January 13, 2017

January 13, 2017

We have the morning free so we head back to Old Town Hoi An. Aimee wants to shop and I want to visit the historic sights we missed. We start at the Tan Ky Old House.  This is the preserved house of a wealthy merchant. We are served a cup of tea while a girl gives us a rundown on the house’s history and design. The house is owned and occupied by the seventh generation. The back side fronts to the river where goods entered the house and then were lifted by pulley to the second floor for storage.  The main floor is ornately decorated. Before leaving Aimee buys some Chinese Zodiac trinkets from the guide.  

We also stopped at several Chinese meeting halls. These were places where different ethnic groups could meet, socialize, do business, and worship. The Cantonese Hall had a wonderful garden in the rear that we almost missed. We also breezed through a couple of the museums but found them uninteresting. What we liked better was looking at the old merchant homes that housed them.

Between my touring Aimee found lots of time to shop.  She bought sandals, bamboo place-mats, and a top.

Back at the hotel, we checked out and joined our tour group for lunch. It was delicious. The main dish was Cao Lau, a pork noodle dish. The meal finished with coconut ice cream decadently smothered in candied mango.

After lunch we hit the road, driving to Da Nang. Our first stop was another craft shop.  This one sold monumental sculptures. It is but one of at least a dozen we have driven past. Aimee and I are both wondering who is buying this merchandise.  You can’t exactly stick these in your carry-on baggage.

We next put our toes in the water at China Beach. This is where GI's would spend their R&R during the War.

We then spent an hour in the small Museum of Cham Sculpture. This repository holds some of the stone decorations found at My Son and two other temples sites.  These obviously Hindu decorations alert us to the fact that My Son must have been magnificent in its prime.

Before leaving town we stopped for a photo of Da Nang’s iconic Dragon Bridge.

From Da Nang, we drive north through a Four-mile long tunnel under the mountains and along the coast to the city of Hue and our home for the next two days.