Friday, May 20, 2011

Monday 16th - Buddhism and Cocktails - Hoi An Day 5

We were up early for a bus trip to My Son. This is an area that contains ruins of mainly Buddhist temples dating back to about 700 AD. The bus trip was fascinating, the guide a little hard to understand, but we got the gist of the significance of the area.

James was a little bored (I don't like all this old stuff) and it was STINKING hot. most of the morning was spent dodging the sunshine. We had considered rising at 4:40 AM for the sunrise tour and now wished we had.

Back for a swim and to make bookings for accommodation in Ha Noi the next day and then we headed to the Lunar festival. This is a monthly event on the full moon and gets the whole town together. The main city lights are out, but just about everyone lights a candle and floats it down the river.

The local boat owners were encouraging the tourists to come for a short trip to release their candle and we took a punt and obliged. There were life jackets, but they were pretty old and the boat pretty unstable, but the was well worth doing. The most dangerous part was getting on and off amongst the frenzy of boats, owners, touts and tourists. We left the centre of the celebrations and headed back to our new favourite restaurant to savour Cau Lau, White Rose and Lemongrass and chili chicken.

We caught a taxi home, a little sad in the knowledge that this was our last night in Hoi An
Old stuff

Into an ancient tomb

More old stuff

Needed a rest

It was a bit sweaty that day

Flower stalls - One of Michele's favourites

Candles floating on the Ha Noi river

At least they had them, but they didn't zip up

Tiny weren't they

Our captain

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