Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Vietnam: Day 18

Day 18 (Wednesday, Jan 21, 09): Hanoi/Danang/Hoi An (B, L, GP)
The morning will be free until our car and driver arrives to take us to the airport for the 10:10 flight to Danang. (VN315)Upon arriving in Danang, our guide will pick us up to have a brief look at the remarkable Hindu statuary in the Cham Museum. You'll have lunch in a local restaurant. In the afternoon, you'll drive to Hoi An where your guide will mee you to show you the Ancient Town and explain its considerable significance in the history of Vietnam. You'll spend the night in Hoi An.
Hoi An town is a UNESCO World Heritage area. And ancient trading port, once the largest in Indochina, Hoi An was a meeting point for many culture that left their mark in the different architectural features of its wooden buildings. The original traditional street pattern still exists, as does the quay that once welcomed ships from all over East Asia and beyond. Many remained there for months at a time, waiting for favourable trade winds to carry them home.
There are plenty of good restuarants offering a variety of cuisines and price levels. The town is also a good place for shopping for silk. You can have clothes tailor-made within a day at reasonable cost. This is an excellent place to shop for silk to use as book cover material.

21 Jan 2009 Hoi An 9:07pm
So yea...woke up early. P was acutally awake to see us off. I read a bit in the news paper about Barak's inaugaration. Lots of happy thoughts, nothing too new in that front though. However, such a universial positive mindset incline me to want to follow news more.
Got on the 1 hour long flight to Danang, all good.
I've been having some issues getting my ears to pop lately, but I think it's just part of being sick. My left ear was like a seashell all afternoon: I could hear the ocean in my head. I did equal out eventually though. I think I'm a day or so away from being well though.
We got a tour of Hoi An after lunch and a visit to the Cham Museum in Danang. Our new guide gave us a tour of Hoi An. Honestly, it feels like every beach/resort town I've ever been to. We visited a silk shop; I might get a custom, tailored skirt made. I think I'm going to knock out a lot of shopping today.
A bunch of us ate dinner in a resturant in the market, but it was actually someone's living room. It look us forever to get our food, so I worked on a hugh Tiger beet over the course of the hours while in conversation about the art department and roommates with Emily while slowly getting tipsy. Honestly, still a bit fuzzy, not sure what to do with myself for the rest of the night. Umm. yea....
The general drama and talk with P was discussed at dinner, no need to go into it. Will awkwardly end entry here. Okay, bye.

Looking back...
That really was pretty much the day. Hoi An was great. That day was half traveling, half wondering around the town, and half worring about S but trying not to because there was nothing we could do other than take in the new sites around us. Very little shooting probably happened on this day. And we experienced our first domestic Vietnamese flying experience, which was totally fine outside of Natalie being ruthlessly searched at security.
And I never did start following the news more often.

random photo:
good photo:

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