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Published: March 27th 2017
We got on the van across the river for a short drive to the Hoi An Museum, which had been recently relocated into a French Colonial building (always yellow with white trim). The first room had unusual displays of ancient burial clay pots, probably from the era of the
Cham. Some were large enough to easily hold a whole person, but others were small enough they could have held only bones, or perhaps a child. In the next room were remains from early trade with Europeans, mainly Dutch and French, plus Chinese - during typhoon conditions sailors used to rent or buy a house on shore in or around Hoi An and set up a permanent household. In the corridors were sculptures portraying fog and trees that seemed to drift in the breeze – all in stone! The last couple of rooms held armaments from more recent wars.
Thuy supports the Quang Nam Children’s Centre for orphaned, abandoned and disabled children. She took us to visit the place and to interact a bit with the children. The Assistant Director told us a bit about the Centre, with Thuy translating. Eighty-five children live there, and the government gives them very basic
Children's Centre
Playing on Sunday afternoonper capita funding. Donations support other needs and activities; through Thuy some former ElderTreks clients provide substantial support. Also, ElderTreks makes a donation for the visit, and some of us made our own donations. All the children who can attend school. The Centre provides additional classes to help disabled children cope with regular schoolwork. The ages range from six-month-old babies to eighteen-years. Unofficially, the Centre does still help some older students who have achieved University entrance. Outside the main building, which seemed to have about six large rooms, boys were playing soccer. Inside, we first saw a room for the children; there were about eight day beds that were wide enough to each hold two children. A couple of boys were lounging around in the relatively dim light. The kitchen next door looked sparse and clean, and a woman was making something, but we weren’t invited in to see more. Next to that was the room with the children who needed more attention. It was sad to see the mentally disabled kids on their beds, but the Centre did seem to try to keep them somewhat stimulated because there were lots of children’s books and quite a few toys around.
The two babies were cute and chubby and quite happy to play a bit. One of the older boys was feeding porridge to a set of twins about four years old who were blind; their parents were unable to take care of them, but they did come to visit regularly. Apparently most of the children had relatives who did visit, which is why the Centre does not deal in adoptions.
We walked through the historic centre of town, full of tourists and vendors, to the waterfront, where we got a small tourist cruise boat. Happily Elizabeth suggested buying a coconut – the coconut water was most refreshing! The boat churned up the Thu Bon River, giving us a good view of both poorer homes and the larger modern homes that are taking over. Often long, flat fishing boats moved from place to place; one put on a demonstration of throwing a net and received a tip from Thuy. Soon we saw another fishing system. A large net was suspended from four long poles; nearby was a small platform. I think that a cantilever pole from the platform can lower the net, because later we saw the poles, looking much
shorter, and the net seemed to be sunk. Presumably the net would be raised full of fish.
We alighted at a beautiful resort hotel to use the WC (as they usually call it here). We took a peak at the South China Sea crashing against the rocks of a retaining wall. Then we walked to a beach area, but we couldn’t enjoy it for long because it was time to get on the bus for the ten minute ride back to the historic district of Hoi An. I was beginning to recognize some shops and saw the silk shop. Our lunch restaurant was immediately across the street at a “simple place” that served one dish: chicken and rice. There to greet us was Madame! In addition to her silk business, she runs this restaurant. We sat on little plastic stools at small steel tables pushed together. After we cluttered things up with drinks and possessions, Madame came and precisely re-arranged the table so the serving dishes would fit. First the fried rice came, flavoured by frying the rice grains then steaming to cook. On the platter, the rice was coloured by turmeric and surrounded by raw onions and greens.
Chicken Rice and Salad
One delicious dish at one restaurant - no need for more! Then the chicken came, stir fried with finely chopped vegetables. All this was served with a green papaya and carrot salad, thus overflowing our bowls. Fresh flavours!
">View video of Casting nets.
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Excellent photography
I love fishing photos