Day 8 - Getting all cultural

On the trail to the temples

My Son Hindu temples

My Son Hindu temples

On the Thu Bon River near Hoi An

Wood carving

Cutting mother of pearl for using as inlays on the carvings

Back in Hoi An

Chicken Curry for dinner

The pool at night

Today saw us off to the ancient ruins that are My Son (pronounced mee sun) for a look around the famous Hindu temples that belonged to the Champa people of Vietnam.

Our tour started with traditional picking up of every other tourist in Vietnam from every other hotel in Vietnam until we winged our way along the rural roads to My Son some 1 hour’s drive away. What are our observations about bus touring in Vietnam? Well, road markings mean very little, the guy with the loudest horn wins, if you run out of room drying your rice – use the main road and bullocks have right of way. It certainly not for the faint hearted (but fun in a weird arse sort of way).

The temples of My Son are a fascinating visit when the history and culture is explained. However, the temple sites came under fire in what the Vietnamese call ‘The American War’ where bombing of the area wiped out thousands of years of history and therefore there is little of the main structures left standing.

We ended our My Son visit with a trip back to Hoi An by boat stopping along the way to visit some wood carvers and witness them ply their trade. They do an absolutely exquisite job painstakingly carving the wood with age old chisels and even roofing nails to carve the intricate areas. It was fascinating to watch.

Upon our arrival in Hoi An, we picked up the last of our pre-ordered shopping and headed back to the resort for a dip to cool off.

At about 5pm the resort got hit by a tropical storm that would make your hair curl. It is the most aggressive storm we have ever witnessed dumping inches of rain in minutes, turning the pathways around the resort into little rivers. And by 6pm it was all over, just a light drizzle for the rest of the night.

We spent the rest of the evening having a few drinks with some friends we met earlier in our stay. Lindy, Julie, Margaret and Anne all hail from Victoria, and who, like us, are enjoying Vietnam immensely. Tonight we celebrated Lindy’s birthday with just a couple of cocktails, a wacky rendition of Happy Birthday and a cake supplied by the resort before retiring for the night.