Hoi An, Vietnam
Arieh here. Hoi An is a small town with a preserved "old" town. It is at the mouth of the ????? river that leads into the South China Sea, just south of Da Nang (which is still south of the DMZ). Apparently it was preserved from destruction by an "agreement" between the different fighting parties here during what is called here the "American" war. It's an old port and has become a centre for silk and tailoring, as well as other items of interest to tourists. Quite picturesque and we spent 4 days here over the TET holiday. The picture of Val is of a courtyards in one of the old houses.
Tet is quite a boisterous affair. Lots of decorations, everything closed for 2-4 days (except restaurants for tourists), and it is a big family holiday. The first night (16th) there were midnight fireworks and they were pretty good. Not quite the "Symphony of Fire" but lots of "oohs" and "aahs". In fact, from our vantage point (less than 30 metres from where they were being fired) it looked like the fireworks were exploding directly above our heads. Fortunately, they either weren't directly overhead or the debris disintegrated before reaching our furry little heads. Thousands of people about, both young and old. One of the other events is the "boats" that people make out of paper (oragami), place a lit candle in the centre of it and then place it in the river and let it float away down the river. Quite pretty to see all the boats floating around bringing people good luck for the new year. Before the fireworks we went out for a special New Year's dinner where they had a very nice buffet and cooked as you ordered. (See pictures).
Two days ago we hooked up with an American couple we met in Nha Trang. (Check out the Para-sailing Lion.)
They are teaching English in China and vacationing in VN. Together we rented a taxi and driver and went to My Son, the site of Champa ruins from the 4th to 11th Century. They were/are similar to those at Angkor Wat (Cambondia) and Bagan (Burma). The Cham people were in this are before the Vietnamese (which means "from the south of China) moved south and absorbed them. The ruins are not in good shape partly because the Viet Cong used them as a staging ground/base for operations and the South Vietnam Army and U.S. then bombed them. Similar problem as in Lebanon and refugee camps used by the Fatah, etc. There is also damage to the ruins due to people being allowed to touch the sandstone carvings and even some tourists climbing past barriers to have a "photo-op". Not a lot of respect for public places here in Asia. We also visited the Marble mountains, a series of outcroppings of .... marble. There are caves in those mountains, pagodas at the top and lots of people climbing all over the place and selling drinks. At the bottom, there were numerous stores selling all sorts of marble items. For a mere $1500 U.S. (shipping included) Val and I could have been the proud owners of a 1.5 metre high water fountain and pedestal. It would have looked great in our living room, but wouldn't let me buy it.
Yesterday (19th) Val took a Vietnames cooking course and I went bicycling. I decided not to worry about my backside and just concentrate on where I was going and who was moving perpendicular to me. Not one collision on my part and I am here writing these words. Hoi An has a beach about 5 KM from town. In no time flat I was there. It was fairly busy (Tet holiday) and I found a shady place under a palm grove. I was with another traveller and while he watched my stuff I went for a swim. When I got back my sarong not only had my friend sitting on it, but also two 16-year old girls as well. They didn't speak much Enlish but were content to "visit" with and look at us. (I guess I still have that old charm that worked so well in the past.) We were then joined by up to 10 other young kids who were quite hapy to sit and stare and have their picture taken with the Westerner.
From the beach I then happily cycled back to town, taking detours out along paths between rice fields, taking pictures of water buffalo swimming in their "pools", stopping to drink water and having a chat with two little kids who said "Hello" and were surpised I answered them and engaged them in conversation, and even getting a little lost in this small town. (As you can see, the "loss" was not permanent). The little sidetrip along the ricefield path was marked by quite a few "water buffalo biscuits"--some fresh and some baked by the sun. I also curtailed the ride along that path when I spotted a pair of water buffalo sitting on the path (they have long sharp horns) and I thought it would be better to turn around.
From Hoi An we took the last leg of our bus ticket (from Saigon) to Hue. The "funny" part of the trip was the fact that we departed at 1:30PM and then spent 1 hour driving around this small town of Hoi An picking up other passengers at their hotels. The whole 140 KM trip took 4.5 hours in total, including a 30 minute rest stop and all the pick ups!
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