Historic Hoi-An

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Geo: 15.875, 108.336

Having got up at 4am we flew to Danang on a 6am flight. From the airport we were taken to the Cham museum which was ho hum after Cambodia and then to China Beach, real name My Keah. This is a fantastic beach, beautiful clean white sand which stretches for miles. There is now major development to exploit it with several huge resorts being built along its length.
We drove past all these on our way to Hoi-An.This is an Unesco World Heritage site. The Old Town contains beautiful old houses in traditional Vietnamese style.Most of these now contain shops of one kind or the other. We went into the Old House built in the 17th century. Here a young girl explained its origins and how it had been in her family for generations. We were then taken to the back room where she explained that their family business was silk embroidery and would we like to buy a tablecloth or two. This happened again at the Tran family chapel. It gives a whole new meaning to exit through the gift shop.
The old Chinese Pagodas were beautifully decorated and well kept and used if the huge incense coils hanging from the ceiling are anything to judge by. Thankfully there were no gift shops. We did buy some things but at places that we liked and where there was little hard sell.In fact I had a beautiful reversible silk jacket made for only $90US. I was measured and the finished article was brought to the hotel that night for a fitting and delivered next morning by 7-30am.
That afternoon we spent a leisurely hour or two by the pool where the water was very warm but the breeze was nice. A real holiday mood ensued. This trip has been good as most excursions are in the morning and then we have the afternoon and evening to ourselves.
That evening we went to a great Restaurant called The Secret Garden recommended in Lonely Planet. It was in a small alleyway off one of the main streets but well worth finding. We had great Vietnamese cold rolls and some hot spring rolls, then Chicken in Lemon leaves and fish wrapped in banana leaf. Washed down by a Taltarni Semillon Sauv Blanc, a delightful meal was had.
Hoi-An was voted unique and interesting and the hotel was the best so far with a separate sitting room and 2 bathrooms for our use.

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