080313 - Today, we are headed for Hoi An. Breakfast was provided and as usual, everyday I tried the local food and drink. Bread and coffee. We have bread and coffee in Malaysia too. But they are different here. I do not drink coffee in Malaysia because I cannot sleep by night although I drink in the morning, but I did not mind drinking them here, and that is mostly because we have activities to do to tire me out.. and also, I drink beer at night. Haha!
The journey to Hoi An is 3 hours from Hue. We have not booked the transport yet. We wanted to take the bus but it departs either early in the morning or at noon. And the bus will not stop at the places we would like to see on the way. So, we got a hired ride for USD15 + USD5 (to stop at 4 places of visit in Hue. The 4 places are joss-stick making village, cone hat-making village, Tu Duc Tomb and a pagoda) per person from the travel agent that is next to our hotel.
Our first stop - the joss stick and cone hat making area. The colours are actually the sticks we hold on to while praying. I did not realise they can be so colourful.
These are sticks that have been rolled with cinnamon. It smells nice.
How to roll the cinnamon paste on the joss stick. It looked so easy when she does it. I gave it a try, and it is not very easy after all. One has to roll it softly.
Then, we stopped at Tu Duc Tomb, a tomb for the Nguyen (the last ruling family of Vietnam) Emperor Tu Duc (4th Emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty). The Tomb took 3 years to construct. Ticket is VND80,000 (USD4 / RM12).
It has a lovely pond inside, which apparently, the Emperor seats in that wooden hut and stare at the scenery to get inspiration to compose poems.
I befriended a photographer in Borobudur Temple in Jogjakarta. I brought him around Kuala Lumpur, and he shared with me his views on taking architectural photographs. He loves old buildings that has not been repaired. I did not understand what was he talking about back then. Today, I understood what was he talking about. Old buildings have their own character, and have seen so much history. Something so simple as a window and a wall with cracks is common everywhere but each one of it has its own story to tell.
We walked outside and it looks like a huge garden.
Inside the large structure on the left is an autobiography of Emperor Tu Duc. His autobiography is inscribed on the panel inside.
After Tu Duc Tomb, we told the driver to skip the pagoda. In our opinion, Tu Duc Tomb is sufficient, and looking at a temple area which has a similar architecture will make us bored. So, we continued our way to Hoi An. To go to Hoi An, we have to pass Da Nang again. I think you can visualise where is Da Nang (center), Hue (left) and Hoi An (right).
In Da Nang, we stopped at a bread stall to buy a VND10,000 bread. That is so cheap, and it was so delicious! I told the lady seller to give me all the fillings. Oh so yummy. By the way, the bread stall was close to the Hotel we stayed in Da Nang.
We ate our lunch in this coffee shop. Which was just next to the bread stall. We ordered coffee for VND10,000 a cup (USD0.50 / RM1.50). See, thick coffee. Yummy. The coffee is at a minimal level because it is thick. They do not add sugar. It is just condensed milk.
Then, we told the driver we wanted to go to Hoi An using the mountain road (Hai Van Pass) and not the tunnel. Due to the language barrier, I drew. In the end, we still have to use the tunnel because the travel agent told him not to use the tunnel for shorter time (35 minutes as compared to 50 minutes via the Pass)
We wanted to go to the famous beach, My Khe. But the driver said that it is not good, and he brought us to Lang Co Beach. We stopped at Thanh Tam Resort, and walked in towards the Beach. Well, there is nothing spectacular about the beach.
And our next place before Hoi An is Marble Mountain.
No comments:
Post a Comment