Ken & Win's Vietnam Adventure: Hoi An

Heading up Marble Mountain, this is about halfway. Win is wearing the colourful hat on the right of the photo.

Tuesday 15th
Today we had a short flight less than an hour, on yet another small plane to Danang. Check in went smoothly, boarded and took off on time.

Before we headed south from Danang to Hoi An, it was ABT time. The temple here dates back to the original inhabitants whose name escapes me at the moment.

A couple of hours drive to get to Hoi An, as we head out to our accommodation we see glimpses of China Beach, where the Americans had their R&R during the "American" war. This is all being developed and the whole beach length will be a divided into private beaches as for the buildings themselves, think Surfers Paradise. This is definitely not for the locals.

We then stop at Marble Mountain a very prominent peak, one of 5 in this area. We walk the 178 steps up (and 200 down). A magnificent view of the whole area. The US thought that they controlled this area, as they would drop troops by helicopter onto the highest point this way they could monitor and ensure that there were no ground or aircraft attacks on the US, however the VC had access to the summit, just below the peak via a hidden cave. So they could monitor activity on China beach, large groups at R&R, or were they heading back to base, how many planes went overhead and which direction etc. All of this was reported back to Hanoi. The VC would pose as locals working in the fields when not in the caves.

Then onto Hoi An, stop in the old town which is a world heritage listed site, to get a feel for the place. There are no cars allowed and motorcycles are progressively being banned from entering, by extending limits on specific days. We will spend a couple of days here with tomorrow a lay day for us to do what we want. So onto the resort, beautiful beside the Song river. This would have to be the best accommodation to date. After checking in, Win and I decided to have a swim in the resort pool. A couple of our tour party (Tracey & Clare) were poolside and said that we would enjoy the pool, but had those kinds of grins that you just knew that there was a surprise. and yes the pool was like a bath, even too hot for Win, the greatest relief was when you got out of the pool.

The view from our room with paddy fields in the background

The temperature day and night is all in the 30's with the humidity above 80%, most of the group are finding this very sapping. Of course the local vendors do a roaring trade at every stop selling bottled water, usual asking price is 10,000VND for a small (375ml) bottle but usually if there is more than one vendor we can get them to 5,000VND. Most places a litre starts at 20,000VND, and the negotiated price is usually 10,000VND. 10,000 = about 50 cents, and 5,000 is about 30 cents ripped off or what !

Wednesday 16th
Hoi An has many historically listed sites in the old area. The town is renowned for its tailors (yes 24 hours for suits etc), shoes shops (yes shoes made to measure as well) galleries with great restaurants. 10 minutes shuttle from our resort to the town centre which is situated adjacent to the river. This river floods every year, and there are markers on most houses where the water level has exceeded 2 metres on the biggest flood. There is flooding a couple of times a year, they just move everything to the floor above, and when it recedes clean up and get on with life.

We are enjoying the Vietnamese cuisine just great to get authentic food. Love the Pho - great noodle soup with beef, chicken, shrimp OK prawns) or seafood. Also getting into the local beers as we travel different local beers in each region. One legacy the french did not leave behind was an enthusiasm for wine. Bread yes is just great, but I am looking forward to finding a decent wine, most are less than quaffers and generally soooo expensive. Even the Oz and NZ wines, are not labels I have heard of and are overpriced, and not particularly good.

Today was a leisurely day, strolling around and haggling over prices, I found my self haggling over some T-shirts (regular price was $2USD) but I did get 2,000VND off - yep 10 cents, stopped myself once I realised how petty this was at this stage. A nice relaxing time which we have needed after some busy days.

The biggest mossie coils in the world. Incense burners in one of the temples in Hoi An. These last a month and are a request for good luck.

We also went for a stroll thru the markets, although the markets kick off at about 4am there is still plenty of action at 9ish. Most of the action at very early is this fish market. When we got there there was still plenty happeining, and you literally have to push your way thru the mass of bodies, bikes and motor bikes. Fresh cuts of meat, shrimp, pippies, all manner of vegetables, to live ducks. It is great to see the haggling over ducks then them being loaded onto push bikes, scooters or motor bikes.