We had been traveling between cities by bus
up until now, but we decide to try the train between Nha Trang and
Danang. And it is lovely. The scenery is everything from
mountains and hills to rivers and rice paddies. Much of it covered
in mist and rain since it is the winter rainy season here.
|
 |
We can't quite figure out how the water
buffalo actually is useful for pulling a plow through the rice paddies
when it has four big feet trampling everything before the plow gets a
chance to make a single ditch. But they've been doing it for a
long time, so it must work. (You can stop straining your eyes. There are
no water buffalo in this picture.)
|
 |
We don't spend long in Danang, which just
seems like a regular commercial hub of a city. Instead we catch a
bus to Hoi An which is an historic seaport with Chinese and Japanese
influence. This is a shop in the old town and those dragons are
actually working lanterns.
|
 |
More lanterns in the old town. There
were plenty of scenic alleys and French colonial buildings, but it is
hard not to take pictures of colorful silk lanterns.
|
 |
Here's a surprise: more lanterns!
During the full moon festival, electricity is turned off in the
old town and all vehicles are banned, so people can walk around
listening to the music. There are also toy lantern boats floating
on the river. But no festival for us, just a power outage.
It is just as well since all the hotels fill up at that time and
we aren't making reservations ahead of time.
|
 |
This is a Japanese covered bridge on the
street where we stayed. I'm not sure what the Japanese were doing
here, but the many Chinese merchants who lived here had a big impact on
the town.
|
 |
The old town is just crawling with charming
buildings like this one.
|
 |
| On a day trip from Hoi An, we visit a
collection of temples at My Son. The temples were built by the
Cham people about the same time that the Angkor Wat temples were built
(9th to 12th centuries). They look quite similar as well since
they were both heavily influenced by Indian culture. This is a
scary bamboo bridge that we had to cross to get to the My Son temples. |
 |
| Here, Julie poses with a symbol of male
potency at My Son. |
 |
|
|