastries; one evening Justin had a chocolate croissant that was worth writing home about. I stuck with my typical order — one scoop in a cone, flipped to cup. Don't worry Culvers, I'll be back soon.
