Day 10
Already Emily and I have hit four different stops along our journey North. Today, we're headed for Hanoi only to, hopefully, mosey along to Ha Long Bay once we get there. We've been at turns active and lazy, alternating our days for optimum adventure and chill time. This operation works well for us and we're having a blast.
Some of the highlights of the past several days include snorkeling in Nha Trang, strolling along the serene streets of Hoi An, eating cao lau, a traditional soup full of rice noodles, croutons and pork, at a little wooden table lit with a single lantern along the river in Hoi An, and the brief, unexpected stop our bus from Hoi An to Hue made at the Marble Caves just outside of Da Nang.
The snorkeling was good fun. I hadn't been swimming since I first arrived in Southeast Asia and the day was bright and the water was clear. We saw lots of little fish, some showy, some pointy, some hardly noticeable, none of which I know the name of, and were also fed a tasty meal on the ride back to land. The caves were a spot of fortune shining on us. At our first rest stop on our way to Hue there was a dark gap in the cliff face I thought looked interesting. For roughly 75 cents, Emily and I ventured into a cave full of grotesque carvings of people being eaten by frogs and humanoid creatures with the heads of monsters. It was morbid, creepy and very cool. The disembodied hands reaching out of the pool of water at the entrance to the cave should have tipped us off, but, well, without any literature we had no idea what we were going to see. The bats fluttering around the highest reaches of the cave added a nice haunted factor as well. I only wish I knew something about the history and purpose of the caves.
The best part of our trip, however, has been Hoi An. It is a peaceful, idyllic little town in the middle of Vietnam. Hoi An radiates the calm of easy living, so different from the chaos that is Saigon. I loved it there. The Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site full of French colonial buildings, which, despite time and wear, are a cheerful yellow and the silk lanterns dangling from every eave, tree limb and lamppost offer warm, colorful spots of light in the breezy evenings. At night, parts of the Old Town are closed to motorbikes, so there's no worries of crossing the street or lingering at shops. It is a town famous for it's tailor shops, lanterns and silks, so the shopping is dangerous. Emily and I each spent a nice chunk of money on pretty things.
As for Hue, where we are now, there's not much to say. It doesn't help that we've been stuck here a day longer than we wanted to be, but I don't think it would have mattered if our plans had run smoothly or not. Hue is, frankly, boring. Though I must confess that Emily and I haven't given it much of a chance. But, oh well, we're off to prettier, more exciting parts of Vietnam this evening and I'm too happy about life to feel bad about our lame stay in Hue.
P.S.--Here's the link to Emily's blog if anyone is interested in the other side of the same story-- http://neitherthere.wordpress.com/
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