It was overcast today but no rain. Our tour bus picked us up at 8am to take us to My Son, which is a site of ancient Hindu temple ruins.
The ruins are similar to Angkor Wat but on a much smaller scale, older and in greater disrepair. They were still interesting.
You were not allowed to leave the path to and from the ruins because the area has not been cleared of unexplored ordinance from the war. The area was heavily bombed and most the the original temples were destroyed or heavily damaged. There are still many bomb craters visible.
After we visited the site for a couple hours, we took a boat on the river back to Hoi An. The boat driver was looking at his phone while he was driving, I wondered if he was watching a soap opera or something.
Once back in the old town of Hoi An we spent the afternoon checking out the market, having coffee, people watching, eating lemongrass and chili ice cream, shopping for a lantern, having a beer, listening to music, more people watching and having supper beside the river where we could do even more people watching.
I noticed that the rooster I was watching yesterday was down one girlfriend. I wondered if she was on someone’s plate tonight.
The Vietnamese are generally smaller in size than North Americans. I felt so tall.
During supper I enjoyed watching the old ladies selling their floating lanterns. The golden light from the candles accentuated the character lines in their faces. There was one in particular who worked the street right in front of our table. Of course I had to buy another lantern from her to float down the river one last time.
Too soon it was time to go back to our Homestay. There was a big New Years party going on across the street along with some of the worst (and loudest) Karaoke singing I have ever heard. Like, it was really bad; an eclectic mix of howling dogs and a cow in its death throes.
Thankfully they stopped just after 10:30…but restarted at 11:30pm.