Hội An
Hội An means "peaceful meeting place" , what better description? It is a beautiful city and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. It is an extremely well preserved South East Asian trading port of the 15th to 19th centuries.The streets are filled by yellow and white one to two story houses decorated with colorful lanterns and flowers.We got in early morning and found a nice place to have breakfast by the river. As we were leaving to go back to the hostel all the stores started opening; turns out you can get dresses, shoes, jackets and anything you want tailor made for incredibly cheap prices!! the girls and I ended up spending the the morning shopping.... it was hard not to stop at every store. If I had room in my back I would have gotten an entirely new wardrobe made...oh well.
By the afternoon we decided to give shopping a break, rented motorbikes and went to explore the marble mountains. The marble mountains are comprised of five limestone outcrops in isolation from the surrounding plains. Each mountain represent one of the five elements of the universe: water, wood, fire, metal and earth. The main mountain (which is the one we climbed) represents water. Small caves with altars were scattered at the top, joined by a path that seemed more like a labyrinth. After going through a secret passageway and climbing up the slippery raw marble, we got to the higherst point. The ocean was visible revealing the soon-to-be-built resorts all along the coastline. We left and went to the beach for sunset, where we were offered a mat to sit on and drinks. Played cards as we watched the hundreds of locals haning out and swimming. The sunset was spectacular and the river of people just added more character to the dramatic scenery.
The next morning we rented bicycles to seer more of the city. The day was beautiful,not one cloud in the sky, but that also meant that it was extremely hot. Before we surrendered to cold beer we got a chance to see the market, the old bridge and the riverside. Afterwards, we biked to the beach to go for a refreshing swim. Later that night we had dinner at a typical restaurant and then went around eating random streets pastries with Tan as the experts took night photos. At night everything looks magical, everyone comes out and all the colorful laterns are turned on, and the boats slowly drift in the calm river.
Hội An means "peaceful meeting place" , what better description? It is a beautiful city and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. It is an extremely well preserved South East Asian trading port of the 15th to 19th centuries.The streets are filled by yellow and white one to two story houses decorated with colorful lanterns and flowers.We got in early morning and found a nice place to have breakfast by the river. As we were leaving to go back to the hostel all the stores started opening; turns out you can get dresses, shoes, jackets and anything you want tailor made for incredibly cheap prices!! the girls and I ended up spending the the morning shopping.... it was hard not to stop at every store. If I had room in my back I would have gotten an entirely new wardrobe made...oh well.
The next morning we rented bicycles to seer more of the city. The day was beautiful,not one cloud in the sky, but that also meant that it was extremely hot. Before we surrendered to cold beer we got a chance to see the market, the old bridge and the riverside. Afterwards, we biked to the beach to go for a refreshing swim. Later that night we had dinner at a typical restaurant and then went around eating random streets pastries with Tan as the experts took night photos. At night everything looks magical, everyone comes out and all the colorful laterns are turned on, and the boats slowly drift in the calm river. 
No comments:
Post a Comment