On to Hue’
We spent our final day in Hoi An on a half day tour visiting MySon. This was a very important city in the Champa kingdom from the 4th century through the 14th century. The Champa kingdom was a predessor to the Angkor civilization in Cambodia and the ruins are very similiar. There were originally 68 structures but only 25 survived repeated pillaging in previous centuries. Then, because the VC used it as a base during the war it was repeatedly bombed by the Americans and the ruins of only around 20 now exist.
It was almost a 1 1/2 hr drive from Hoi An to the site and then we took jeeps another 2km to get to the literal ruins. One funny thing for us was seeing that the jeeps are old US Marine Corps jeeps that were apparently salvaged after the war.
It was a nice 2 hours exploring the sites and we are certainly trying to appreciate everything we see for what it is rather than as any sort of comparison but, quite honestly, after being at the temples of Angkor everything else pales in comparison. It is impressive that these structures were almost 300 years older than Angkor, however.
We chose the boat trip option return so , after a near collision with a dump truck in which that truck went off the road, we arrived at our boat about 12:30pm. We were served lunch onboard which was a simple but tasty rice dish with vegetables. We arrived back in Hoi An around 1:45pm or so and went right to the tailor shop.
Hoi An is FULL of tailors making custom made clothes for not much money. Using my Christmas money from my in-laws I decided to get a silk jacket. It’s fantastic, peacock blue-green on the outside, maroon silk liner and hand embroidered flowers on the bottom. It’s got a mandarin collar and is almost knee length and I can’t wait to get home and actually wear it! For $70 US it’s a fantastic deal as even a pre-done piece at home would be double or triple the price.
Today, 18 Dec., we had a bus ticket to Hue at 7:30am. Of course, we KNEW it wouldn’t really leave at that time but silly us, were still in the lobby waiting! Originally we had asked for a sleeper bus to try out that form of transport. Sleeper buses in Vietnam are unlike anything we’d seen before. Instead of regular seats they are 2 or 3 lines of recliner seats that recline about as much as a recliner chair in the states. The man at the hotel assured us we didn’t need a sleepr bus as it was only a 2 1/2 hr (yea right) trip to Hue. However, our 7:30am bus showed up at 9:00am and WAS a sleeper bus. Very fun. Jim & I chose the back row and had all 5 seats to ourselves to stretch out. We watched the countryside, went through the longest tunnel I’d ever been through, and napped a bit. Even with a stop in Danang to pick up passengers and had a rest stop and still arrived in Hue at 12:00noon. Excellent trip!
Our hotel here, the Sports Hotel, was referred to us by the Hoi An hotel and is very centrally located. Our $25/room is HUGE with a balcony, this computer IN the room, and even (gasp!!!) a top and bottom sheet on the bed. Sure, go ahead and laugh, but truly- we have often had hotel rooms with a bottom sheet but no top sheet….just a comforter or blanket so this is sheer luxury!
We have some sightseeing tomorrow and a full day cruise on the Perfume River to see some pagodas the next day so more later.
Cheers – J&R
Tags: Travel, Vietnam
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