Cham sites and tailor shops

Another day in Hoi An…this morning I ventured out early (6am) for a tour of My Son – the largest Cham site in Vietnam. The site dates back from the 4th to 13th century and is the burial place of many Cham Kings. It’s the Ankor Wat of Vietnam. Packed with tourists everyday but they all leave on tours from Hoi An at 8am – that’s why I chose the 6am private tour. The 10 people in our tour were the only ones visiting the ruins while we were there – it was great!

The site of My Son was actually a base for the Viet Cong during the war and was heavily bombed by the Americans. You can see craters made by B-52 bombs everywhere as you walk around…weird.

Yesterday I releaxed, read my book, and walked around the streets of Hoi An. I looked in a few of the many, many tailor shops but couldn’t decide on what if anything to have made. I’m going to look again today and then decide – if I have stuff made then it’s another day in Hoi An, if not I can start cycling south again tomorrow.

The weather here is warm and sunny – so much different than the north! I feel human again. Actually the Hai Van mountain pass is what separates the weather from the north and the south and it is definitely nicer on the south side. I might even ditch the extra clothes that I bought up north.

So Tet (Vietnamese/Chinese Lunar New Year) is just 6 days away…quite a big deal in these parts apparently. Everything shuts down for a few days (except hotels hopefully) so it’ll be interesting to see where I’ll be and how it goes. After that, well my visa expires on Feb. 22 so I’ll have to be out of the country by then…just have to decide if I’m going to pass through Cambodia on my way back to Bangkok or fly direct from Saigon.

The loovely streets of Hoi An

Cham temple

Cham statues

Add comment February 6th, 2002