Hội An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam
Another great day after a very nice breakfast. So lovely sitting outside in the warm. Hoi An old town is pretty and apart from the bikes very peaceful with Lunar New Year decorations everywhere. A very multi cultural feel.
We took a walking tour visiting the usual tourist businesses, firstly a weaving/clothes/picture establishment. The hand weaved pictures were beautiful and justified being expensive as they took hours of work but the clothes were also very unnecessarily expensive. Next stop a wood emporium that used the wood for josh sticks, jewellery for blood pressure and perfume. Quite diverse but the perfume was actually quite nice and may go back to purchase some. Then the usual couple of temples and the Ancient House, not so ancient as only 200 years old but interesting how they have a trap door to move all the furniture upstairs in the monsoon floods. Amazing covered market that literally sold everything with nice food stalls but luckily no rats to eat.
Great coffee stop based on a French cafe with Hanoi coffee and a delicious local food lunch at Streets, another social enterprise for street children.
Afternoon excursion to the temples of My Son, Hindu temples built between the 4th and 12th centuries and then nearly totally destroyed by the Americans in the 20th century. Unfortunate Italian restoration work 30 years ago also needs redoing again too.
Just managed to squeeze in a Happy Hour beer, or so we thought but barman advised beer not included despite literature saying otherwise! Graham and I then went over the road to a great little restaurant where the beers were twice the size and half the price and the food also half the price of the hotel - no surprise there.
We took a walking tour visiting the usual tourist businesses, firstly a weaving/clothes/picture establishment. The hand weaved pictures were beautiful and justified being expensive as they took hours of work but the clothes were also very unnecessarily expensive. Next stop a wood emporium that used the wood for josh sticks, jewellery for blood pressure and perfume. Quite diverse but the perfume was actually quite nice and may go back to purchase some. Then the usual couple of temples and the Ancient House, not so ancient as only 200 years old but interesting how they have a trap door to move all the furniture upstairs in the monsoon floods. Amazing covered market that literally sold everything with nice food stalls but luckily no rats to eat.
Great coffee stop based on a French cafe with Hanoi coffee and a delicious local food lunch at Streets, another social enterprise for street children.
Afternoon excursion to the temples of My Son, Hindu temples built between the 4th and 12th centuries and then nearly totally destroyed by the Americans in the 20th century. Unfortunate Italian restoration work 30 years ago also needs redoing again too.
Just managed to squeeze in a Happy Hour beer, or so we thought but barman advised beer not included despite literature saying otherwise! Graham and I then went over the road to a great little restaurant where the beers were twice the size and half the price and the food also half the price of the hotel - no surprise there.
Timbo
2020-01-18
Are you sure Image 9 isn't something Graham left behind? Enjoying the tour and pics of course by the way Aly - I'll be interested to hear your views on the whole escorted tour experience etc when you are done, now that we are following you into our dotage … well, Graham anyway...Hopefully we will catch up back in Europe in your Summer.
Carolyn
2020-01-18
Enjoying the photos and travelogue. Interesting reading about Hoi An. On my travels I noted that each country had its own particular "smell". I am not familiar with where you are travelling does it have spices/flowers? Recently purchased a mulberry silk duvet so I am intrigued about the silkworms what will they do with them, please don't tell me they are a delicacy. What jewellery were they making for blood pressure?
Jane
2020-01-18
Yes, please, more info on the silk worms. Why they don't fall off those trays for starters? Are they doing something or just growing? xx
ryan.nz.trip.14
2020-01-18
Phew Carolyn. Cannot say I have noted a different smell in Vietnam to Laos probably because it’s winter and not many flowers in bloom and no heady spice smells. Unfortunately the silkworms are often then eaten. They were making necklaces and bracelets which absorbed your toxins etc x
ryan.nz.trip.14
2020-01-18
Blimey if I wrote everything we learnt you’d be bored stiff! Don’t think the worms are very adventurous and prefer staying on the chopped mulberry leaves and feeding for their 45 day lifespan. Perhaps if they knew their fate they might make a run for it although some of course are allowed to hatch to continue the life cycle. X
Emma
2020-01-18
Such lovely colours in your photos. Bradley fancies visiting next year and your blog is giving us a real taste. X