Hi Ann, Vietnam

The Vietnamese Port That Got to See Ships


blessed rest
Two villagers rest in the shadow of the gaudy facade of a Hoi An temple.
A fluvial bustle
Boatmen, vendors and porters work on vessels much smaller than those the Thu Bon River once admitted to.
Guaranteed shadow
City dweller shelters from the tropical sun under a Vietnamese hat not there.
A Vietcong Heritage
An obvious Soviet-inspired street banner promotes the virtues of Communism.
tropical margin
Palm trees, coconut trees and boats with Vietnamese flags add color to one of the banks of the Thu Bon River.
The Japanese Bridge
Residents prepare to enter the dark of Hoi An's only covered bridge, the old Japanese bridge.
Aroma & Spirituality
Incense purifies one of the various Buddhist temples in Hoi An where, in addition to the Vietnamese, there are still Chinese communities and Japanese descendants.
The possible liming
Small boats and low drafts circulate in the flow near the silted mouth of the Thu Bon River.
Banana Holder
Seller tries to group bread bananas in order to facilitate their transport.
sincere marketing
One of the city's many tailors appeals to visitors, in writing, to stop looking in his shop window and buy.
Full Load
Boat loaded with bicycles and other goods travels along the Thu Bon River, just in front of Hoi An.
Vietnamese style
Residents pass in front of a gaudy Buddhist temple in Hoi An, dressed in unmistakable Vietnamese fashion.
China Sea fish
Fishmongers and buyers discuss prices for freshly caught fish.
Weight and counterweight
A woman balances a load on one shoulder just as the Vietnamese have done for centuries.
Fresh fish
Fishmongers chat at a fish market by the Thu Bon River.
Hoi An was one of the most important trading posts in Asia. Political changes and the siltation of the Thu Bon River dictated its decline and preserved it as the most picturesque city in Vietnam.

The China Sea continued to make us its own.

As we traveled, little by little, the 150 km from Hué to the south, we passed through peculiar roadside plots. We could have enjoyed them better, but a thick fog creeping over the coast from the east enveloped them most of the morning.

Once we arrived in Hoi An, the weather changed. The fog dissipated under the power of the tropical sun and gave blazes of soft light that increased in intensity and duration until they annihilated the mist and left the city uncovered, with the torrid heat much more usual from those places to wash away the old facades colonial.

Hoi An's historic core lay a few scattered miles north of the river's estuary. Aware of the easy navigability of the village, we rented two patisseries just like those used by the residents.

These soon took refuge en masse under their hats not the. It's been a long time since we've seen those yellowish and graceful cones in such great concentration, nor a Vietnam so pleasing to the eye and, at the same time, genuine and hyperactive, we dare to conclude that with a busy pace similar to that which seduced by those sides the Portuguese navigator, adventurer, merchant and privateer, António de Faria.

At a certain point in his life, Faria admitted Fernão Mendes Pinto to his service. Both had a strong connection to Montemor-o-Velho and the former led the new subject in various adventures and misadventures, robberies and massacres that Mendes Pinto narrated in “Peregrinação”. Faria has, by the way, a preponderant role in the epic.

He was the first European to visit and establish regular contact with these Asian coordinates.

After disembarking in Danang (a little further north), he came across the commercial influence of that area and sought to establish an entrepot in Faifo – as Hoi An was known among European merchants – in the center of an area to which the Portuguese they soon nicknamed Cauchichina, Cauchi probably adjusted to Giao Chi, its original name. Thereafter, the West used the Cochinchina adaptation.

As for the outpost, it would only be founded at the turn of the XNUMXth century, almost fifty years after Faria's death, by a native sovereign of the Nguyen dynasty. Faifo was the first place in Vietnam exposed to Christianity. It became such an influential city that the Portuguese Jesuits installed one of their two Asian residences there.

With the superior purpose of evangelizing, Gaspar d'Amaral and Duarte da Costa carried out an immense work of transcription of religious writings encoded in a Latinization of the Vietnamese language.

Between 1624 and 1644, Alexandre de Rhodes, a French missionary, perfected these informal efforts, published the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum  and it generated the lasting quoc ngu conversion that allows us to read, even without realizing it, all the Vietnamese words.

As it is common to still find in Vietnam, as we walk through the streets and alleys we come across banners and banners with Soviet graphics, true propagandist testimonies of the Vietcong triumph. Architecture, on the other hand, has nothing to do with it.

Large sequences of buildings erected at the beginning of the 800th century, or older, remain in the streets. In total, there are more than XNUMX structures with serious historical importance and which, still used, give more life to the city. There are houses and shops, wells, small temples and chapels, pagodas, communal buildings, assemblies and halls of Chinese congregations, tombs and bridges.

We pass two old men resting at the door of one of the temples identified as Chua Ong. If one of them is even sitting, the other remains relaxed, both relaxed in such a way that they seem to be part of the gaudy and mythological painting in the background.

Nearby, we find the Japanese covered bridge, perhaps the most famous monument in Hoi An, which we crossed, in the dark, and in the company of a couple of cyclists and kids in school uniforms.

The first bridge in that place was erected by the Japanese community of Hoi An, in 1593, as a connection to Chinatown on the other side of the narrow river branch. The builders created a solid structure that would resist earthquakes and provided it with a roof to ensure protection from both rain and sun.

Over time, its ornamentation remained relatively faithful to the original Japanese. The name that appears at the door of this temple – Chua Cau – was inscribed to replace the initial of Ponte Japonesa. But “Bridge for Passersby from afar” was not a big hit.

And yet, it is what we are there and what we continue to be.

Even used to the presence of outsiders, the natives look them up and down, intrigued as to whether the female half of the duo is their fellow countrymen.

We don't need to walk far until we hit the main stream of Thu Bon and reach the entrance of another bridge, An Hoi, this discovery. There, the attention of the mob of pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and embarked workers goes to the bottom of the river where a boatwoman was trying to recover any merchandise or possessions dropped by someone who was crossing.

There's nothing we can do to help. We continue to admire the bustle of navigation and loading and unloading over the greenish flow.

Dozens of Vietnamese flags fluttering in the wind from small wooden barges, with their five-pointed yellow star representing the five groups of workers at the base of communism and shrouded in the red of bloodshed and revolutionary struggle.

From the XNUMXth to the XNUMXth century, the flags waved much higher and with greater diversity. During this period, large vessels from Portugal and from many other countries were able to dock right at the entrance to the village and load and unload products.

On their return, Western ships carried silk, paper, tea, ivory, wax, molasses, mother-of-pearl, lacquer, spices, Asian ceramics, sulfur and lead.

Taking into account the change of era, today, you can still buy a little of everything in the city, but we do not miss the huge number of tailors who display their clothes in windows without windows facing the city streets.

And that one of them calls on a handwritten poster in English: “Stop looking. They found the most honest, friendly, selfless and most accurate craftsman in Hoi an.” Hoi An was not always so helpful to outsiders.

Between 1770 and 1780, it was the scene of a fierce rebellion led by two brothers named Tay Son, at the head of thousands of peasants who opposed trade with foreign nations.

The conflict nearly destroyed the city completely, but Faifo was rebuilt and returned to serve as a key port for trade between Asia and the West.

Until, at the end of the XNUMXth century, the Thu Bon river that links Hoi An to the China Sea silted up and became too shallow to accommodate large vessels. Gifted with this setback, northern rival Danang wasted no time in taking his place.

To Hoi An, the French settlers reserved the role of administrative center. Unlike so many other Vietnamese cities, Hoi An was spared the worst destruction of American bombing during the conflict that pitted the communist north against the south, from 1955 to 1975.

As a rule, visitors' gratitude increases as the small town enchants them more.

Hue, Vietnam

The Red Heritage of Imperial Vietnam

It suffered the worst hardships of the Vietnam War and was despised by the Vietcong due to the feudal past. The national-communist flags fly over its walls but Hué regains its splendor.

Nha Trang-Doc Let, Vietnam

The Salt of the Vietnamese Land

In search of attractive coastlines in old Indochina, we become disillusioned with the roughness of Nha Trang's bathing area. And it is in the feminine and exotic work of the Hon Khoi salt flats that we find a more pleasant Vietnam.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Under the Order of Chaos

Hanoi has long ignored scant traffic lights, other traffic signs and decorative traffic lights. It lives in its own rhythm and in an order of chaos unattainable by the West.
Ho Chi Minh a of Angkor, Cambodia

The Crooked Path to Angkor

From Vietnam onwards, Cambodia's crumbling roads and minefields take us back to the years of Khmer Rouge terror. We survive and are rewarded with the vision of the greatest religious temple
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beaches
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Hippopotamus displays tusks, among others
safari
PN Mana Pools, Zimbabwe

The Zambezi at the Top of Zimbabwe

After the rainy season, the dwindling of the great river on the border with Zambia leaves behind a series of lagoons that provide water for the fauna during the dry season. The Mana Pools National Park is the name given to a vast, lush river-lake region that is disputed by countless wild species.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
Bertie in jalopy, Napier, New Zealand
Architecture & Design
Napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s

Devastated by an earthquake, Napier was rebuilt in an almost ground-floor Art Deco and lives pretending to stop in the Thirties. Its visitors surrender to the Great Gatsby atmosphere that the city enacts.
Full Dog Mushing
Aventura
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.
Moa on a beach in Rapa Nui/Easter Island
Ceremonies and Festivities
Easter Island, Chile

The Take-off and Fall of the Bird-Man Cult

Until the XNUMXth century, the natives of Easter Island they carved and worshiped great stone gods. All of a sudden, they started to drop their moai. The veneration of tanatu manu, a half-human, half-sacred leader, decreed after a dramatic competition for an egg.
patriot march
Cities
Taiwan

Formosa but Unsafe

Portuguese navigators could not imagine the imbroglio reserved for the Formosa they baptized. Nearly 500 years later, even though it is uncertain of its future, Taiwan still prospers. Somewhere between independence and integration in greater China.
Obese resident of Tupola Tapaau, a small island in Western Samoa.
Lunch time
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
MassKara Festival, Bacolod City, Philippines
Culture
Bacolod, Philippines

A Festival to Laugh at Tragedy

Around 1980, the value of sugar, an important source of wealth on the Philippine island of Negros, plummeted and the ferry “Don Juan” that served it sank and took the lives of more than 176 passengers, most of them from Negrès. The local community decided to react to the depression generated by these dramas. That's how MassKara arose, a party committed to recovering the smiles of the population.
Sport
Competitions

Man: an Ever Tested Species

It's in our genes. For the pleasure of participating, for titles, honor or money, competitions give meaning to the world. Some are more eccentric than others.
Princess Yasawa Cruise, Maldives
Traveling
Maldives

Cruise the Maldives, among Islands and Atolls

Brought from Fiji to sail in the Maldives, Princess Yasawa has adapted well to new seas. As a rule, a day or two of itinerary is enough for the genuineness and delight of life on board to surface.
Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
Ethnic
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

life outside

Dusk in Itzamna Park, Izamal, Mexico
History
Izamal, Mexico

The Holy, Yellow and Beautiful Mexican City

Until the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, Izamal was a center of worship for the supreme Mayan god Itzamná and Kinich Kakmó, the one of the sun. Gradually, the invaders razed the various pyramids of the natives. In its place, they built a large Franciscan convent and a prolific colonial houses, with the same solar tone in which the now Catholic city shines.
Fort Galle, Sri Lanka, Ceylon Legendary Taprobana
Islands
Galle, Sri Lanka

Galle Fort: A Portuguese and then Dutch (His) story

Camões immortalized Ceylon as an indelible landmark of the Discoveries, where Galle was one of the first fortresses that the Portuguese controlled and yielded. Five centuries passed and Ceylon gave way to Sri Lanka. Galle resists and continues to seduce explorers from the four corners of the Earth.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Winter White
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
hippopotami, chobe national park, botswana
Nature
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Miniature houses, Chã das Caldeiras, Fogo Volcano, Cape Verde
Natural Parks
Chã das Caldeiras, Fogo Island Cape Verde

A "French" Clan at the Mercy of Fogo

In 1870, a Count born in Grenoble on his way to Brazilian exile, made a stopover in Cape Verde where native beauties tied him to the island of Fogo. Two of his children settled in the middle of the volcano's crater and continued to raise offspring there. Not even the destruction caused by the recent eruptions deters the prolific Montrond from the “county” they founded in Chã das Caldeiras.    
Seljalandsfoss Escape
UNESCO World Heritage
Iceland

The Island of Fire, Ice and Waterfalls

Europe's supreme cascade rushes into Iceland. But it's not the only one. On this boreal island, with constant rain or snow and in the midst of battle between volcanoes and glaciers, endless torrents crash.
Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Characters
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
View of Casa Iguana, Corn islands, pure caribbean, nicaragua
Beaches
Corn Islands - Islas del Maíz , Nicaragua

pure caribbean

Perfect tropical settings and genuine local life are the only luxuries available in the so-called Corn Islands or Corn Islands, an archipelago lost in the Central American confines of the Caribbean Sea.
Kirkjubour, Streymoy, Faroe Islands
Religion
Kirkjubour, streymoy, Faroe Islands

Where the Faroese Christianity Washed Ashore

A mere year into the first millennium, a Viking missionary named Sigmundur Brestisson brought the Christian faith to the Faroe Islands. Kirkjubour became the shelter and episcopal seat of the new religion.
Chepe Express, Chihuahua Al Pacifico Railway
On Rails
Creel to Los Mochis, Mexico

The Barrancas del Cobre & the CHEPE Iron Horse

The Sierra Madre Occidental's relief turned the dream into a construction nightmare that lasted six decades. In 1961, at last, the prodigious Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad was opened. Its 643km cross some of the most dramatic scenery in Mexico.
young saleswoman, nation, bread, uzbekistan
Society
Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, The Nation That Does Not Lack Bread

Few countries employ cereals like Uzbekistan. In this republic of Central Asia, bread plays a vital and social role. The Uzbeks produce it and consume it with devotion and in abundance.
Daily life
Arduous Professions

the bread the devil kneaded

Work is essential to most lives. But, certain jobs impose a degree of effort, monotony or danger that only a few chosen ones can measure up to.
Pisteiro San in action at Torra Conservancy, Namibia
Wildlife
Palmwag, Namíbia

In Search of Rhinos

We set off from the heart of the oasis generated by the Uniab River, home to the largest number of black rhinos in southwest Africa. In the footsteps of a bushman tracker, we follow a stealthy specimen, dazzled by a setting with a Martian feel.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.