‘Project Hoi An’ is no longer in Hoi An. We lived for five weeks in the beautiful ancient town, where we experienced awesome things, celebrated Christmas and New Year in 30°C and met some very interesting people in daily life.
There is one thing especially that really connects the foreigner to the local people: food culture.
Food culture is one thing that separates The Netherlands from Vietnam. The local food market was really fun, but a bit shocking to experience. Everyone is chopping meat, yelling to buy here and living fish is taken from the aquarium right before selling. And yes, it is no surprise here, the fish are transported in plastic bags on the backseat of a motorbike.
That evening, we were invited by the owner of the bread stall, at whom we had eaten breakfast every single day. He cooked the best Cao lầu in town and offered us lots of local beers. Once, a Canadian tourist gave him an English dictionary, which he had been studying for a year now. We were surprised that he could speak English very well. What persistence and discipline can do!
There is one more awesome shop in Hoi An, where Jeremy Clarkson bought Richard Hammond a gift of a model of a wooden tall ship in the Top Gear Special about Vietnam, which he had to take by motorbike all the way from the north to the south. At that moment, there was a slight hesitation if we also would buy presents for each other. Well, we almost did, but the many sand samples were enough extra kilos to pack!
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