I wrote about the most beautiful tale of Hoi An in the post “Three poems for one evening”.
Of course, this was only part of the story.
The Old Town
I spent 4 nights in Hoi An. Of these, I was in the old town for two nights.
Of course, I checked out the beach 800 meters from my accommodation, twice. Now – and in general – the city is more exciting than the beach equipped for tourists.
This turned out to be an interesting experience. I didn’t see the old town during the day, only in the lights of the night. This is definitely another face of the city. The reason for this is the many lanterns. I swear, there are more lanterns in this city than stars in the Milky Way.
Both nights I felt the pulse of life in the city. Lots of people walking the streets. Happy, sad. Laughing and arguing. Transmitting all kinds of energies to the world. Every 10 meters offers a pub, a restaurant, a shop, or a café. And it’s fabulous how everything is lit up. Paris is best known as the city of lights. So I was now in the Asian Paris.
The main attraction in the city is the lantern boat ride on the Snow River. That evening, when I had that wonderful coffee, I had several experiences.
First, I walked from my accommodation to the old town. It was a 5-kilometer walk. I enjoyed doing something that no one else was doing. When I arrived in the city, I had a very simple but extremely delicious dinner in a simple place.
Then I walked around the city. Then I got on a lantern boat. Since I was alone, they didn’t look for a companion, so I had a private boat ride. I watched the people walking on the shore, the joy of the passengers in the other boats, the lights. I could smell the river, the swaying of the water.
Then I walked further and saw the coffee in a picture. I asked if they could really do that for me? I spent an hour having coffee and another half in the cafe. I just loved that night.
Then I decided that I wanted to listen to live music and have a beer in between.
I walked 200 meters from the cafe when one of the many people inviting guests caught me. “Do you want to have a beer? We also have live music.” Maybe it was written on me what I wanted. I sat down.
The guy with the guitar sang very beautifully. Songs that I could sing with him. When it turned out that it was pay-one-get-two happy hour (it always is) for cocktails, I ordered two strong cocktails for myself. That was how I ended this beautiful evening and that acquaintance with the old town.
However, a second acquaintance awaited me.
Ecstatic Dance
Last week, an American guy recommended nomadtables.com to me.
It’s a program search app for travelers. Along with the recommendation, he immediately made me a host for one of the upcoming programs, so I became the organizer of my first such program in Da Nang.
I opened the app on Thursday and immediately bought a ticket to a dance event.
I spent my evening there yesterday (Saturday).
I tried to go to this event without prejudice, just for the joy of it. My intention was really to just be there, be present and enjoy the evening.
In the end, I didn’t succeed, but it wasn’t just me.
About 50 people gathered. We sat in a big circle at the front. Soft music was playing while we discussed the rules. No weed, no drugs, no alcohol. No talking during the dance. And no judgment towards the other person. Everyone dances however they want.
Then we started with a cacao ceremony. We sang a song together to give thanks for the cacao, which South Americans believe is medicine. It was nice to hear how my companions became more and more open with each turn and we sang the two-line song together more and more firmly.
Part of the ceremony was also to formulate three thoughts, wishes within ourselves and give space to them. Honestly, no thoughts appeared in my mind regarding the questions of what I want to let go of and what I want to let in. I don’t even remember the third question… Moreover, for each question I had to choose a partner and look into their eyes and “see” and “feel”. I didn’t get a partner for the third round, so I looked the clouds in the eyes and thought that here and now there are neither questions nor answers for me.
Then we started dancing. Slow pace, slow movements. Eyes closed.
The host asked questions in a helpful way. What does your knee say when you move it? What do you say, my shoulder? I felt like these questions weren’t for me either. I just wanted to dance.
When there was nothing left but the music, I started moving the way my body wanted me to. I enjoyed it immensely, but there was nothing new about it. I’ve been doing this my whole life when I danced. I kept my eyes closed the whole time. Because today, I came here wanting to take this evening to myself. I came for myself, not to meet people. Of course, I noticed others, but today I didn’t come to open up, but to keep myself.
In the middle of the evening, there was a drumming part, where we stood around the drummers and enjoyed the tribal rhythms.
From then on, there was a fire juggling part, which brought a little excitement to the evening. But to be honest, from then on, the DJ didn’t do something right. For an hour and a half, the music could take you into an experience. From then on, it didn’t work out. Without any expectations, what he did was simply wrong.
On the way home, I ate something delicious at a simple restaurant, bought myself some sweets and had a movie night in my own bed.
Next time I’ll go dancing. Alone. Because it’s good.
I don’t bring questions, I don’t look for answers. I just want to dance. For the experience.
I’m leaving for Quy Nhơn in two hours.
I’ll see what the dance floor is like there.
See you Hoi An!
Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
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