Viet Nam the fourth: Day 4 Quy Nhon
It’s new year’s eve, and from the 15th floor of the Odin Hotel we can clearly hear what sounds like the strains of a passionate karaoke singer, while out the window the Grand Hyams Hotel is one big light show. The streets of Quy Nhon are full of families on scooters, but its not the same dense throng we saw in Ha Noi a few years ago.
We didn’t hotel breakfast this morning (generally L will go the hotel breakfast as she’s more likely to get gluten free options this way), instead heading out into the streets to find something. We didn’t have to go far to find a little bunch of little chairs and a big sign for pho ga, always a good option. What we got were wonderful bowls of something that was not pho ga, instrad having thin vermicelli noodles, large chunks of pork, and a decent portion of blood cake. It tasted delicious, and I’d be more than happy to have again if only I knew what it was — so far my google efforts have been in vain.
We then had a wander up to the Quy Nhon Lagoon, via a stop at the museum. I’ve read a bunch of reviews of the museum that basically trash the joint, but I found it quite interesting to see what the various curators have decided to display about the region and it’s history. One room focusses to the local indigenous people and their culture, highlighting clothes, tools, and customs. Another room has artifacts from the Champa period. An additional space deals with 17th and 18th century history, as the area saw a number of naval battles. The final downstairs room chronicles the various wars of the 20th century, including a gallery of pictures of mothers/grandmothers whose children and husbands were martyrs of the wars. L did wonder at what the women themselves actually did during these times, but from what I’ve seen of Vietnamese women to date, I’m happy to confidently say that they did basically everything. Men might hold the positions of power in VN, but at street level it’s generally the women doing the heavy lifting. Upstairs an additional room was devoted to Uncle Ho, his life and family, and possibly every documented encounter he ever had with people from the province.
Most museums are, in one way or another if not propaganda tools then certainly political in what they choose to display, they choose the points of view they want to endorse. While the museums of Europe can display items from all over the world, not always obtained in the most legitimate circumstances, for countries like VN it’s more a case of displaying the items of their own nation, and the items left behind by invaders once they’ve had their asses handed to them and have shuffled back home. If you walk into a museum in this part of the world expecting differently then you’re doing to be disappointed or pleasantly surprised by what is there. I think it’s a fine little museum, showcasing indigenous peoples, the role of women, and the local history.
Quy Nhon isn’t always like some other places in VN: it has a fairly high density of controlled intersections, pedestrian crossings, rubbish bins, and random vending machines for drinks. We took advantage of the latter on our rather warm stroll around the town today.
The afternoon was spent napping and generally relaxing, before we set off in search of dinner. First stop were for some delightful banh xeo, fresh crunchy goodness. The main street in town (the former air strip) has been blocked off tonight for a large NYE concert, so we had a look and it seems that’s where almost every teen to late 20s person is tonight. Wandering through the night market we were the only westerners, so got a lot of stares, waves, and hellos, maybe even terrifying some small children who may grow up and talk about the time the terrifying white giants came to new year’s eve.
Much to L’s disappointment, we do appear to be in a place where, tonight at least, there are no cocktails to be found. We found a place offering shots of a rather warm apricot liqueur, possibly fortified with rice spirit, as it felt a bit rough for it’s claimed 29% abv. We thought we were on a winner with Karma Bar and Mixology, but tonight at least they are only serving beer. A third place had cocktails on the sign, but were apparently fully booked. So it looks like the celebratory NY cocktail of g&t will have to wait until we hit Da Nang.
The final food stop of the night was for more seafood, some sea snails in a delightful thick buttery corn soup, and some langosteen-type shellfish grilled in chilli and salt. Both were delicious, and even with drinks there was change from 200k VND. While not the most exciting of places, there is still much to like about Quy Nhon.
Tomorrow’s mission is to get a massage, a shave, and keep eating all of the ocean’s bounty. As the 12-storey scrolling lights of the Grans Hyams Hotel says, Happy New Year 2024.
T