Hoi An by Bike

Yesterday was spent cruising the Gulf of Tonkin enroute to Da Nang. It was another grey day but gave us a chance to meet some interesting fellow passengers, eat more than we should, and finally enjoy an amazing classical concert performed by award winning pianist Tomono Kawamura. A child prodigy from Japan, at the age of 12 she performed for Itzac Rabin on the day before he was assassinated. Seated in front of us, an elderly couple seemed to have choreographed the performance perfectly.  A few bars into each piece they would start to nod off in time to the music until they were clearly asleep. They always awoke in time to join the applause.

There was no improvement in the weather this morning although in cruising south it was significantly warmer. I had opted for a bike ride to Hoi An. It was a short bus ride to pick up the bikes where about 30 of us were fitted with bikes of questionable vintage. Safety is clearly not a priority as we weren't issued helmets (won't happen again Mum!) and shared the road with thousands of scooters, cars, trucks etc , everyone cutting inside of everyone else. But we all survived.

We started biking along Marble Miuntain Beach (formerly known as China Beach during the Vietnam war) on one side and a lot of new construction on the other. It shortly became more rural and we biked through rice paddies before arriving in the charming town of Hoi An.

Hoi An is a charming and exceptionally well-preserved Asian trading port. Old town Hoi An has remained virtually unchanged for centuries and boasts several temples and community houses. As the Chinese New Year is on February 7th there are flowers and colorful decorations everywhere.

There is a beautiful old bridge called the Japanese Bridge

And also a vibrant market which features all kinds of mysterious fruits, vegetables, noodles, and other I recognizable 

After wandering around the charming streets we all met up for a bus ride back to the ship. Enroute we learned interestin facts about Vietnam. The country has grown from 44 million to 92 million since the 70's. There is still no love lost between the north and south with the northerners strongly identifying with the Chinese and Russians, while the southerners identify with the US and Europeans. Corruption is rampant and the government employs 4.7 million almost all from the north. Only Government employees enjoy benefits and pensions. The average annual income in Vietnam is around $2,500. 

I also learned that I was born in the year of the Cat and Brettt was born in the year of the rooster. Next year is the year of the monkey so monkeys feature prominently in decorations.

Been a good day and it's not over yet!