Through Da Nang to Hoi An

Today was a 5 am wake up, for our 8 am flight into Da Nang.  If we thought Nha Trang was hot, Da Nang puts it to shame.  Temperatures are hitting 39 (over 100).  We drove through the old US military areas, and saw how a lot of the infrastructure left has been taken over for civilian purposes.

We drove to this very cute city called Hoi An.  This city was virtually untouched for about 400 years, and looks exactly as it did in the 1600s.  The city is preserved as a World heritage site.  No large vehicles are allowed in.  This meant we needed to hoof it in this unbearable heat.

We grabbed an outdoor lunch (miserably hot) at the Cargo Cafe, and then went on a walking tour of the city with our new local guide, Binh.  This is the area where they say Rose dumplings originated, so we had to try some of them.  They are delicious.  We got a great feel for the city, and saw an ancient Mandarin House called Tan Ky and the preserved Japanese covered bridge.  They showed us the river flood marks 10 feet above our heads, which was pretty crazy to think about.  We were also told about how the Viet people, Japanese, and Chinese all lived in the area peaceably.

The city is beautiful.  We then walked over (through a festering stinky market) to our hotel, the Van Loi.  After a dip in the pool, we rented bikes and went over to a store called Yaly to have custom made suits and shirts made.  This area is known for this.  We rode our bikes around for a little bit, and then stopped off to get some custom made shoes. 

We went in for another swim (it is disgustingly hot), and then met up with the group for a bike ride around the city.  It was beautiful.  We rode through the town, along the river, the surrounding countryside, the rice paddies, and some local farms and housing areas.

After another swim, we showered and went to a Vietnamese cooking class at Morning Glory.  It was very different then the Thai class, because we mostly did the prep here, but none of the cooking.  Nonetheless, the food was delicious.

A bunch of us from the group then headed to a bar called Before and Now.  I spent most of the night parked in front of the Air Con.  It was not sufficient to cool the whole place down, but I was alright. 

The night ended with a quite hysterical late night swim to cool off.  While swimming we were privy to what we are deeming Asian hookers running in and out of some rooms in what we are calling Scooby Doo style.  It’s ok, I don’t think they saw us (not even when Matt decided to discreetly do an army crawl through the hotel lobby).