Welcome to An Bang
It is now 3 weeks since we moved into our house and so I think it is time for me to give you a proper tour of our small village, An Bang.
The village is situated on the coast just 3km from the UNESCO world heritage town of Hoi An. It is tiny hamlet with around 100 houses and it is currently a protected area, which thankfully protects it from the vast developments happening further down the coast, where they have built several huge resorts and a colossal casino to attract the Chinese. Our little village is predominantly a fishing community, where you see people mending their fishing nets in the garden and repairs in progress of the traditional round basket fishing boats still used here.
The village is situated on the coast just 3km from the UNESCO world heritage town of Hoi An. It is tiny hamlet with around 100 houses and it is currently a protected area, which thankfully protects it from the vast developments happening further down the coast, where they have built several huge resorts and a colossal casino to attract the Chinese. Our little village is predominantly a fishing community, where you see people mending their fishing nets in the garden and repairs in progress of the traditional round basket fishing boats still used here.
Village Life
After 6 years in the chaotic metropolis of Manila, this is quite a change but we have many village amenities. As the community is largely Buddhist, we have 2 temples in the village, I am still trying to unravel the mystery of the lunar calendar that they follow. This is key to understand when shopping, as there is no meat or fish available in the market on the first day of the lunar month and everyone follows a vegetarian diet, quite a shock if you haven’t planned your shopping ahead of time.
We have a sweet little primary school where all the children rush out to say hello as we pass. Hello is their only English word as English is not taught in school until around age 12. I’m sure we are disrupting the class but we always stand a while shouting hello….hello…hello, like mad people.
We have a sweet little primary school where all the children rush out to say hello as we pass. Hello is their only English word as English is not taught in school until around age 12. I’m sure we are disrupting the class but we always stand a while shouting hello….hello…hello, like mad people.
Thriving Retail
The retail environment is bustling with many little corner shops or sari sari like stores, 2 beauty salons, 3 pharmacies and several places serving food. All sounding fairly idyllic until you check out the pictures. The stores seem to sell everything but nothing I need, the beauty salon does not qualify as a zen oasis with hot stone massage and wonderful facials, it has only a thin curtain between you and the main road through the village - a slight breeze and the village could witness a public massage or waxing appointment. I still haven’t worked out how we could need three pharmacies in our small village unless the Vietnamese are complete hypochondriacs, but as one is opposite our house I’m sure it will come in useful with our accident prone guests…..yes you know who you are !
Food Delights
Many of the women in the village are cooking food and selling it from their houses early in the morning including our next door neighbour. She gets up at around 3.30am to start preparing the noodle soup or Pho she is selling and by 6am her garden is bustling with people and school children eating their breakfast. As you can imagine I have not joined the crowds, but I do have an agreement with her that we can order food the prior day and she will save it for us when we wake up – seems a far more civilized solution.
Heavenly Haven
So by now you must think we have gone completely mad, this is the girl who lived in Makati, close to sophisticated shopping and restaurants and never frequented a place with plastic chairs. However just 5 minutes walk away is An Bang beachfront complete with cosmopolitan dining fit for a princess. Currently our favourite is Le Banyan rated No 1 on Tripadviser at the moment. It is a beachfront paradise with sofas and sun loungers serving the best wine and cocktails and a wonderful French menu with sophisticated treats, and next door is a fabulous Italian beachfront cantina with great food, authentic pizza, wine from Sicily – our favourite, and espresso to die for…….see all much more my style. Here we while away the summer evenings watching the fishermen land their catch and after an chilled aperitif, we enjoy freshly caught seafood whilst watching the sun set.