Hidden Gem Experiences of Hoi An- 2
- Priya Bala
- Jun 4
- 5 min read
Do you sometimes get the feeling that there’s another version you, accessed only by travel? From when and how you wake up, right down to what you choose to eat and where – if you observe carefully next time, you might stumble upon the ‘Travel You’. This new person, in constant reinvention, goes about seeing the world with curious eyes and an open heart. It becomes easy, ever so slowly, to pick up blocks of who you want to be with clarity, stack them in the order you’d like, and announce to the real world - this is me.
For example, Travel Me found herself in Vietnam for a whole month on a self-gifted solo birthday trip. I had woken up at 3am to experience the city waking up and to live like the locals – even if just for the day. My Hidden Gem Experiences of Hội An was already a few hours down after the Cao Lau noodle workshop and the ancient fishing village visit. Our guide, Ha Nguyen, was now taking us to the next stop after which breakfast awaited the excited bunch of early risers.
5:30am
Nearby the harbor where we had seen ships sail in with the freshest catch, we entered a tucked away set-up with covered sheds and sheets. Rows of wooden barrels held tightly packed anchovies alternatively layered with salt with the nozzle dripping a distilled and concentrated mix called fish sauce or Nước mắm. The taste shifted from light to deep depending on how long the barrels have been fermenting the oily fish. Surprisingly here too, there was no stink of the sea or of fish. We could taste the produce from 3 months all the way to 2 years and even buy some to take back home.
Cultural Nugget: Nước mắm is the hero ingredient for many Vietnamese sauce, lending the quintessential umami taste. The strong, savory, and salty flavor offers a great starting point to make a host of condiments. Adding ingredients like sugar, lime, red chilli, ginger, garlic, etc helps balance the taste and create the richer alternates called Nước Chấm.
6:15am
Our scooters parked at Cavalry - a coffee roastery and cafe owned by Ha’s good friend. Walking into the aesthetic cafe we felt the smell of freshly brewed coffee awaken our senses. None of us were sleepy just yet but a little caffeine pick-me-up was much welcomed. While we waited for our Bánh mìs and coffees to arrive, the group shared stories around the table. Ha would share comparative bits with us now and then, about the lives of tribes in the mountains or tourism in other countries.
I chose to take the backseat here and observe what travel meant for different people. We had a mixed-age group for the experience. A daughter who had brought her parents on a memorable trip. A digital nomad working out of SEA countries and making the most of life. Indian-Americans on their uni break fitting in all they could to soak up culture on a short trip. Still, we were here together, yearning for connection to culture alongside the touristy-must-dos.
Pro Tip: If you want to buy coffee, always choose whole beans over the powered variant. Even if you’re going for that, ask to see the shop’s beans in storage. Know the bean, and you’ll be paying for real coffee and not sludgy stuff made from the bottom-sack broken beans.
7:00am
Lush green fields welcomed us as we turned off from the main roads, cutting through the landscape on our scooters. The roads soon turned into trails and village homes sheltered by large areca nut and palm trees. I found myself miles away in another country yet feeling like I’m right back in the generous rice paddy fields of my hometown in The Kongu Nadu.
A long floor loom occupied the multi-purpose veranda and an elderly couple greeted us with big smiles. We were here to meet this local mat-weaving family and see them in action, participating if we liked. While at first glance the mats looked just like the korai pais in India, I understood that these were made of dried wheat grass, not the dry wild grass we used. It felt thinner, more flexible, leading to far more varied uses.
At the energetic calls of our local guide, we all took turns sitting frog-legged and using the wooden beam to slap back the straws in place. It was absolutely back-breaking work and an incredible test of stamina. Afraid of messing up their weave, we sampled the craft and left it to the experts. Our hosts slipped on little bracelets as a memory from the visit, some of us shopped, and I busily clicked pictures – how little we know, yet how we walk around thinking we know more?
8:00am
“This is typically when I wake up” I thought to myself as we parked in front of a traditional wine maker’s house. We were at our last stop and though I was already full with learning, I wished there was more to uncover. By now, the sun was shining high, energy was dipping, and when we heard we were going to taste the wine, there were many head shakes. It was too early to drink!
Of course, we realized there was no such thing in Vietnam when rice wines are considered health shots when consumed in moderation. Our host family belonged to a generation of winemakers and had shelves of the large glass containers with different kinds. Infused with a range of ingredients (ranging from botanical to the scary variant of crawling, animal things), each kind came with promised health benefits that were not only believed but actively practiced by the locals till date.
After the tour we sat down where smaller bottles of the varieties were neatly arranged. As we took our seats, I saw the labels weren’t in English and at the exact time heard Ha say that we’re playing Vietnamese Drinking Roulette of sorts. We all get to pour a shot of our choosing without asking what it is, and he would later tell us what we’ve had. It was a dangerous gamble – I aimed for the honey or lemon and was the only one at the table that ended up with Rắn hổ mang: Cobra Wine.
Cultural nugget: Unlike coffee, green tea can be paired with rice wine / alcohol and in most places is served upon request. Green tea is a perfect palate cleanser and between our wine shots we were encouraged to have our sips of tea to quell any nasty effects. An iced green tea with a pale green color, mellow taste, and floral smell is also a great hydration option during hangovers.
9:00am
We were officially done with the Hidden Gem Experiences of Hoi An and our riders waited to transport us back to our hotels or any other place in the city. All of us, through Ha, were here – irrespective of what meaning travel took. We were here for the real raw deal, with no tourists other than us, blending into the local tapestry. At the end of six long hours, I had no doubt that this is the way I’d like to experience places. Afterall, who wants the same Pinterest frames for the gram when travel is meant to be personal, purposeful and perfectly local?
If you’d like to read the first half of the experience, here you go. If you’d like to book this experience for yourself, reach out to our guide, Ha.
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