Vietnam 9 - Our First Visitors to Hoi An


Hoi An Vietnam is not a nearby destination for the majority of people we know.  It is however in reasonable striking distance from Singapore.  Why Singapore you ask?  Singapore is the home of my cousin and his wife, and they became our first guests here in Hoi An.

Lunch on our cycling day


It was extremely fun to see familiar faces here, and to do things together – some things we had done on our own privately and some we had not.  Grant has lived in Asia for 20 or so years and met his wife here, so is totally at home with any of the oddities of life here.

They were here for about 4 days and activities included the gamut of temples and old buildings in the ancient town, the temple ruins of My Son and An Bang beach (on their own).

Two particular activities stand out.

One was a day of cycling through rice paddies, the farming areas and the quieter areas of the greater Hoi An area (Cam Than ward).  Cycling in this area is particularly charming as it is very flat (yay!), quiet and pretty much traffic free.  All high valued attributes.


 
Bicycles in hand we explored the local area


This guy was right beside the road - a true working animal

Going beside the various rice paddies we saw not only rice growing but also the animals that work the farm.  There was a buffalo beside the road busy eating its lunch.  I find the fact that its feet are in the water continually to be quite amazing.  The animals must have adapted to this over the eons.

Local cemetery - we did not venture in as there seemed to be many people visiting graves as we approached Tet


The other highlight for me was a wonderful dinner cruise on the river.  A very nice meal and lovely views of the sunset over the river.   As the sun set we observed one of the buffalo enter the water from an island and settle right down until only its head was exposed.  Funnily there was another table there with Canadians that we did not realize until we were getting off.  Small world.



Aboard the Cinnamon Cruise Line Boat, still at the Hoi An dock


Grant and Jyn with a couple of welcome cocktails




And after dark, back to the welcoming lights of Hoi An

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