Hoi An

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Arriving in Hoi An via a large comfortable, but ear-piercingly noisy bus (due to excessive honking), we found a great hotel. Hoi an is recognized by UNESCO as a historic site due to the the town's historic condition. Hoi An is filled with several cottage industry shops where one can buy lanterns, silk cloth, paintings, wood carvings, tailored goods such as clothes and shoes. The town, unlike other sister ports, did not develop over time due to the silting of the river. The old homes are an interesting combination of Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese architecture. We enjoyed walking through the narrow streets peeking through silk lanterns into the shops and homes. And like most tourists, we did indulge into the tailoring specialty of Hoi An and both of us had a suit made to fit.

We also enjoyed an early morning drive to see My Son (5am). It is an old Cham religious site. Similar to that of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. The Cham site dates back to 4th Century. It was an amazing site, unfortunately, our batteries in our camera died. But it was beautiful and the name means just that, My Son = Beautiful Mountain. However, a lot of the ruins had been damaged by B52 bombing during the Vietnam War. Archeaologists found an old bomb casing this year and had placed it among other artifacts found from the site. My Son is certainly a site to see.

After having final mending of our new suites, we were ready to traverse southward. However, we realized that 2 weeks is short, and it may be more time spent on buses than seeing sights. So we headed back to Danang to catch a flight to Hanoi. We did stop at Marble Mountain and toured some awesome caves, pagodas and a huge statue of Buddha. It was an awesome sight from atop marble mountain looking out over the ocean (and the famous China Beach). We hiked the white sands of China Beach during the afternoon and stayed a night in Danang. Danang is not the tourists spot for foreigners, but for the locals. The beach we visited was crowded with families, kids, everyone, to relax and cool down at the beach.

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