15 November 2010: This thi xa (rural town) has become a city. One of the most obvious transformations is that the price tag of everything is higher than that of a few years ago. While the cab fare from Danang Airport to Hoi An was about 180,000 dong four years ago, it's now 270,000 dong at least. The trip back from Hoi An to Danang is cheaper - about 240,000 dong on a squeaky clean car - which I booked at the hotel where I stayed.
As usual, I am not here as a tourist; I have been here at least seven times. The atmosphere is still pleasant to me but food, overall, doesn't excite me. There are several 'specialties' such as banh bao banh vac ('white rose') - like ha kao except for its tougher skin and its filling -which is pork. The dish is however given a leash of life thanks to the crispy browned shallot (hanh kho) and fish sauce (nuoc cham). It's not served with fresh herbs as one would expect in Vietnam, but these dumplings are aromatic on their own.
Another specialty is Cao Lau- thick flat noodle with shredded carrot, sometimes even cabbage,and bean sprouts topped with 'crouton-like' flat square pieces of deep-fried flour - all a quarter-immersed in soya-based gravy.
While food may be limited in choice, accomodation is not. For such a small place, Hoi An surprisingly offers quite a range of hotels to suit various budgets. For a few nights I went to the same hotel where I used to go. It's clean; it's like a mini-five star without the amenities. But there was a pesky mozzie which hovered around me at night this time because I dislike using mozzie-nets. Well, I didn't sleep well. So my hotel in Danang compensated me for my loss of sleep and my half-filled stomach...
I'll be back again, though.
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