Hoi An
Trip Start
Aug 09, 2008
1
8
13
Trip End
Sep 10, 2008
Hoi An,
Vietnam
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Firstly apologies for neglecting the blog recently. We're currently in Hoi An, having arrived on the 23rd. The bus dropped us outside a hotel and a lady asked if we wanted to look at a room. We decided to have a look as the previous hotel had been ok and we were quite tired. We ended up staying in a lovely room with a balcony and two windows, a great bathroom and two double beds for $12 a night. We stayed for three nights so to have a couple of days to relax and slow down a bit. We had previously had three out of four nights on some form of overnight transport so were feeling pretty knackered.
Our first full day here we wandered around Hoi An and visited some little shops and tailors. I've had made for me a winter coat, a (smart/casual) black dress, two skirts and a pair of linen trousers. Nick had two t-shirts made for him which he is very pleased with. The clothes are fitted exactly to us and the people who made them were so helpful to us, it was a much more pleasant (and cheaper!) experience than shopping in Oxford Street or High St Ken!
Yesterday we visited My Son in the morning, a world heritage cultural site, which had the most amazing Cham statues and temples. The guide told us that there had been significant Hindu and Indian influences on the Cham people and this was why we saw Hindu statues. There were also many phallic statues as the Cham people were very concerned with fertility. It was a really beautiful place and as we walked around the end came much too quickly! The bus back to Hoi An was rather an event in itself - the driver seemed to almost be crashing every 5 minutes, judging by how hard and often he was braking! Vietnamese driving leaves much to be desired; we've learnt that they use the horn to tell people to move out of the way as well as just to let people know that they're there. The traffic lights don't seem to apply to motorbikes so we have found that if we want to cross a busy road we just have to step out and the motorbikes avoid us. Absolutely terrifying at times!
Today we're having another relaxing day in Hoi An before our 20 hour journey onto Dalat later tonight. Last night we went to a lovely restaurant by the river where the food was delicious (as always out here!) so I think we'll head there for lunch and most of the afternoon to keep out the heat when it's hottest.
Lots of love to all,
Nick and Jules xxxx
