Oasis of expats
Bike rental for 20,000 dong, I head out for Cua Dai beach. It’s stinking hot. From Cua Dai, I head for An Bang beach. By the time I get there, I’m more than ready for a drink. At the end of the road is a cute bar/restaurant with day beds, lawn chairs, and a view of the sea. Coconut drink in hand, I claim a day bed with cover and chill out. It’s paradise…I could stay here all day. Great people watching as well. I eavesdrop on a conversation between an older couple and a French man. The French guy has been living in Vietnam for 20 years. They have a bungalow here and come here for vacation often.
A group of Singaporean students. They are all wearing Bia Hoi tanks. Note to self — I need one of those. A solo brunette lady, tanning and sleeping. Another French man and an older man discussing Sarkozy. Slowly the place gets busier.
A man in white linen pants, white shirt unbuttoned halfway, and a straw panama hat sits at the table near me. I peg him for French as well, but find out he’s actually a Spaniard. I start chatting to him and his Italian friend, Alberto, an older skinny man with tanned leathery skin. Jamie, originally from Barcelona, has been in Vietnam for 12 years. He knows the country very well and owns the restaurant here. He’s lived all over the world, including Sydney (Kirribilli), Sweden, and Boston/NY.
Alberto is a bit of a nomad, staying a few months in various countries, as he pleases. He owns three Italian restaurants in Guang Zhou, China, but has been blacklisted by the government from entering the country since he broke up with his Chinese girlfriend. The breakup wasn’t amicable and she knew people in high places. Be careful who you piss off in China.
Both men give me the lowdown on the area and point out the various characters at the restaurant. The place is filled with colourful expats.
The sunbathing brunette lady is an Italian interior designer living in Hanoi. Then there’s the table of Koreans…they’re a family visiting their architect son who lives in Vietnam. Alberto gets a call from his friend who’s sitting at the restaurant next door and waves. The friend comes over to say hi. An Italian archaeologist who’s working in the mountains nearby studying the Cham people, coming into Hoi An for him is like going into the big city. Turns out many expats come here for vacation. Situated in the middle of the country, between Saigon and Hanoi, it’s easily accessible. The French in particular (and there are quite a number of French expats in Vietnam), call it the St. Tropez of Vietnam.
Jamie and Alberto invite me to join them for lunch. They point out some people from the Spanish Embassy who are sitting with an analyst for the UN in Hanoi. They also spot an older woman — she’s writing a book and comes early in the morning to sit at a corner table, overlooking the sea. Not a bad place to write a book, although I’ve always imagined that I would write amy book on a Greek island, overlooking the Aegean. If that doesn’t happen, then here overlooking the South China Sea will do 🙂 Finally, there’s the owner of Cham Diving Centre and his Canadian wife. I love the mix of expats with their various reasons for being here.
Across the sea, we can see Cham Island. Jamie explains that the side facing the mainland is open to tourists and divers, but the other side is closed for military purposes. The 33 km stretch of beach between here and Danang (which is visble in the distance) used to be owned by the government and used for military activities. In recent years, the government has sold all the land, and resorts have been built all along the beach.
It’s been a perfect morning, beach, relaxation, and great people watching. I part ways with the men after lunch. They are living the dream.
