A sunrise start today for a trip the ancient Champa Holy Land at ‘My Son’, relics of Hindu temples and towers dating from 4-13th century.
I’ve now got so used to sleeping through the dawn, unlike when I first arrived in Vietnam, I had to set the alarm…in keeping with the communist rule to work with the daylight, everywhere here has open windows with no shutters or just very light curtains, but being a westerner I have adjusted to sleep in anyway!
But I was today up with the locals, holding a breakfast banana and baguette in one hand and a camera in the other, boarding another rickety old bus to rattle along away from the coast and into the dense mountain range.
The temples, now a world heritage site, are set deep into a valley surrounded by towering peaks. Certainly worth a visit, the art inscribed in bricks in the ruins is movingly intricate, the moss covered walls and broken sculptures adding to the atmosphere. See pics of me wandering the ruins looking every inch the tourist!
Back by boat rather than bus, cruising in a very basic vessel along the not so aptly named Perfume River.
But there was a welcome breeze after the heat and flies of the valley and the rice lunch provided was also welcome as it was many hours since my banana and much walking had been done.
My companions were unsure of its origins, given the boat was open to the elements and the food had clearly arrived by motorbike long before us, but I covered it liberally in soy sauce and ate with gusto-takes more than dust to put me off free food!
The boat trip took us back into the Old Quarter of Hoi An, another museum piece in its own right but beautifully preserved architecture and a pleasure to visit.
Walking back to the hotel I see even more of the pavement has disappeared to the Tet flower mania-see pics of flower sellers and flower buyer, the traffic hazards are getting worse by the day, bad enough dodging vehicles without having to take the foliage into account!!
I’ve now got so used to sleeping through the dawn, unlike when I first arrived in Vietnam, I had to set the alarm…in keeping with the communist rule to work with the daylight, everywhere here has open windows with no shutters or just very light curtains, but being a westerner I have adjusted to sleep in anyway!
But I was today up with the locals, holding a breakfast banana and baguette in one hand and a camera in the other, boarding another rickety old bus to rattle along away from the coast and into the dense mountain range.
The temples, now a world heritage site, are set deep into a valley surrounded by towering peaks. Certainly worth a visit, the art inscribed in bricks in the ruins is movingly intricate, the moss covered walls and broken sculptures adding to the atmosphere. See pics of me wandering the ruins looking every inch the tourist!
Back by boat rather than bus, cruising in a very basic vessel along the not so aptly named Perfume River.
But there was a welcome breeze after the heat and flies of the valley and the rice lunch provided was also welcome as it was many hours since my banana and much walking had been done.
My companions were unsure of its origins, given the boat was open to the elements and the food had clearly arrived by motorbike long before us, but I covered it liberally in soy sauce and ate with gusto-takes more than dust to put me off free food!
The boat trip took us back into the Old Quarter of Hoi An, another museum piece in its own right but beautifully preserved architecture and a pleasure to visit.
Walking back to the hotel I see even more of the pavement has disappeared to the Tet flower mania-see pics of flower sellers and flower buyer, the traffic hazards are getting worse by the day, bad enough dodging vehicles without having to take the foliage into account!!
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