the world for more than it simply is

Today I was exposed to another side of Viet Nam most tourists may not get the opportunity to see. It was one of simplicity, yet at the same time guilty poverty. After returning from Cu Lao Chàm this afternoon, I paid a visit to Chú Tâm the Cannibal. Two days earlier, I had placed an order at his family’s tailoring shop for a custom-made suit which included vest, trousers, dress shirt, and two ties which he threw in at no extra cost. Of course I had realized this was all a ploy from the beginning, but I just went with the flow. It was today that he took me to two Buddhist temples, a restaurant serving a Hội An specialty called Bê Thui, and a beer garden where I met a woman named Dung with her own story.

The Cannibal has an interesting bittersweet history—he is a man of post-seventy in age with one true love. In the late 1960s, he met his one true love while in his thirties. However, this woman was taken away from him for reasons I did not truly comprehend due to my lack of Vietnamese vocabulary and the central accent. The most which I can recall now is take she was a casualty of the war many years ago. Soon afterward, he was conscripted into military service in Saigon for three years. While in the service, he rose to a high enough rank to command two thousand troops under his wing. During this time, he boasted that he had over fifty women in his company. However throughout our beer drinking escapade, he would always repeatedly mention that there existed only one woman which he ever truly loved.

After his three-year mandatory service, he became an entrepreneur and eventually opened up a total of twelve jewelry stores over time. However, when that fateful day in 1975 passed, he lost his wealth and had to start anew. Soon thereafter, he studied medicine in order to become a doctor. This occupation lasted for almost twenty years until he decided to retire in Hội An with the family he had started with another woman which he ultimately did not wed. After this retirement, he opened a tailoring business and eventually gained enough capital through the tourism industry to open a custom shoe store and an imported sewing machine merchant for Hội An’s many sweat shops. He currently resides in Hội An with his partner, his children, and grandchildren. His daughter is likely to be a heroin consumer, if not addict.

The beer garden which I went to with the Cannibal was called Thuấn. Fruit trees and other plant matter lined the perimeter. It was here that I met Dung—a woman of twenty nine years which introduced herself as twenty five. Dung works there as a bar maid and according to my host for the day, she only earns the meager sum of one US dollar per day. I quickly figured out that this was the classic sob story told to get some money out of a Việt Kieu, but either way I sympathized and coughed up 10000 đong. Dung is married, and has a child aged eight living at home with her deadbeat abusive husband who beats her. Over the span of her career, she has had many lovers which is greatly reflected in the gold watch, gold bracelets, and wrinkly pearl necklace which she wears to work. She does not much seem to enjoy her line of work. Who would? Coincidentally, when I ask for the business card to the establishment, she scribbles her number on the back. I will never call her. I realize that as an overseas Vietnamese I cannot help everyone here.

At this point, I should probably explain the cannibal bit I attached to his name.  This morning I met him for breakfast and he cracked a Vietnamese metaphorical joke which I did not catch onto until well after the fact (a few hours later in fact).  He asked me if I have ever eaten human meat—to which I replied no.  He continued by stating that the meat of young girls was best.  There is the joke.  Laugh now if you will.

It seems that the majority of temples in this town are only accessible through a city temple tour. Along the way around town, Hac and I ran into Maya and Sin-Kahn from Nha Trang. Hearing their advice, we headed to the Marble Mountains for the day by private taxi.

Tomorrow we are heading to Da Nang at 7:30am.

Second day here in Hoi An.  Today we will visit the temples in town along with the Tran ancestral site which Hac of Tran origins is very eager to see.

Yesterday we explored the town and came across several temples and the sizable Cho Hoi An marketplace.  To our luck, we met an old woman with a boat who offered to row us around the lake in the middle of the city for 30000d.  The boat ride, what seemed like well over an hour long (in actuality only thirty or so minutes), was an refreshing change of pace.  With the blaring sun shining down upon us, we learned the old woman had been in Hoi An for 4 years thus far and originated from the nha que regions.

Afterwards, Hac and I rented bicycles for a mere 10000d and explored the city.  We came a restaurant called Minh Quoc on the other side of town and had lunch there.  To our surprise, everything was freshly prepared as they bought their ingredients from Cho Hoi An–steamed squid, sweet and sour squid, won-ton soup, and fried spring rolls.  The restaurant owner, who I believe was named Lam, was a friendly fellow who provided us with a history of the area along with his family history.  Moreover, he even wrote down the lyrics of the song “Trong Com” upon request.

After a filling lunch, Hac and I biked our way to the beaches 4km away from the central area of town.  To our disappointment, there was a mandatory garage area where bicycles and motorbikes were to be stored before entering the beach.  However, we cleverly took a side street right before the surface lot and got onto the beach without paying that entry fee.  The beaches here are nice with the waters warm and the sands smooth and clean.  In fact, we might head back to the beaches today after going around town for a bit.

We returned the bicycles in the evening and rested up a bit before finding ourselves at a local Vietnamese Que Huong concert in session across the bridge on the other side of town.  The music and performances were good, but the audience didn’t seem to have a habit of clapping after each song as we in the States do.  Later we met up Remco along with Erwin and Jasmine from Holland for some drinks.  Erwin seems to be an avid chess player, and Jasmine the psychology student eager to begin her work with children.  Remco, a construction engineer, gets 35 days of vacation a year.  At the backpacker drinking hole, we encountered Brad and his Vietnamese-Australian girlfriend Thuy from southern Australia.  Brad, a former semi-pro football player, enjoyed talking about Australian Rules Football.  Thuy, the daughter of a restaurant family, spoke of a franchise her family was starting in the Post Oak area of Houston.  Also there was Nick the New Zea-lander and a Vietnamese local girl who was with him.

After an overnight bus ride of almost twelve hours, Hac and I have arrived in Hoi An.  The city here retains most of its colonial period architecture, which we will be seeing today.  Upon our arrival this morning, we were heckled into staying at far off hotels with the prospect of a mini-van taking us into the edge of town.  However, we opted to make the xe om drivers take us into town to stay at Vinh Hung 1 Hotel (the location where The Quiet American, which I haven’t seen, was filmed).

Perhaps we will run into our friend Remco from Holland tonight.