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Typical House - Hoi An
The dog even smiled for the camera Another train journey, another destination, today we are once again heading south to the riverside town of Hoi An which was once one of Southeast Asia’s premier international ports.
As Hoi An doesn’t have a train station we caught the 8:42 train to Danang - Vietnams fourth largest city. The train track winds through the Truong Son Mountains via the Hi Van Pass and the views of the coastline below are gorgeous.
Three and a half hours later we arrived in Danang, jumped a taxi from the train station to the bus station and went in search of the ticket office, only problem was that we couldn’t find the ticket office, we knew then that we’d have to pay a conductor or driver over the odds for our one hour ride to Hoi An. The guide book says that the ride should cost 5,000 VND, the bus conductor however tried to charge us 100,000 VND - of course we just laughed in his face and told him that we’d rather walk. We eventually found a small office and the lady there confirmed that Danang bus station does not have an office for buying tickets to Hoi An, apparently you pay
Lamps in every shape and colour
We really wanted one but couldn't fit them into the backpacks the conductor on board, the price should be 10,000 VND for a one way ride.
After much argument we boarded a bus and paid 15,000 VND each (about 50 pence), the bus was local so wasn’t the comfiest but it served its purpose and we arrived in Hoi An at 2pm. Trekking around once again in the hot sun searching for a room we agreed that this was the longest time we’d ever spent doing this horrible job - each time you walk into a hotel that looks nice and walk out 5 minutes later after having inspected a room that doesn’t fit the criteria. After 2 hours and dripping in sweat we decided upon the Hoa Binh Peace Hotel - we got a great modern room with two double beds, fridge, TV, hot shower, bath and balcony for $10 (£5). Obviously we were now in need of a bit of relaxation and a shower which we had before setting off into town for dinner and a few drinks.
Hoi An on first appearance reminded us of the old TV show “Allo Allo” with its narrow streets and tiny alleyways, lots of bicycles, no cars and some lovely old
Bar in Hoi An town
Herr Flick finds the Fallen Madonna with the big boobies in Rene's bia bar villas which are now mostly used as bars and restaurants, in fact during the French era of colonisation Hoi An served as an administrative centre and we imagined stepping into one of the towns many art shops and stumbling upon “The fallen Madonna with the big boobies”!!!
The Chinese chose Hoi An as the site for their first settlement in Vietnam, today you can visit the old hoi quan (congregational assembly halls), there are 1300 ethnic-Chinese still living in the town today so there is a definite sprinkling of their culture in evidence in some buildings and even in the souvenirs on display in the shops. The Japanese traders also had business’ and warehouses in the town up until 1637 when their government forbade all contact with the outside world, you can still see the Japanese covered bridge in the old town, the original was built in the 1590’s by the Japanese community to link them with the Chinese quarters across the stream, today it’s one of the main tourist attractions in Hoi An.
The Marble Mountains are about a ½ hours drive away so once again we hired a bike and set off for the day. On the
highway not far out of Hoi An town we had a lady ride alongside us and offer to take us to the Mountains as she lived close by - we declined her offer, something similar had happened on the way to the tombs in Hue and the lady involved asked us for money for her children’s schoolbooks. After following us for about 1 km the woman this time turned around and headed back towards Hoi An, no doubt in search of her next victims!! Further on down the highway the same thing happened but with a different woman who casually drove alongside us on her scooter and asked the time before dropping behind us and following us all the way towards the Mountains. When we reached what we thought was the right road we turned off and surprise, surprise so did the woman!! We stopped, went into a shop and she drove off, parked up further down the road and casually watched us from a distance while Barry checked the map. We got back on the bike and turned around…….and so did the woman!!! She followed us all the way back to the highway and turned down the same road
Fujian Temple - Hoi An
Another temple to add to the ever growing list on our trip that we did towards the entrance to the caves, we let her know that we knew that she was following us so she gave up and turned around.
Once inside the caves of the Marble Mountains the air turned refreshingly cool and it was nice to get out of the heat of the midday sun. The caves are home to shrines dedicated to both Hindu and Buddhist religions and are lit quite serenely. One of the caves was like a walk through house of horrors, it had little twisting and turning paths that led to statues depicting hell…….not sure what that’s all about?? The mountains consist of 5 outcrops and each represents the natural elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Gold, and Earth). Most of the marble used in Vietnam is now shipped in from nearby China because the locals realised that if they kept on excavating the mountains there wouldn’t be anything left for tourists to see.
When we eventually made our way out of the caves and back to the bike we were approached by a woman who urged us to have a look in her shop…….we both recognised her as the first woman that had followed us up
Marble Mountains
On top of Thuy Son (water) mountain the highway from Hoi An!!!
After the Mountains we thought we’d have a change of scenery so headed to the beautiful un-crowded Cua Dai beach where we ate fried bananas onions and tomatoes with rice…..very tasty!! The beach is lovely and very peaceful apart from the odd hawker trying to sell cigarettes and chewing gum. I found the sea too cold for a swim, Barry managed a couple of minutes out in the surf before spotting two jelly fish and hastily returned to his sun bed!!! After a couple of hours the beach started to get busy with local families who only come out later in the day as the sun starts to set, by this time it was time for us to hit the road back to Hoi An in search of some Bia Hoi and a Hotpot - a Vietnamese speciality dish which was excellent. The hotpot consists of broth, meat and veg and is served in a steaming pot brought to the table on hot coals; noodles are added at the table along with greens and bean sprouts…..very tasty, very filling and very cheap!!
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jeanniewigs
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another great blog. i must say though, i think my pan of scouse would beat betty's hot pot any day!!