Hoi An

20 December - Kyle, Mark, Roger and I had dinner last night at Mrs. Ly's.  It was fantastic!  We had fish baked in banana leaves with ginger and other spices and noodles.  Later, we walked by the river to see the colorful, lighted lanterns.  Ladies will sell you a folded paper candle holder with a burning candle inside.  You are supposed to make a wish and send the paper candle out on the river.

Today, Roger and I took a tour bus to My Son (pronounced me sun), a UNESCO cultural site and home of the Cham people who lived in this area between 200AD and 1400AD.  The site is about an hour from Hoi An, up river and at a higher elevation.  It has intricate Hindu ruins, many of which were destroyed during the war.  We saw traditional Cham dance and musical performances at the site.  After walking around the site for 2 hours, we returned to the bus and were transported to a boat.  We floated downstream (toward Hoi An) to a small island where the villagers were know for their wood working.  Some were renewiing (picture scraping) the wood on old boats, some made furniture and others made small wood souvenir items.  After exploring the village, we continued our float back to old town where we had lunch at a small restaurant.  A great day of sightseeing and exploring.  Kyle and Mark are at a homestay close to the beach, so they opted for different activities today.

Our final day in Hoi An found us peddling on rented ($1.50/day) bicycles out to Kyle and Mark's homestay.  We had planned to bicycle to the beach, but the rain started.  We used the poor weather to confirm air reservations for the next day, get seat assignments and such.  Finally, we had a break in the showers and the four of us headed back to town for lunch.  On the way, we found yet another island in the river, biked across the bridge and explored.  Our goal was a used bookshop which proved elusive as we wandered lane after lane.  We did find an open-air "waterfront" cafe (think 2-car garage with small kitchen, plastic chairs and tables, overhanging a thin slice of river) for some warm soup.  No one there spoke English, but menus are comprised of pictures, so we were able to point to the dish we wanted.  Only after lunch did we happen upon the bookstore where we found a used copy of "Angor Wat" where we were headed next.  Mark and Kyle headed to their homestay and we to our hotel just as the rain returned.  It absolutely poured down the rest of the afternoon and all through the night.  I was certain there would be flooding the next day (since even high tide floods the streets of the old town), but we awoke the next morning to dry streets.  I don't know where all the water went.