Hoi An

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Saturday, 4 July we had a 3.5 hr transfer by car via Danang which looks like an up and coming seaside destination. After unpacking we walked into Hoi An and visited the Old Town. First stop was a Japanese enclosed bridge first constructed 1590. It was flattened by the French to enable vehicles to cross but was restored in 1986. Hoi An is a mecca for clothes shoppers, especially those wanting tailored suits. Next we visited a typical Viet house, Tan Ky House -owned by same family for 7 generations. In 1964 it was flooded to above my height as shown by a marker on the wall. There were also Chinese poems in inlaid mother of pearl On the walls. From there we walked to Quan Than House which is 3 centuries old, again with Chinese and Japanese influences and beautiful carving and then on to the Assembly Hall of Fujian Chinese congregation which has now been transformed into a temple dedicated to Thien Hau, Patron Saint of Sailors. There are murals and statues of the six fujian families who fled from China to Hou An in the 17th Century. Also there are 12 Bamu, midwives who are said to teach newborns a necessary skill in the first year of life, smiling sucking etc! Childless couples come to pray for offspring. From here we walked to Hoi An Hoi San restaurant facing the Harbour. Cocktails were 2 for 1, so rude not to! We had a nice meal - I had spring rolls followed by sweet and sour chicken and Tom had the local speciality White Rose, shrimp dumpling, followed a prawn and pork dish. It's a really nice spot to sit and watch the world go by. We then walked back to our home for three nights, Kim An Hotel.

Sunday, 5 July we had an early breakfast as our Mỹ Son pick up was at 08.00 but Tom was struggling with his back after the long car journey so I had to go without him. There were only 7 of us and our bubbly tour guide kept us well entertained on the journey there.
Mỹ Sơn is a group of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu tower temples which were constructed between the 4th and 14th century AD by the kings of Champa and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site is quite extensive and many of the temples are really well preserved. The problem they have encountered in excavating the site has been the presence of unexploded ordinance and you can see several bomb craters next to the temples. There are some examples of Sanskrit which had to be translated by scholars in India as it was so ancient. The Chams were also heavily into fertility symbols as you can see from the photographs. It is also a favourite spot for young couples to have their pre- wedding photos taken. Apparently, brides may hire as many as 7 dresses, (which require different hairstyles!) and the happy couple-to-be have multiple photo shoots around 3 months prior to the wedding. The photos are then available on the day for guests to admire!

From here we took a boat ride along the river and had lunch in a local restaurant before heading back to the hotel. Tom was fortunately feeling better and a bit stir-crazy so we got a taxi to An Bang beach for Dinner. This is obviously the place to be for the younger generation. There were hundreds of scooters either leaving with people after a day on the beach or just arriving to enjoy the bar / restaurants. Tom had 'Tom Rang Me'! and I had seafood fried rice which was very nice. Taxi back to hotel!

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