Day 3 (continued)
We arrived in Hoi An midday. My first impressions of Hoi An were that the place was so beautiful and reminded me of a Vietnamese version of Savannah or Charleston (Southern points of reference without a doubt). The place was also crawling with Westerners like Ho Chi Minh city was, but a very different crowd. It appeared that this was much more a family vacation spot (again like Charleston or Savannah) and I met more families from Australia and New Zealand, and some from Europe, but no Americans.
We ate lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, Bees Knees (I love that Vietnam has an affinity for Americanisms in their restaurant names, check out some of the names). There, I dived into a delicious bowl of morning glory, which may be the greatest vegetable I've eaten since collards. It is a Southeast Asia exclusive. Due to an ensuing hangover, and dehydration, I managed to spill my duck entree all over myself, but what I did eat I enjoyed. They certainly wooed me with Taylor Swift's "Our Song" and "My Maria" by Brooks and Dunn.
We ended the night at Streets International, with a phenomenal meal. I'd never had ice cream made with mangos and coconut milk. Also, the local Hoi An staple, Cau Lau (pork, noodles, greens, broth) was represented well. But this restaurant was doing something so much more powerful then just serving food. They were employing disadvantaged youth and turning them into phenomenal chefs, giving them education, jobs, and security despite their unfortunate upbringings on the streets. This was social entrepreneurship at its finest.
Day 4
We started our day at the home stay with a delicious Hoi An breakfast of baguette, omelette, Vietnamese Iced coffee, and fresh fruit before making our way into town. I started at the market. Due to lax intellectual property laws, I snagged several knock-off polos and a pair of faux-kleys (fake oakleys). The women of Hoi An (Once again, females are running things in Vietnam; they are more feminine according to Hofestede's model) are master tailors and their ability to make clothes quickly and intricately is so impressive. The sales strategies on the part of these women was much more elaborate than in Ho Chi Minh City. They marketed intensely through trip advisor and Facebook (hello 21st century). The negotiation/bargain game in Hoi An is so much more sophisticated and tactical. That is something that impressed me so much about Hoi An. Being a good negotiator and bargainer is like playing chess in Hoi An. You have to play it right. By now, I knew exactly how to work it and was nagging 7 dollar polos. But still, as the saying goes, "the customer never gets the actual price" so they were definitely still way in their profit margin. I even received an 8 dollar massage for an entire 45 minutes!
Our first stop was Reaching Out, another social venture aimed at employing and integrating the disabled individuals who are often displaced in society through unemployment and neglect. I was so impressed to see this being done, as the issue of special needs is so dear to my heart. If there is any better argument for collectivism, it is what is being done in Vietnam. The holistic approach that they have, and the notion of collective strength was what propelled so many people in the Hoi An community to do things like starting Reaching Out or Streets International. They are a more collectivist society, meaning they do approach the well being of all as a priority. This was apparent at Reaching Out, which exists to ensure that everyone can have a place in society. The work ethic was incredible, and the crafts they were making were even more so. I bought some absolutely beautiful chopsticks laced in gold there and they had an array of great products. Each employee received benefits, honest wages, and were allowed room for creativity, which yielded amazing results.
We spent much of the afternoon at the beach and riding bikes around this old colonial town. There we relaxed and drank fruity beach cocktails, tiger beer, and tequila and enjoyed the South China sea at a cabana, playing a mix of New Orleans jazz and some latin. The service was phenomenal, as seems to be the case everywhere in Vietnam. The mountains were so beautiful from the shoreline.
We ate dinner at our home stay, Beetel Garden, and it was laid-back as we interacted with our New Zealand neighbors and Dong, our friend in Vietnam. We then made our way over to the bars in the downtown. They were lively and fun. The best thing I encountered, hands down, was a beer-pong table...in the bar!! (Entrepreneurial idea right here; bar that features all beer pong tables in the USA)
The biggest highlight, considering I'm a good ole West Virginia boy, had to be when the New Zealanders got the whole bar to sing country roads for me. That made my entire life.
Day 5
We got up extremely early for a bike ride across the Vietnamese countryside. It was stunning. In the areas around Hoi An, you will find many rice fields, cattle pastures, and of course, morning glory. The countryside was reminiscent of the Eastern side of North Carolina, with open fields that spread as far as the eye can see, hot, alternating between drier ground cover and marsh. Except there were Asian houses everywhere. And Mountains in the background. The day was extremely hot, and the need for water and lots of it became more and more apparent everyday. This put into better perspective what exactly we had seen in the Vietnam War Museum. I thought about the soldiers, carrying all that equipment, dehydrated, through this heat. It was hard to think about that war and all the lives lost in it while we rode through the countryside. It brought back the atrocities that both sides committed in the wake of an ideological battle that turned into a violent one, a battle where nationalism and escalation of commitment fueled both sides to commit horrible acts. When I was at the War Museum I did not fully understand it. But when I was riding through the countryside, where many a battle took place, where the same people I was staring at would've been pitted in the center of a terrible war, I felt it.
Dong took us to his house for a cooking lesson after the bike ride. Here we got a nice glimpse of exactly what Vietnamese hospitality looked like (And as someone who grew up in the South, I know it when I see it.) We learned to prepare a special Vietnamese crepe and Cau Lau, from Dong's mother's old recipes. It was fantastic. I was so interested in the Vietnamese household. In reference to the American household, it was "same-same but different". Much of the amenities were there, TV, oven, grill, cameras, computers,.... drones? They were so much like our families in so many ways, and so modern but so traditional at the same time. The main difference, I think is the amount of people living together. Vietnamese families are close and large.
There is a Hoi An expression, "Why not" that comes up everywhere you go. While we were in Hoi An, we spent a lot of time at Yen Dung Tailors in town. The owner, Lien was friends with our professor and an entrepreneur herself. Her story was not only touching but inspiring. Why not? There is no reason that any of us should ever feel helpless after hearing Lien's story. She is a strong passionate woman who lifted herself out of poverty. No government hand-out. No stimulus. Just 100% entrepreneurial spirit and a "Why not?" attitude. From a customer relations perspective, there is so much to be learned from Lien. You have to really engage your customers and make them feel like family. Then those Trip Advisor Reviews add up and you really get your reputation out there. Lien had an wonderful staff that treated us so well. She was receptive of all of our ideas and our needs, because she can and will do anything for the customer (Why Not?). This is a lesson to take home with me from the Vietnamese work ethic. She made me a kimono (I'm 300% cooler now thanks Lien) and several great, perfectly fitting shirts.
We ended the night with a night cruise on Ho Chi Minh's birthday and some drinks. It was spectacular. They served us a full-course, amazing meal with all of my Vietnamese favorites, family style. We then made our way back to the bar scene for some drinks because "Why Not"
Day 6
This was a sad day. If I had the choice I would've stayed at Beetel Garden forever. It was a real life Shang-ri-la full of statues and Japanese architecture and beautiful tropical plants. I really loved Hoi An. In comparison to Ho Chi Minh City, the place had so much more charm, it was worlds cleaner, and there was a strong community bond that was unlike anything I'd seen before. The business culture was young and the opportunities there were endless. With its close proximity to Australia, which I mentioned in my foreword is the biggest spender on travel in the world, the tourism opportunities in Hoi An are endless. There was a certain quality in Hoi An that doing good helped you do good. That is, it seemed that the social businesses and NGOs like Streets and Reaching Out or people like Lien, an entrepreneur who is such a beloved community figure and helps so many people in her family and treats her employees well, seem to do the best when it comes to performance (gauging from both scale and from reputation). I really believe at this point that people really want to help and that there is incentive to do good things with your business. It is part of that vision/mission that motivates employees, and it is a huge marketing strategy that I can testify is super successful. I think that if there is any message to take back to America with me, it is that one.
We drove back to Da NAng, and then from there flew onto our next destination......Cambodia.
The amount of people employed by Reaching Out was astounding. They certainly were taking on the issue of what it means to be "disabled" in society with full force. Giving these people the autonomy to take care of themselves is exactly what America needs. "Special Needs" is an issue that has always been close to myself and my family.
We had a lunch of Bang Me, a traditional Vietnamese/French fusion sandwich, and of course, Vietnamese Iced Coffee.
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