Vietnam Part 1: Fashion and Fire
I don’t know if I’ve ever been more amped for a trip. Vietnam would be my first time to Asia, and Molly’s fabulously detailed excel itinerary was packed with everything I ever dreamed of doing. Star-eyed but not oblivious to the country’s history, I received so much from this trip that my soul will never be the same.
When we shook hands to make this trip happen 6 months ago in Kenya, Molly already had the roadmap laid out. On google maps, she pointed through our would be route on how we would get to see and explore the entire country in 14 days. We opted to make our way from the south in Ho Chi Minh City, through Da Nang and Hoi An centrally, and finish in Hanoi in the North.
With only two days in Ho Chi Minh City, we decided the best way to maximize the time would be through guided tours and World’s Best 50 restaurant recommendations.
Day 1 we took a food and city tour, that I’d soon find out included history I was unaware of. I’ll blame my ignorance on my age, but this is why travel is important to me. I do want to know where I am, and not just “what ya’ll got”. And real talk, you don’t get to walk around a place asking “what’s this” without being ready for an answer. A TOUR of Ho Chi Minh City? - you got it.
After a breakfast of Pho Bo beef soup, we arrived on motobike to the Thich Quang Duc Memorial. At first glance, I was amazed at the sheer the size, and began snapping tourist photos waiting for our guide to explain “such a cool-looking-status.” Our guide had a binder of photos, but before he cracked the binder, he started by asking our group, “how many colonizers has Vietnam had?”
Excited for the trivia, I shouted “FOUR!” as a guess, because I knew it was more than 2.
“Correct!” He answered “ and who were the colonizers?”
Oh, and now he wants me to answer? My jeopardy watching ass…
”China… uh, France! France!..uh”
“Haha yes, correct..”
“Uh, JAPAN! and ..” now blanking on any sense of intellect, i said
“..not Cambodia..” hoping to crack a smile so he could help me out..
“HA. No, not Cambodia…”
Then, almost as if he forgot I had only named 3, he started to explain from memory (not the binder) about the historic center and Vietnam’s deep colonial past.
“Wait,..” an Irish guy from our group asked. “What’s the fourth?” Apparently, we were all stumped.
“OH.” our guide said a bit annoyed, as he had already moved on, he quickly answered
“and the United States.”
Cold, yet hot, embarrassment washed over me. DUH, you FOOL. I “forgot” the most recent and top of mind? I wanted to participate in the “fun facts about Vietnam’s colonizers” trivia and didn’t immediately shout THE USA!?! Get out! Leave! I felt like I should have excused myself. Molly and I looked at each other silently and with dropped jaws, and the only words I had in me were “I am so sorry.”
He laughed again.. and continued on with his notes from the binder.
What I learned about my brain in that very second is that the word “colonizer” only rings “USA” when I think of Africa. That word sits in my mind as seek, kill and destroy - but my education of the Vietnam War has only been “the war” not the sinister weight of a colonizer. And that is certainly, by American design. Well, damn. BACK TO THE FACTS, please.
“The statue of the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức, who self-immolated in 1963 to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government.” The black and white photo above shows all that remained after a full 15 minutes of being on fire - his heart.
With my lips now ZIPPED, I hung on to every word that would come next from our guide. He talked about the importance of Buddhism to the Vietnamese people and culture, and more importantly, Buddhist persecution throughout Vietnam’s colonial past.
He opened his binder to show us the photo of exactly what he was talking about. - American journalist and photographer Malcom Bowne’s “burning monk” photo. A photo of Thich Quang Cuc’s self-immolation in 1963. We all winced, but were all now paying attention to every word.
The statue we stood in front of was a tribute to Thich Quang Duc, a revered and famous monk, who self-immolated in 1963 for peace. The park where the statue is, now serves as a peaceful place to always remember his sacrifice for peace over war. The embarrassment/shame I had from the colonizer-trivia started to bubble over. I was snapping pics of this statue like this was a peaceful metaphor, when it was a very real damn-near-replica from a true event from when my parents were alive? I swore to myself I would ask more questions, and quit it with answers from this point moving forward of the trip. shook.
Malcom Browne’s iconic photo, in full color in our guide’s binder, served as the cover art for Rage Against the Machine’s self title album in 1992.
Silk Linen Jumpsuits by the fabulous Skyline Tailors
Hoi An: After Ho Chi Minh, we flew to Da Nang in central Vietnam, which was only a 45 minute drive from our hotel in Hoi An where we would spend the next 4 days getting custom tailored clothes made. Hoi An is an ancient town known for its custom tailoring and silks, and now the mood boards from our WhatsApp chats would finally come to life.
Can’t lie - Hoi An is touristy, but in the necessary kind of way (you'll rarely if ever hear that come from me). Everyone spoke English, which is not necessarily the case all over Vietnam. The manager of our hotel was eager to give us top notch tailoring recommendations and set up taxis and excursions for us. We stayed for 4 nights which allowed us to meet with several tailors, come back for fittings, add pieces and get in some day activities in Da Nang, while our clothes were being worked on.
After poolside breakfast at the hotel each morning, we spent our days frolicking around the small town of Hoi An full of leather artisans, tailors and silk shops. We ate dishes you can only get on Hoi An due to the charcoal level in the water which gives their noodles a chewy enjoyable density. We tried the famous Rose Dumplings (twice) which are filled with minced pork, topped with fried onions and shaped like a rose, which made for some hilarious chop-stick attempts. And of course, we went to the Bahn Mi Phuong, which was made famous by Anthony Bourdain. When in Rome! I’m a Bourdain stan, but I know he would have been most proud of us venturing to the sites and sounds we discovered on our own. The adventures we created in Hoi An were so unique. I left Hoi An with a feeling of accomplishment not just from the new wardrobe, but from stepping through comfort zones (and through traffic) and being open to whatever came next. Mission accomplished.
Ms. Vy of Vy Cloth shop - she was incredible to us!
We chose to have our clothes made at Vy Cloth shop (recommendation of our hotel) and Skyline tailor who were the cream of the crop. We came in with our look-books (PowerPoints), but both shops have several pattern books to choose from, with trendy and classic designs. I ended up having about 20 pieces made including 3 suits, a casual dress, a formal dress, a (yellow!) silk linen jumpsuit , a reversible bomber jacket and a few other fun pieces I had shipped back to the US. I can’t recommend Vy Cloth Shop and Skyline Tailor (silk) enough if you ever chose to do this trip.
Ms. Tran of Skyline Tailor - The COOLEST woman in the whole damn town.
Check in Wednesday 5/8 for Vietnam Pt: 2!!