Hoi Ann is a tourist town. The old town is "chock a block" filled with shops selling tourist items and clothes. Lots of coffee shops and snack places are mixed in. We got into one museum without tickets. We were turned away from a museum earlier and the vague directions to the ticket selling hut proved to be ineffective. We never found the place selling tickets. At the second museum they let us in to look around first and we bought some stuff. Their directions to the ticket booth were in the opposite direction of our first directions and just as inadequate. We found a nice shop and bought some clothes that we needed to fill some holes in our ensembles. We also couldn't resist the half hour river boat cruise. Nothing major but the breeze was superb and just what we needed. After the boat ride we walked along the riverfront until we reached Sakura restaurant which is highly rated. We got a table outside and were able to watch the parade of folks walking, biking, riding in pedicabs and of course scooting by in scooters. One of the passing guides told his group that this restaurant has excellent Vietnamese food. After dinner it was getting dark so all the lanterns and candles were getting brighter by the minute. We headed further upriver and then pivoted out of the car free zone. We did get some gelato. I gave the durian a sample try and "OOF" is all I can say. Instead, I got the matcha instead. Then it was a drive back to Da Nang.
Passing wetlands
Rice paddies on the way
This bike should have a wide load sign on the back
No car zone
Only the fittest mannequins allowed
Leslie is not getting a hug, she is getting a new dress
No cars allowed but still scooters
The roof is blooming
Beep beep get out of the way!
We ducked into this ally to give the pedicabs room
The walls are also growing nicely
Meow!
The museum of local products
Trading was huge for the economy, these were the type of ships used
The museum was small
A display showing all the spices
Agar wood, a wonder wood! It is used in jewelry, incense, aroma therapy, medicinal herbs and cuisine.
Nice looking and smells good too
So many incense sticks
Agar wood tray for a tea set
A traditional sculpture
Looking out from the second floor
Photo op going on down on the ground level
A diorama of swift nest harvesting
Actual nests
Raw cinnamon
As depicted on the large urns we saw in Hue
More temples
A odd mis of blue and mildew
Extra nice doors
These structures seem to be extra reinforcement for the roof
A plaster decoration built into the wall
I think this is agar wood
One of the most prominent local crafts are these lanterns
The older buildings are hard to see
More lanterns for sale
The variety of colors and shapes is most pleasing
Right in the think of the crowd was this man and his carvings
A T-shit
Our boat tour awaits
The rivers edge was packed
Our boat driver
Another boat taking our space
All the colors of the rainbow
Big gaps in the decking
Off we go!
A dark cloud on the horizon
Bigger boats with eyes on the front
The fancy bridge over to Memory Island
A very odd tree
All lanterns and no leaves
This boat now carries flowers
Nice dragon poon the bow
A boat sculpture
These folks have their own personal boat ramp
Adorned with flowers
Row that boat!
Signage
This is a serious love of incense
Each boat gets elaborate decorations
Even the bridge is gussied up
Need to make room for us to return
Heave ho!
Back on dry land
A variety of fruit on a balancing basket
Even more boats
A wobbly walkway
Larger buildings
A bend older lady sweeping off the sidewalk
Palm frond sculptures
Grass hoppers, fish, birds and more
A fine place for dinner
Nice inside
Still on a break
Matching clothes for the whole family
The in-laws too
Passing by our table
A few monks in the crowd
Waiting to sell paper lanterns
The lantern sales lady is negotiating with the little girl
She has a stick to assist with launching the lantern
She even crossed the street to see if we would buy
More matching dresses
A drone bird
My duck curry
Leslie's local soup
A cutie pie!
Lanterns lighting our dinner
The river is filling up
Lanterns litter the surface
Folks lined up on the bridge
M'Lady
Sometimes the entire lantern burns up
Colorful but it is not dark enough yet to really see them glow
More matching
Another floral display
In to pay the bill
Let the show begin
Look who it is!
Our quaint dinner spot
Lots of boats out for hire
We are glad we took a boat ride in the day time
Now the lanterns are putting out some light
Selfie time
Let it glow, let it glow
The trees are all aglow
One crowded Bridge!
Wall to wall
Even more boats on the other side
The lanterns are even prettier in the dark
A great view
Fantastic!
It has been 2 years and 252 days since we began our Migration
