Hoi An
The flight to DaNang was short and sweet, just over an hour, with almost half of that sitting on the taxiway waiting for planes ahead of us.
It took little or no time for our luggage to arrive and we spotted our driver almost immediately. He even had my name spelled correctly on his paper sign.
The trip to Hoi An took less than half an hour and we were checked in, showered, changed and enjoying lunch by 1:30pm.
Even though it was a toasty 29 degrees it was still a lot more comfortable than HCMC.
We took a slow walk to the town centre and discovered that Old Town was an amazing blend of old Chinese buildings and architecture. Officially one pays an admission charge to enter Old Town (Consider it a donation for upkeep that also includes access to 5 buildings of your choice.(We did enter the Cantonese Assembly Hall with a large dragon in front. An open courtyard lead to a large alter at the back which was dedicated to Quan Cong, apparently an esteemed Chinese General who is considered a symbol of loyalty, integrity and justice.)
This assembly hall was one of 5 that were spread out across the town, others being dedicated to various ethnic groups, including the Fujian (Phuc Kien) Hall as well as the Hainan Assembly Hall. All featured a large ceremonial entry gate and one or several altars dedicated to national heroes etc, The one common dominator in all of them were the dramatic roof lines and the intricate carvings along the roof peaks.
Our “wander” through the Old Town took us the better of two days, although we did break it up with our side trips to other parts of the town.
We even managed to get suckered into a “promotion “ supposedly to bring more tourism to the area. Smelling a rat- “honestly’ sir, it’s not a time share” They did cover our taxi both ways and we now have “won” a free weeks vacation at one of several locations in SE Asia and it only took an hour to say “No Thanks, where’s my prize, where’s my ride home?
All they needed was an initiation fee of ONLY $10,000 US for access to about 60 resorts located in Bali, Indonesia, Malasia Thailand etc. Rates per week started at $299 but food and services were extra. It was far less pressure than the usual RCI spiel, and the resorts appeared significantly better but I have learned that the fine print is the key drawback.
On the bright side, we got to relax and drink iced tea in air conditioned comfort for an hour and we saved the cab fare home.
Tonight’s dinner was at a local place called the clay pot restaurant. After 10 munutes we weren’t sure if we were the diners or the dinees as mosquitoes had taken a fast liking to our skin. “ Look Ma, Canadian food, and these ones are fresh- not marinated in DeeT and Oxybenzone like the usual ones.
The food they served ( the staff, not the mosquitos) was decent but with portions considered small by Canadian standards but it was enough I have found that eating to excess is not an option to consider in warm countries.
One side trip worth mentioning was an out of town excursion to My Son ( first word pronounced Me) a Champa ( Hindu) site from approx. 4th century featuring several building complexes consisting of temples and various shrines. Currently a UNESCO site it was heavily bombed by the US during the Vietnam War, leaving very little of the original buildings intact.
Efforts to restore some of them are in progress but completion is most likely several years off.
It took little or no time for our luggage to arrive and we spotted our driver almost immediately. He even had my name spelled correctly on his paper sign.
The trip to Hoi An took less than half an hour and we were checked in, showered, changed and enjoying lunch by 1:30pm.
Even though it was a toasty 29 degrees it was still a lot more comfortable than HCMC.
We took a slow walk to the town centre and discovered that Old Town was an amazing blend of old Chinese buildings and architecture. Officially one pays an admission charge to enter Old Town (Consider it a donation for upkeep that also includes access to 5 buildings of your choice.(We did enter the Cantonese Assembly Hall with a large dragon in front. An open courtyard lead to a large alter at the back which was dedicated to Quan Cong, apparently an esteemed Chinese General who is considered a symbol of loyalty, integrity and justice.)
This assembly hall was one of 5 that were spread out across the town, others being dedicated to various ethnic groups, including the Fujian (Phuc Kien) Hall as well as the Hainan Assembly Hall. All featured a large ceremonial entry gate and one or several altars dedicated to national heroes etc, The one common dominator in all of them were the dramatic roof lines and the intricate carvings along the roof peaks.
We even managed to get suckered into a “promotion “ supposedly to bring more tourism to the area. Smelling a rat- “honestly’ sir, it’s not a time share” They did cover our taxi both ways and we now have “won” a free weeks vacation at one of several locations in SE Asia and it only took an hour to say “No Thanks, where’s my prize, where’s my ride home?
All they needed was an initiation fee of ONLY $10,000 US for access to about 60 resorts located in Bali, Indonesia, Malasia Thailand etc. Rates per week started at $299 but food and services were extra. It was far less pressure than the usual RCI spiel, and the resorts appeared significantly better but I have learned that the fine print is the key drawback.
On the bright side, we got to relax and drink iced tea in air conditioned comfort for an hour and we saved the cab fare home.
Tonight’s dinner was at a local place called the clay pot restaurant. After 10 munutes we weren’t sure if we were the diners or the dinees as mosquitoes had taken a fast liking to our skin. “ Look Ma, Canadian food, and these ones are fresh- not marinated in DeeT and Oxybenzone like the usual ones.
The food they served ( the staff, not the mosquitos) was decent but with portions considered small by Canadian standards but it was enough I have found that eating to excess is not an option to consider in warm countries.
One side trip worth mentioning was an out of town excursion to My Son ( first word pronounced Me) a Champa ( Hindu) site from approx. 4th century featuring several building complexes consisting of temples and various shrines. Currently a UNESCO site it was heavily bombed by the US during the Vietnam War, leaving very little of the original buildings intact.
Efforts to restore some of them are in progress but completion is most likely several years off.
Comments
Post a Comment