Hoi An and Da Nang

The next morning we wanted to explore the old town and set off on foot. We discovered that Hoi An is full of lantern shops and tailors; every street has lanterns hanging overhead and there are mannequins crowding the pavement, showing off different clothes designs. The pretty fabrics on display drew me in and we somehow ended up in a tailors shop. Before I knew it I was ordering a custom made dress! I got to pick out the fabric I wanted and the design of the dress. Will weighed in with his opinion on colour and pattern and then waited patiently, while the tailor took my measurements and booked me in for a first fitting the next day. Very pleased with my purchase, we left the tailors and continued on our walk. We ended up at a popular banh my (a type of Vietnamese sandwich) shop, where we had the best banh my of our trip, they were honestly outrageously good! Later in the afternoon we went for a lantern making lesson. As Hoi An is famous for its lanterns, we had wanted to learn the basics of making them as a way of understanding the culture better. We were told about the history of the lantern and then chose our fabrics to wrap the lantern frame in. I decided on a pale and subtle fabric, whilst Will chose to mix four different colourful bird themed fabrics together. It was a sticky process, but in the end we had two traditional lanterns to take home with us. We ended the day with a trip to the night market, it was very busy, but we enjoyed the atmosphere as we browsed the stalls.

On Monday we took a taxi to the nearby beach. The water was so clear and warm that I couldn't resist a paddle. Will, on the other hand, avoided the water by darting back up the sand whenever the waves got close. We enjoyed an iced drink at one of the beachfront bars and looked out across the sand to watch the waves and the people splashing about in them. In the afternoon, we joined a walking tour of four of the heritage sites of the old town. Both Will and I agreed our favourite stop was at a traditional Vietnamese house that is open to tourists, showing the house layout and furniture used. After the heritage tour it was time for the fitting of my silk dress. We made our way back to the tailors shop we had visited the day before. It's so impressive how quickly they can make a dress from scratch and I was very happy when I tried it on. She just needed to adjust the length, meaning we'd have to make another return visit the next evening.

It was an early morning start on Tuesday as we were meeting our day's guide for a morning market tour. There was a slight mix up with meeting points, completely my fault, but we made it to our guide in the end. The market tour was around a fresh food market with fruit and veg, meat and seafood. We stopped several times to pick up ingredients for our cooking class later in the day. Once we had everything we needed from the market, we took a mini bus to the kitchen facility, but before starting our class, we were taken on a coconut boat ride. We think the name comes from the bowl-like shape of the boats. Our rower took us through a leafy forest and we emerged into an open part of the water, where a bar was playing music and some rowers were offering crazy spinning rides, where they paddle you in a circle whilst tilting the boat up and down. It looked too nauseating for us and we gave this a hard pass! On the way back to our cooking class, our rower stopped the boat in amongst the giant leaves and she demonstrated crab fishing using a bamboo rod and some shrimp bait. Back at the cooking class, we learned how to make Vietnamese style spring rolls and pancakes and Pho, a noodle soup a bit like ramen. The best part was definitely trying our dishes after we'd put in the effort to cook them, all the flavours were delicious! In the evening, after dinner, we went back to the tailors and I got to try on my dress for the last time and finally take it away. I can't wait for an excuse to wear it to an event back home!

On Wednesday we went on a day trip to My Son Sanctuary. It was a very hot day and we struggled a bit in the heat, whilst walking around the ruins of the civilisation. The earliest buildings we saw were from the 8th century. However, we were saddened to see how much of the UNESCO site had been destroyed in the Vietnam-America war and learnt that there were still many landmines and unexploded bombs hidden in the jungle around the site, so best not to wander off! Overall it was nice to see a historical attraction, to contrast with the modern culture of the area that experienced so far. 

The next day we checked out of our guesthouse and got on a tour bus with all our luggage, for a day trip to Ba Na Hills and the Sunworld amusement park. After about an hours drive, we arrived at a busy parking lot. To get to the top of the mountain there were lots of cable cars. Our tour guide shepherded us to the correct one and we boarded, watching the jungle mountain float past below us on the way up. The first stop when we arrived was a visit to the Golden Bridge, a really cool pedestrian bridge overlooking the valley below. This was Wills favourite part of the day and one of the only two things he had on his trip list, when we left England. Our guide gave us free time for the rest of the day to explore the park and go on some of the rides. We enjoyed the Alpine coaster and a laser shooting game the best. It was another cable car ride at the end of the day, back down the mountain and onto our tour bus. Instead of taking us back to Hoi An, the driver dropped us in Da Nang so we could check in to our new accommodation.

On Saturday we had a guided tour around Monkey Mountain to see the giant Lady Buddha and then onto Marble Mountain. We got lucky and there were actually monkeys on Monkey Mountain during our visit, usually they hide in the cool of the jungle rather than at the Lady Buddha temple. On the way to Marble Mountain, we stopped at a marble workshop and our guide told us about all the different colours of marble and the history of marble carving in the area. We were given free time to wander around the shop and showroom, but Will and I were terrified to touch anything in case we knocked it over and broke it! We learnt that Marble Mountain is actually five small mountains, each named after one of the Vietnamese elements. Our guide took us to the water mountain and showed us the hell cave at the base of the mountain. The cave contains gruesome sculptures depicting the different punishments of the 18 levels of Buddhist hell. I was a bit freaked out and was glad when we returned to the fresh air outside. Our next sightseeing stop was the heaven cave which was a 300 step climb up the mountain. Will committed himself to the climb, while I cheated and paid for the elevator! When we had both made it to the top, we saw that the cave was actually open to the sky, which we guessed is why it's called heaven cave. A few steps later and we were at the lookout tower, admiring the views of the other element mountains and across to Da Nang. A view worth the climb, or elevator ride in my case!