Thursday, Oct 20 - Nha Trang - Danang/Hoi An

Unfortunately the airlines changed our 11:00am flight departure to 6:00am (???)…so we were up at 4:00am for an hour drive to the airport.  The flight arrived in Danang at about 7:00 and stopped at a coffee shop for tea and coffee to kill some time.  Then it was off on a two hour drive through the countryside to Mỹ Sơn, Vietnam’s equivalent of Angkor Wat, but much smaller.  This complex was actually lost to even the locals for over 600 years before it was discovered in 1898 by a local person who reported it to the French.  The complex was built between the 4^th century and 14^th century by the Cham kings who ruled a portion of Vietnam called Champa.

We were very fortunate to arrive just as a show was starting in an open air pavilion.  The show featured locals in native costume dancing traditional dances.  It was very enjoyable.  (And very hot and crowded…good thing they had some fans going.)

There are about 70 temples in the complex but many have crumbled over the centuries and some were badly damaged during the Vietnam War.  All were made of brick (instead of stone) and were built with no mortar or other adhesive to hold them together.

Restored Building using new brick

Much of the walk is in the sun and since it is hot and humid we are all very hot and very sweaty…so when we got back to the entrance we had to stop and have ice cream treats at the local shop.  Tasted like heaven.

Then it was an hour drive to Hoi An, a charming small town along a river with canals.  After freshening up we headed out to make silk lanterns.  Shades of kindergarten cut and paste projects.  Some of us were klutzier than others.  However, we were all very happy with the lanterns we made.  Now to get them home in the luggage without squashing them.

It was hot (low 90’s) and humid (mid 80’s) so 10 minutes walking and we were already soaked.

The final stop of the day was the old section of town where we visited a Buddhist temple and its gardens...

and wandered the streets checking out the people and sidewalk eateries...  

and the very colorful shops.  The shops seemed to specialize in lanterns and kites.

It is a very pretty town and was very colorful, particularly along the canal where after dark everything was lit with brightly colored lanterns. 

We finished the night with dinner at a local eatery and walked back to the hotel.  Showers were definitely in order.  Then it was very early to bed.