SITESEEING: Hoi An and Environs

2/11/09
35.89 km

Wow, Hoi An is lovely and WOW Hoi An is set up as a tourist destination. It is a town of craftsmen and craftswomen! Every kind of hand craft is represented from wood to stone to ceramic to paper to cloth to paint to sculpture and much much more. It's a place to go to do some serious shopping and buy some serious gifts! I admit, I bought a few! The silk work is sooooo lovely!!! I wish Sharon were here to pick out gifts for women friends of ours!

So, there was a festival on the 15th day of the Chinese calendar in the old town of Hoi An. All the streets are closed to motorized vehicles (thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!) and everywhere there are lamps and candles and colorful lights. There were traditional music and dance performances and boat rides down the river with little floating lanterns in the channel. It was really lovely and I'm so glad I made it!

I spent a day just laying low and taking it really easy cuz I felt like doing it! I spent a day seeing the sites in the old town and checking out all the art and I spent a day on the bike exploring the islands and penninsulas and the beaches nearby. All very lovely and quiet and mellow and my timing was good or I chose the right routes and didn't see any other tourists. The beach was a tourist trap mess and, putting the pieces together, it looks like Vietnam has plans to turn My Khe beach from Da Nang to Hoi An into Cancun because there are major HUGE resorts being built up and down the beach with really fancy names. This is about a few years out! I ended up riding though through the tourist trap and kept on riding along the beach and ended up at the historic port where I found a nice quiet bench to sit on, have a cold drink and take a short nap in the shade. Very lovely.