Franz ElizHoi An is a beautiful city with romantic vibes amidst its crowd. The Ancient Town is its main highlight: it’s the shopping and nightlife capital of Hoi An, with colourful lanterns brightening up the city at night. Outside of the Old Town is also worth visiting and tourists can see more of Hoi An by cycling or riding a motorbike.
I was in Hoi An with my best friend, Abed, sometime in June this year. We took a Vespa Tour from Eviva Tour Vietnam, a travel company based in Hanoi. Our trip was already arranged before we arrived in Vietnam. We did the Hoi An Vespa Tour on the second day of our trip with two local guides.
Exploring Hoi An on a Vespa
Our Vespa Tour was about 3 hours long. We started at about 2 pm and finished at about 5 pm. Since we weren’t allowed to ride our own Vespa, we had two guides taking us around; one of whose name was Ms Hoa. Even though we had two guides, Ms Hoa was the one doing all the talking.
According to Ms Hoa, riding a Vespa is a little different than a regular motorbike. For that reason, guides had to be trained to ride one to be able to take tourists around on the vehicle.
Keep reading as I share with you the activities covered during our Hoi An Vespa Tour.
Visit Hoi An Wet Market
During this tour, we stopped by a wet market in Hoi An where we could see local sellers gather and select their seafood. These sellers need to bargain for the best price in order to get the profit they want.
According to Ms Hoa, these sellers usually visit the wet market twice; in the morning and in the afternoon. They’ll buy supplies for the current day’s dinner and for the following day’s breakfast.
At the market, people can find a wide variety of seafood, including fish, squids, and shrimp. Usually, there are also fruits and vegetables at the market.
We saw durians, mangosteens, mangoes, oranges, and many more.
Learn How Rice Papers Are Made
After visiting the wet market, we visited Ms Thu, a rice paper maker in the Hoi An countryside. It was interesting to watch her make rice papers. Since I didn’t know how Vietnamese rice papers were made, I was excited about this activity.
I love bánh tráng nướng, a rice paper wrapper grilled with ingredients like quail eggs, meat, sauces, and more. There’s a stall in the Old Town that sells it. The rice papers we learned to make during this tour were a little different than the ones used for making bánh tráng nướng.
Nevertheless, the rice papers were tasty on their own and even better when accompanied by chilli sauce.
The ingredients used to make these rice papers are milk, water, garlic, shallot, sesame seed, and spices. Once the mixture is ready, it goes onto a hot flat pan or griddle where it gets steamed under a big lid.
Rice Papers Can Be Dried Under the Sun or in the Oven
Ms Thu usually makes 500 rice papers per day in summer. However, she can usually only make about 200 rice papers in a day during winter. The reason is a lack of space at home to dry the rice papers. Fewer rice papers to make in winter means less money for Ms Thu.
In summer, the rice papers can easily be dried under the sun outside the house – yay to sun heat! But in winter, the rice papers are dried using the oven.
Meet Bomb Survivors
Our guides took us to the homes of three bomb survivors in Hoi An. The first home was the home of an old couple who makes a living from mat weaving. We then met a rice wine maker and his wife who sells ready-made rice papers. Lastly, we met another bomb survivor who opens a lovely cafe with a gorgeous paddy field view.
Enjoy the Scenery of Hoi An’s Countryside
We passed by beautiful paddy fields, rivers, and mountains during our Hoi An Vespa Tour. Since it was summer, there were many farmers working in paddy fields. There were also water buffaloes along the way.
We made a stop at one of the paddy fields in Hoi An. Next to it was a pond with beautiful lotus flowers.
According to Ms Hoa, lotus flowers can be used for making soups. These flowers are commonly used in Vietnamese cuisine.
Hoi An Locals Who Found Happiness Against All Odds
It’s not every day that we get to sit down with old Vietnamese to learn about their life stories. During this tour, we had the opportunity to explore the stories of Hoi An locals – three being bomb survivors – and understand what life was like for them.
Mat Weavers Mr Hoan and Ms Man Who Make Handmade Mats
We met an old couple during this tour, Mr Hoan and Ms Man. What a lovely couple! Abed and I were fascinated by their relationship. They looked happy together. Ms Hoa told us that the couple has been weaving mats together for 47 years. The husband is now 72 years old while the wife is 69 years old.
Mat weaving is typically done by women, but this couple does it together. That’s because the husband lost one leg after he stepped on a bomb when he was 23 years old; some of his relatives also went through the same tragedy. It happened not long after the couple got married. With only one leg, his job options were limited. However, his disability didn’t stop him from contributing to society. He has been helping his wife with weaving mats ever since.
By working together, Ms Man designs the mats while her husband weaves the mats. The mats were affordable. A small mat only cost USD3 while the bigger one cost USD5. However, they would cost a lot more in town. We bought a small and big one.
Today, most mats are produced by machines and are mostly made with plastics. On the contrary, handmade mats are made using a plant known as ‘ri’. The plants are quite limited today, however, due to a lack of land to harvest them. There are also very few mat weavers today as many have quit.
Rice Wine Maker Mr Dau and His Wife
After visiting the lovely old couple, we went to meet a local winemaker, Mr Dau. Mr Dau went to Cambodia in the 1970s as a volunteer during the war. Like the mat weaver we met earlier, Mr Dau also lost one leg to a bomb. After the unfortunate event, Mr Dau struggled to find a job. Marriage also didn’t come easy.
In the past, the family of his now-wife disapproved of their marriage due to his disability. Since the couple both came from poor families, many people worried about the couple’s future. Despite the disapproval, the couple married and eventually had their first child. Mr Dau took care of the baby while his wife became the breadwinner.
Life was very hard. However, their lives got better when Mr Dau finally found his calling: winemaking. He started making rice wine and selling them to neighbours and nearby locals and has continued to do so up to this day. Mr Dau has been making rice wine for about 30 years. He is now 61 years old.
His wines are affordable. He sells various types of wines, even snake and centipede wines! Mr Dau’s wines come in different alcohol levels. I had a go with the wine with 30% alcohol in it. There was also one with 70% alcohol in it.
Note: Mr Dau is fortunate to get help from the government for his disability. Unfortunately for Mr Hoan, the mat weaver we met earlier, he doesn’t get any government assistance for the leg he has lost.
Mr Dau and his wife have pigs at the back of their home. The pigs help them eat up rice excess from winemaking – nothing goes to waste. When the pigs are a lot bigger, the couple sells them.
Võ Gia Viên Cafe Owner Mr Hai Đống
The last bomb survivor we met during this tour was an old Vietnamese man, Mr Hai Đống, who like the other survivors, lost one leg to a bomb. He stepped on a bomb not far from his home.
Life didn’t stop even with only one leg. He began to invest a lot of time into his cafe, Võ Gia Viên Cafe.
Today, the cafe welcomes both locals and tourists who want to unwind next to a gorgeous paddy field.
We had Vietnamese coffee. Mr Hai also gave us local tea. I didn’t like the tea much, but the Vietnamese coffee was really good.
While we sipped our coffee, Ms Hoa shared with us a bit of Vietnamese history. We also discussed the unexploded ordinances that are still infesting Vietnam. She believes that it may take a very long time – maybe hundreds of years – to clear all the bombs.
Mr Hai was sitting with some locals. They looked very happy. Before Abed and I left the cafe, we managed to take a few photos with Mr Hai.
Was the Hoi An Vespa Tour Good, Overall?
The Hoi An Vespa Tour was good, overall. We learned many things from it, including the lives of some of the Hoi An locals. We also learned that many Vietnamese are still paying the price of war. Today, there are still many unexploded ordnance around Vietnam, especially in rural areas.
While this is something everyone probably already knows, it’s never enough to remind each and every one of us that war is ugly. Based on the stories of the bomb survivors shared earlier, we learned that these men were perfectly fit even when the Vietnam War ended but were handicapped not long after due to the bombs left from the war.
I respect their resilience. They made me realise that life is as beautiful as you make it. Their stories are also a good reminder that true love exists.
The Vietnamese are strong people and will always be.
Do I recommend this Hoi An Vespa Tour? Yes, absolutely.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for an activity in the Hoi An countryside, I recommend taking the Hoi An Vespa Tour by Eviva Tour Vietnam. The tour is no more than 3 hours.
Enjoy the stunning view of paddy fields, lotus flowers and more while on a Vespa. You can make stops to take pictures along the way if you like. Your guide will take you to local homes to see how Vietnamese crepes, sleeping mats, and rice wines are made. Before ending the tour, you’ll stop by a local cafe for some refreshments.
