Today we were met at a respectable hour (1000) by our guide and driver and driven to the Hanoi Airport. This time we had no issues with check-in! After about an hours flight we landed at Da Nang, about 400 miles south. We met up with our guide, there’s something nice about having someone in the arrivals hall hold up a sign with your name on it, and headed of for about an hours journey further south to our home for the next 4 days. The car journey was a lot more serene this time, good roads, little traffic and hardly any kamikaze scooters .We discussed our trip with the guide and made some changes; tomorrow was to be a long full day, but the rest of this afternoon was free time. We agreed to do some of tomorrows trip today and have some free time tomorrow after our touring. We have found our guides very accommodating when it comes to making changes that would help us. From previous experience we have learned that full day tours in the heat and humidity is a bit too much…… Yes we’re getting old!
After check-in we went to the room for a few minutes. Yet again we had a great room; so far on the trip all the hotels have been excellent. When booking this trip we declined the 5 star hotels in favour of the 4 star ones. It brought the cost down quite a bit, and in reality we aren’t really 5 star people. Four will suite us fine!
We then headed down stairs to meet up with guide and do battle with the heat, luckily the crowds weren’t too bad…yet.
Hoi An was a port city during the 15th to 19th centuries, trading between both S.E Asia and the rest of the world. We started walking through what is termed the new city from the 19th century. One of the things the town is famous for is lanterns, both as decoration in shop fronts and for sale in the markets.
We crossed over the river from the new city to the old city, started some time in the 14th century. Below is the Japanese Bridge, so called because it was built in the early 1500’s by the Japanese who had been forced out of their home land. It has been damaged in various wars, but much of it is still original, including the pillars and much of the timber frame.
Walking along we saw the couple below, not too sure what they were talking about!!
There were also many Chinese immigrants who had been forced out of China in the 1400’s who fled to Hoi An, and there is still a sizeable community present, together with a number of Chinese Temples.
As time went by the crowds started to grow and we headed back to the hotel to cool off and rest for a while. Tomorrow we are driving out of town to a temple first built in the 4th century.