27th - 30th October: Hoi An

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As we are prone to do when our holidays are coming to an end, we decided to splurge and have a couple of final days of luxury - my reward from Scott for making it through two weeks of backpacking (I am sticking to the belief that backpacking is backpacking...even if Intrepid do take the the hassle out of it - but hey, it's a big step for the control freak in me.) So we boarded a plane and headed south to the coastal town of Hoi An.

Hoi An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.

The town is a special example of a traditional trading port in South-East Asia which has been completely and assiduously preserved: it is the only town in Vietnam that has survived intact in this way. Most of the buildings are in the traditional architectural style of the 19th and 20th centuries. They are aligned along narrow lanes of traditional type. They include many religious buildings, such as pagodas, temples, meeting houses, etc., which relate to the development of a port community. The traditional lifestyle, religion, customs and cooking have been preserved and many festivals still take place annually.

Hoi An is a shoppers paradise. Most people come for the tailored clothes - Scott and I must be close to the only tourists on earth who did not come away with hand made suits and dresses. If tailored clothes are not your thing, it's worth a wander down to the Central Market, that sits nestled on the edge of the river. The market is a hive of activity, with stalls overflowing with goods out into the streets.

There are many things that appeal about Hoi An. It is small and quaint, but also one of the most colourful vibrant places we've ever travelled. At night time the town becomes even more amazing, the traditional colourful silk lanterns really are a site to behold, lighting the shop fronts and restaurants that line the river. The unicorn, fish and Tiger Lanterns sitting in the river are a site to behold.

Once again, in Hoi An, food was amazing. We ventured into the town one night to catch up with Paul and Tiger Ted, who had been cycling their way down the coast. We chose what looked to be a popular and cleanish restaurant across the river from the main part of the town. It was so popular we were shown upstairs to a balcony area near the kitchen, where the rest of the overflow of patrons were seated. Everything seemed to be going nicely and we were settling back to shots of rice whiskey chased down by glasses of the local beer (at 20 cents a glass), when the relative peace was broken by squealing Japanese tourists leaping on to their chairs. The owner of the restaurant then proceeded to play a game of hide and seek with a giant rat, that seemed quite at home darting in and out of holes in walls and under chairs and scuffling feet trying to get out of its way. A game I think may have been going on for a long time. I learned pretty quickly not to look to closely anywhere we went. Rats did seem to be a problem in Hoi An.

Another site worth seeing in Hoi An is the Japanese Bridge. Constructed sometime in the early 1600s, the Hoi An Japanese Bridge is a symbol of the town and a beautiful reminder of a time long ago. The bridge was originally constructed to connect the Japanese community with the Chinese quarter - separated by a small stream of water - as a symbolic gesture of peace. Although his work has been appreciated for centuries, the builder of the bridge still remains anonymous.

The Japanese bridge has undergone relatively few modifications over the centuries. The French removed thresholds and leveled the road across the bridge to support motorized vehicles during their colonization. The changes were later undone and the bridge pedestrianized again during major restoration in 1986.

The wooden sign at the entrance of the bridge was hung in the early 1700s, changing the name from "Japanese Covered Bridge" to "Bridge for Travelers from Afar". The Hoi An Japanese Bridge has been known by various names throughout the past including: Lai Vien Kieu "Pagoda in Japan"; Chua Cau "Covered Bridge"; and Cau Nhat Ban "Japanese Bridge".

The small shrine inside of the Hoi An Japanese Bridge pays tribute to the northern deity Tran Vo Bac De who reputedly controls the weather - an important thing considering the seafaring traditions and notoriously poor weather around Hoi An.

Reasoning for the conspicuous statues of a dog and a monkey on opposing sides of the bridge is disputed. Some local guides claim that construction of the Japanese bridge began in the year of the dog and was completed in the year of the monkey. Others say the two animals were chosen to guard the bridge because many Japanese emperors were born either in the year of the dog or monkey - lending them sacred significance.

While we spent a couple of days exploring the town this was our time to relax. We had booked ourselves into Palm Gardens Resort in a deluxe bungalow. Set on 5 hectares of landscaped tropical garden in an enviable beach location, the Palm Garden Beach Resort & Spa is set among over 400 species of palm trees and plants right along a 220-meter stretch of the famous Cua Dai Beach. Typhoon Megi however meant the beaches weren't particularly hospitable and there were only a few stolen moments to sun-bake by the pool, when weather permitted. We did take advantage of the bad weather to book ourselves in for a five hour spa treatment, something on which we would not spend the money to treat ourselves at home. It was a day well spent, with use of a private jacuzzi, a one hour massage, a facial, manicure and pedicure and hair treatment. After being served a late lunch and drink we felt like royalty!

All good things however, have to come to an end and sadly it was time to come back down to reality and head home. We had had three exciting weeks of new adventures, making new friends, seeing and experiencing things we'd missed on our first trip to Thailand and Vietnam, but always promising to come back and do. We'd seen quite a bit of South East Asia on our last two trips. I wonder where our next adventure will take us......

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