It’s a slow rainy day in Danang but luckily the Museum of Cham Sculpture is not too far from us so that’s where we headed after breakfast. The museum contains the world’s largest collection of Cham artifacts. This includes two floors of sculptures, carvings and stonework unearthed from the 1700’s and as recently as this century. Photos of remaining ruins show impressive architectures.

Some history… Champa presence in this area evolved from seafaring Austronesian cultures off the coast of what is now Vietnam starting around 200 AD. The Cham people established and maintained a vast system of lucrative trade networks and cities/towns across Southeast Asia. They had a common language and heritage (DNA stuff) different from that of the Vietnamese. Pushed to the western areas of Vietnam by Vietnamese kingdoms starting in the 15th century, there are still some Cham speaking villages in western Vietnam. 

Some of the sculptures…

I took a few photos of the hotel – the lobby contains antiques, including an a Whippet, likely made around 1929. Ver unusual!

To prepare for air travel in a few days we have now moved a little north to the large city of Danang where we will spend two nights. The plan was to relax today and explore an attraction tomorrow – but rain is predicted for tomorrow so we did it all today.

Marble Mountain is an area of five karst mountains outside of Danang with the largest providing the most exploration opportunities. There hundreds of stone steps up to amazing views, caves, pagodas and temples. I like this phase in one write up “it is part historical treasure, part natural wonder and part spiritual (with both Hindu and Buddhist sites).”

We were smart and started our “climb” by taking the elevator! I guarantee that the elevator ride did not detract from the day’s exercise since there were many heights to reach via uneven stone steps during our time there. We followed the map as we climbed up to pagodas and views and both up and down into small and huge caves. When we met two men that are yoga teachers they challenged us to climb up to the highest peak – we may have skipped that one because we were already tired – but we did it! Great views too. Below are some of our photos.

After dark Dirk suggested we walk along the river to take picture of the lit up Dragon Bridge and huge Ferris wheel. We continued toward a brightly light square with crowds of people and found ourselves in the middle of a decorated river walk with flowers, lit up displays, flowering trees, tall painted posters, etc, where parents and young adults were busy taking pictures of each other in front of these decorations. The half mile area was packed with people moving in all directions – a happy, busy crowd. Note: In Vietnam it is the year of the Cat (in China it’s the year of the Rabbit).

I walked around the Hoi An celebration area this morning to take some daylight photos of some of the decorations. As a result I volunteered to take a number of family photos so the entire family could be in it. People are so happy when I offer; I could do it all morning. Since we are leaving tomorrow I wanted to remember the interesting street as well.

I’ve been looking forward to at least getting my feet wet in an ocean in Vietnam (which is the South China Sea) and today we decided to walk to the closest beach which is 3.2 miles away! We knew we could find a taxi on the way if needed but we walked the entire way, stopping now and then for the scenery, a water buffalo (see photo) and traffic. The beach is narrow but the ocean is lovely – many waves and I had a nice walk in the water.

We walked along a path with a number of restaurants and chose one that focused on vegan/vegetarian food. Unfortunately being New Years Day they were short staffed and it took forever to get our simple orders – oh well. We finally ate and then took a taxi back to our hotel – 3 miles walking was enough today.

We relaxed around our hotel area the rest of the afternoon and chatted with some other guests. Lastly we ate dinner at our favorite outdoor restaurant – and tried something new again – pork or fish or tofu in clay pots. Yum.

Today is New Year’s Eve -Tet in Vietnam – which is more of a family holiday here – no grand fireworks as far as we know. We spent a couple hours to decide where our next journeys would take us and made reservations.

What’s next? Dirk agreed to another new activity – learning how to make silk lanterns. The Pho Hoi Lantern Workshop is a family business and was recommended by a woman we met in Hui. They are very good at what they do, and very precise, and wanted us to learn how to make a quality item.

We first learned how to make the frame for the lantern. After that we switched to a larger frame to learn how to apply stretched silk to the frame. I made a large and a small patterned silk lantern while Dirk decided to make a plain one and then paint his own decorations with memories of some of our adventures! It took a while and is a little tricky but we are impressed with the results.

Thinking we’d grab a taxi when we got tired we started walking back but after about 4-5 block came upon a giant produce market. So many vegetables, and people and motorbikes! There were many items I couldn’t recognize nor ask about them because of the language. The produce market ended up on a long wharf area filled with tourists and boats ready for them where we stopped for a late lunch.

In the evening we wandered out to the “happening” spots but saw no new New Years activities other than many more people on the street. We ate something different (!) at our favorite little restaurant, enjoyed talking to another “regular” and thus ends Vietnamese New Year (Tet) for us.

Today we did something very unique for us – a bicycle tour!  I really wanted to enjoy the countryside vs busy town, some guests suggested this tour and Dirk agreed to it!

We booked it after breakfast and made haste to grab what we needed and get a taxi to the location with the bikes. I guess we started around 10am and 5 hours later were ready for a rest! This tour from Buffalo Adventures is called “Countryside and Island Discovery”. We biked carefully on a few busy streets until our guide took us down roads with less traffic, farm paths, bridges and even a few dirt roads. 

Besides the scenic biking we also stopped to see a rice wine making enterprise (we had a few sips of strong wine), how Vietnamese sleeping mats are made (and tried it myself) and how to make rice noodle wraps (we both did that and they are so tasty!)

I mentioned mats…”Vietnamese sleeping mats are made with reeds which are grown in the family’s land and then dried in the sunshine and dyed various colors. The reeds are then intricately woven. “ Hoc told us that many people in the island community still make these. They collect the reeds and dry them in the house rafters and work on them in the off season. They are used instead of mattresses by the locals.

Making rice noodles starts with streaming rice batter to make a solid wrap. That is then used for various rice dishes. Our efforts were both rewarding and delicious. I want to try it at home!!

After breakfast and packing I walked over the Perfume River on the long bridge featured in one of yesterday’s night photos. It was very busy with motorbikes but there is separate pedestrian walkway – also used by motorbikes!! But I enjoyed the walk, took photos for couples and had one taken of me and then enjoyed the views of the vegetable and flower market.

After returning to the hotel we checked out and took a taxi to the bus stop (not station – just a open area). It turns out our “bus” was an 11 seater van. It was comfortable enough for the almost 3 hour ride south and there was some great scenery along the way.

Our Hoi An hotel, the Vinh Hung River Resort, turns out to be quite nice with lovely grounds, a large pool and it’s right on the river. (I just took a picture from where I’m sitting.) They offer free appetizers at 4pm and a free boat ride on river for new guests. A nice welcome!

After all that welcoming we rested a bit and then headed toward Old Town to look around – we didn’t get that far. We found a spectacle on our way!! I wasn’t prepared for the 4 blocks of vendors selling souvenirs, encouraging you to get a massage or to eat in the restaurant. There’s a large pond and row boats for rides, and many colorful decorations.

We ate some yummy spring rolls and wandered around a bit and came upon a News Years stage show with singing and dancing! Lovely costumes, colors and the lions were great!

That was quite a first day in Hoi An!

Rainy day today – very wet. After breakfast we collected clothes to be washed and I walked 15 minutes in the rain to drop them off at a local laundry. While I was out and getting wet anyway I checked out some other areas, bought a few supplies and enjoyed the varied character on the different streets.

We delayed lunch until the rain slowed down and I searched Google Maps for restaurants near me; one of the closest was Nina’s Cafe. It was somewhat hidden in a narrow street but they had signs pointing the way. We noticed after a while that the customers were all tourists and wondered how everyone had happened upon it and then found out it’s in our travel guide! Anyway – great meal. We chatted with a women from Alaska (near Fairbanks) who recommended an activity in Hoi An – our next stop – that teaches you how to make silk lanterns.

I was able to pick up the laundry around 5 (still raining!) and now it was busier on the streets. Note the rainware of the the motorcycles and scooters! When back at the hotel and unpacking it was obvious we were going to be smelling a little too good for a while – perfumed dryer sheets I guess.

We asked for a dinner recommendation from the front desk and they suggested Madam Thu’s which also turned out to be mostly frequented tourists – and also in the Lonely Planet guide. But no complaints – we enjoyed delicious Vietnamese food and it’s nice when there’s a menu you can read! (It’s in Vietnamese and English)

It turned out that the long street just before our destination is the place to be for the young Vietnamese. There was one packed open restaurant after another along with the music and noise that goes along with crowds. It looked like a fun place to be. The motorcycle/scooter parking was interesting too – a few young men were charging for managing the parking situation.

We said our good-byes to new friends and exchanged emails with Mo and Jaz. Dirk and his drinking buddy from Denmark said good-bye and off we went to the train station.

We had decided on taking a daytime (vs overnight) train for the 11 hour trip to the city of Hue thinking we could enjoy the varying countryside of Vietnam along the way. The train left at 10:30 so there were plenty of daylight hours to enjoy. I took a few photos which are somewhat blurry due to the moving train. 

We arrived in Hue around 9:45, checked into the White Lotus Hotel – very fancy and I had to check my booking because I thought it looked expensive. But it’s only $45/night. After leaving off our suitcases we walked in the cold (to us – 55!) to a nearby lively restaurant for a light meal.  Then slept very well.

In the open air patio at our hotel Tamcoe Sky Bunglow our hosts provided us with a mixture of western and Vietnamese breakfast foods- I really enjoyed the rice noodles in a light broth and the fresh fruit slices. We both like the Vietnam strong cafe!

We asked the owner for someone to drive us to our two destinations today and we were on our way a little after 9am.

The first and best stop was Trang An – a World Heritage Site. It offers relaxing 3 hour boat tours in row boats that took us on calm rivers and through water caves with about five stops to get out a explore the restored 10-12th century temples. Each boat takes four people and we were lucky to pair up with two women from the Netherlands with a sense of humor and excellent English. We really enjoyed this adventure.

Our next stop was an area of Hoa Lu Temples. Hoa Lu is known as the first capital of Vietnam in around 900 AD, and restored temples, tombs and sanctuaries can be found in the area. There is a large open area for festivals as well.

When we arrived we were told by people selling motor cycles rides around the area that there were 9 temples to explore and there was a map. We decided to walk at see what we could that way. I took a picture of the map but it wasn’t very useful.

We explored the nearest temple and enjoyed feeding the fish in the temple area pond. Next we headed down a long road, past an ancient looking gate, and walked past rice fields and homes until we found another small temple area. The best part of visit was the fruit – pomelo – that we purchased from the woman in the temple entryway. She sat next us and showed us how to peel off the inner skin – she was very sweet and the pomelo was delicious.

By the time we walked back to the main area we were running out of steam and just visited one more temple area before heading back to our lodging.

Back at the hotel we relaxed, read, and chatted with new arrivals from England, the Netherlands, Denmark and New Hampshire! Our hosts also offer dinner if ordered early in the day and we shared the meal with our friends from Melbourne Australia – Mo, Jazzy and Vivy. The meal and company was lovely and 3 people from Denmark joined us toward the end. Also the 6 year old was having so much fun with her new friends from the hotel.

Tomorrow? Oh, just an eleven hour train ride to our next stop – the city of Hue.