Randi and Beth went to the market this morning, while Forrest and Michael went to the War Museum. Louise, Dave, Mark and Linda went to see one more temple. We grabbed a bite to eat at the French restaurant and then were transported to the airport to fly to Danang. From Danang, our guide took us to Hoi Ann, a charming UNESCO World Heritage town and one of the Orient's major trading ports in the 16th and 17th centuries. It has a very charming, laid back atmosphere with a mixture of Colonial architecture, cobbled streets and merchants and shops.
Hoi Ann is known for its silks, handicrafts, antiques and art. Louise had a blouse made from beautiful silk. I found a rice paper scroll of the Game of Thrones for Brad.
Our guide led us to a really unique place to eat dinner. We had a menu of rice cakes, spring wraps that wrapped around shrimp, pork, veggies. It was delicious. We walked home to our wonderful hotel afterwards. Louise got measured for her blouse on our way home.
We were greeted by our guide and four jeeps for our adventure to My Son Sanctuary. We drove through the countryside through rice fields and various neighborhoods, which was quite fascinating. We stopped at the Ba Ren market where they sold piglets. Most of the women were doing the heavy lifting and caring for piglets, while the men ended up loading the pigs in the trucks. Some pigs were in crates and loaded on a bicycle and ridden away.
We arrived at My Son Sanctuary in time for a traditional Cham music and dance performance.
We then toured the My Son Sanctuary, A UNESCO World Heritage site which is a temple complex built by the Cham civilization between the 4th and 13th centuries AD. My Son was both the religious and political center of the Champa Kingdom. Its ruins include 25 temples whih stand in tact against the bomb craters created during the Viet Nam war. There are indications of over 70 red brick buildings that they are trying to recreate and rebuild. The Champa Kingdom corresponded with what was later South VietNam and at its peak, controlled the spice and silk routes between the Middle East, China, India and Indonesia. This civilizations' primary architectural style is named after the site. There is evidence of artistic designs throughout the temple ruins.
After this we drove our jeeps to the docks to take a boat on the river. A traditional Vietnamese lunch was served. Despite letting our guide know that Forrest was allergic to shellfish, there was squid among veggies. Forrest served some and was about to eat it, when Louise noted that it looked like squid. Whew! We disembarked in Hoi Ann and were dropped off in town to look around before dinner.
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