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So today we are off to Hoi An. A short plane trip to Da Nang, followed by a shortish trip to the hotel.
The bags had to be packed and ready for 8.45, we were leaving at 9am.. I wasn't sad to leave Hanoi really, it was just so noisy and choc full of people. The beeping horns were incessant and crossing the road required nerves of steel!
Nam promised us that Hoi An would be completely different. There were traffic free times when just bicycles were allowed, so it was more or less pedestrianised. I think we were all looking forward to the stay there.
We arrived at the airport much later than we would have done at home, just about an hour before take off. The flight was only an hour but the temperature difference was going to be quite considerable in Hoi An, as were the humidity levels.
It was a smooth flight, apart from an aborted landing, when we had to do an overshoot, possibly due to a previous flight not clearing the runway in time for us to land. It was a shortish runway, so it was quite difficult for a loaded plane to get to the turn off taxiway in time.
Our bags were very quick arriving and we were soon on our way. One small problem is that the old Tom t*** have reappeared. I put it down to the Hotpot the night before. Here we go again, more Imodium!
First stop was lunch. We stopped at a bakery about 10 minutes from the airport. Here we chowed down on baguettes filled with pate, sausage and barbecued pork, with a touch of fresh coriander. Next door was the coconut seller who expertly lopped off the tops of the nuts so we could drink the fresh milk. She used a wickedly sharp machete and was not to be messed with. We gave her exactly the money she asked for, no point in haggling with a woman and her machete!
Shortly after leaving the bakery we arrived at Marble Mountain. This was a site where marble had been mined, leaving caves in which were erected various shrines to Buddha. There was a huge pagoda and, luckily for me, a lift. Everyone else tramped up 160 very steep and uneven steps but Nam sent me up in the lift, bless him. To be honest the lift was a complete eyesore, being constructed at the foot of the pagoda, all glass fronted and glitzy.
At the top I met up with the others and we explored Buddha's grottos. The carved dragons and lions are so evocative of the east, the amount of work involved in their carving must be a labour of love.
So finally, were we on our way to Hoi An? Well, kind of. We had one final stop to make, at a cemetery.
As luck would have it, somewhat strangely, we stopped at a private graveyard, belonging to a few local families. The Buddhists here in Vietnam bury their dead twice. The first funeral is in a regular coffin and they are buried much the same as we are, with a grave marker bearing their name and birth and death dates.
1000 days later, up they come! The family dig up the coffin and somewhat gruesomely, take the bones out of the coffin, which is discarded and later burnt, they clean all the bones of any remaining clothing and flesh and assemble them into a smaller porcelain coffin, roughly the length of the average femur which is the longest bone in the human body. The bones are piled up into the new coffin and then buried in the family plot at midnight, following the disinterment.
The family we met were in the process of cleaning up the bones and were actually thrilled that we had stopped by to observe. It seemed to me to be a bit obtrusive but the oldest lady in the family had tears of joy in her eyes as we all held hands with her. We seemed to be a good omen for the family.
Quite a strange experience as we seem to regard death as a private thing and generally do not find it very comfortable to intrude on other people's grief.
Yes, now it's time to get to Hoi An.
On the approach to the town, there were quite a few hotels, although there are no hotels in the old town. Traffic is restricted during certain times within the Old Town , leaving it free for pedestrians and tourists
Our hotel is right on the edge of the old town and is very nice indeed. After we settled in, we were taken on a tour of the town. Part of the tour was for us to be introduced to a tailor's shop where they would make you anything from a tie to a full suit or even a wedding outfit. This is made overnight and the next day you go for a fitting and then collect it the following afternoon. Everyone but me has ordered clothes, I really do have enough clothes at home already! Once they have your measurements you can then send them a photo of any item of clothing and they will make it up in whatever material you want and ship it over to your home address!
We then met up at The Green Mango for a proper sit-down restaurant meal. Real chairs not tiny plastic ones and absolutely yummy food. I went for something uncomplicated, beef in a scallion sauce with steamed rice. It was amazing!
I was surprisingly tired tonight, maybe I had walked further than I thought but I retired to bed with aching legs. I really should find a way of getting fitter!
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