Hoi An & Cua Dai Beach
Trip Start
Apr 06, 2010
1
15
35
Trip End
Mar 01, 2011
Hoi An, Vietnam
Friday, July 16, 2010
Another difference in SE Asia is they revere lighter and pale skin, so as we sunbathe and try hard to get a tan the locals cover up and try to keep pale skin. So much so that we have to be careful when buying deodorants or moisturizers as many contain skin whitening agents.
We are currently in Hoi An, a Unesco World Heritage site, which has a lovely feel about the whole area, the locals are very friendly and the buildings in the town are traditionally Chinese and are lit up in the evening with lanterns. Anne participated in a local folk game in the center of town called "Break the Pot", where you wear a bamboo mask so you can't see where you're going, with the aim of walking up to and smashing a pottery pot which is suspended by rope in the air by striking it with a wooden pole. There are locals drumming and bashing tin plates together so you can't hear any instructions from friends or the crowd. The locals get so excited about it, they scream and shout - the atmosphere is fantastic - (simple things...) Anne actually managed to do it and won a prize (see proud photo, below)!
We were staying in a local town guest house which is attached to an original "ancient house" from the 16th century, it has been in the same family for 4 generations and they still make rice noodles and rice cakes for all the hotels and restaurants in the town by hand using traditional methods. One can go and watch them but they start at 3.00am and we did not manage to get up in time, although the cockerels start crowing here at about 5.00am so we are both feeling quite sleep deprived! The town is surrounded by paddy fields and sits along side a large river, it's all very scenic and truly Vietnamese.
We are currently staying at Cua Dai beach and it is fantastic, one of the loveliest beaches we have been on, the white sand goes on forever and although its high season here it doesn't get over crowded and the seafood is to die for. We intend to stay here for a few days for some R&R before moving north to Hue, then Hanoi via Halong bay.
We continue enjoy and appreciate all the blog comments and the e-mails from home so please keep them coming.
Nick on behalf of varnamtravels
PS: I loved the "Is this traveling the world in eighty haircuts" comment Lisa. You will see from the photo's below that I have had another haircut - they always seem to turn into a fun highlight of the trip! This time it was simpler (due to language barriers) to go for the all over No2 crew cut, so it is much cooler, if a little shorter, now.
