Foto: The harbor of Hoi An (bron: Ronald van der Veer)
Vietnam - We decide to purchase a combination ticket for Hoi An. The ticket grants access to one museum of choice, one old merchant’s house of choice, one assembly hall, the Japanese bridge, and one handicraft shop. We start at the bridge. The Japanese Bridge is one of the few covered wooden arch bridges in Vietnam that has been preserved. The bridge dates from 1593 and connects the Japanese and Chinese quarters in Hoi An. Traders conducted business on the bridge. The pagoda was later added onto the bridge. The next destination is the Tan-Ky house, an old merchant’s house belonging to the Tan-Ky family. After the patriarch sternly asked for our tickets, we were warmly welcomed by the daughter of the family. Shortly after, we sit down for tea and she tells us about the history of the house. The house has been inhabited by the family for seven generations. We are shown how high the water rose during the last floods. A postcard depicting a boat inside the house illustrates this disaster. I buy the postcard to also support the family. Finally, we visit the Assembly Hall of the Fukien community. At the Hoi Quan Phuc Kien, the Chinese Fukien community honors their ancestors. The temple, built in 1792, is dedicated to the goddess of the sea. Until now, we had not encountered such strong Chinese influence in Vietnam. The temple is beautiful but completely different from the Buddhist temples we have visited so far. We skip the other two attractions included in our combination ticket.
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