Postcard from Vietnam 4

All markets are fascinating, colourful and a treat for all the senses and we all have our favourites. 

I love Leeds Market, of course, for its gloriously colourful Victorian, cast iron architecture, the fish alley with is beautiful displays of the British catch all laid out on crushed ice, Butcher's Row with it fancy dressed meats and the vegetable stalls that supply all the ethnic groups in Leeds like the Jamaicans, Chinese, Polish and even Ethiopian. There is the Nigerian tailor with her technicolour clothing and exotic 'medallion man' mock purple snakeskin shoes, the retro record and video shop with its dodgy knock-offs, and all the other wonderful fashion, luggage, cakes, deli, eggs, game and toys to mention but a few of its marvels. 

I still think the Mercat de la Boqueria on La Rambla in Barcelona is one of the most exciting food markets I have ever visited. It is unrivaled, in my experience, for atmosphere and amazing quality of local fish, vegetables and flowers

Hoi An food market (for there is also a cloth market ........ only for the very brave I might add) is only small but it as Vietnamese markets go it is very approachable, well lit with wider aisles than usual and it uplit by the sun reflecting off the river. There are lots of things you have never seen,  heard and smelled before but everyone is very helpful and polite. I find  the market people in Saigon a bit brusque and they always bump up the price for foreigners but Hoi An isn't too bad. They aren't saints by any means, but they are manageable rogues I think!

The old lady that was sitting beside these two colanders of flat fish probably came to market with only 10 or 15 fish in total. She will have caught them in the Thu Bon and rushed them straight to market. Most of the fish for sale is still wriggling and the stall holders keep them alive in plastic tubs or by swilling ladles of water over them to keep them breathing.  They couldn't be fresher if you caught them and whipped them onto the barbie yourself.

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With a brush in Hoi An

It has been a lovely 10 days in Hoi An and I have  been busy with my favourite Japanese Moleskin as ever. 

There more to see and do in this part of Central Vietnam than you could possibly achieve in a month let alone 10 days but I have enjoyed doing  a number of things I didn't manage last summer in our 3 day whistle stop tour.



On day one I rented a bicycle which has made such a difference to every day in this lovely region. the land is completely flat, apart from the odd bridge, so even I was able to ride for 10 or 15 kilometres without too much effort.

The landscape just outside the main town is a patchwork of tranquil paddy fields which are still ploughed by man and water buffalo and the air buzzes with dragonflies just above your head. 



The pale ochre silken waters of the estuary are dotted with all kinds of wooden boats for fishing, tourist river trips and dozens of working barges which ferry the locals from island to island.

The local people are very welcoming and are justly proud of their fascinating heritage. Hoi An first flourished in the days of the early silk trade of the 16th century and each different trading nation from Japan to France has made its mark on the towns style and culture.

On December 26th the Full Moon was celebrated. This is a time for special offerings to your ancestors and every house and shop front had a table of food and wine with candles and incense burning throughout the evening.  There is a local tradition of playing Chinese Chess and on Full Moon night the elders of the town put on traditional Vietnamese dress and play by candle light outside all the temples and ancient monuments.