Day One in Hoi An

We left Hue at 10am this morning in our private car to Hoi An with Trai as our driver. The trip would take up to 5 hours depending on stops along the way and how long at each stop. Travelling out of Hue, we noticed how large the city was. It seems to sprawl out everywhere and Trai informed us that in area it was only behind Saigon and Hanoi.

We cruised through the countryside at a reasonable pace with Trai pointing out noteworthy points of interest and stopping for photographs as required. He was quite a personable driver and threw in his best jokes every now and then to brighten the trip.... "You know why it's called Highway One?" he asked. "In runs the full length of the country" we responded. "Not quite, it's because it's the only one we got!"

We hit the mountains and noticed all of them under cloud cover and you guessed it, it rained.... The Hai Van Pass is reasonably treacherous at the best of times, in fact, the reason that the government built a tunnel trough the mountains nearby was to kerb the accidents on the Pass. However, the tourists love it for the views and so up we went. About half way up, we stopped for some photographs taken at about the same spot where the 'Top Gear' guys stopped and admired the view. Trai mentioned that the Top gear Vietnam Episode was quite famous around the area! Unfortunately, Trai was chatting to us heading further up the Pass and missed the speed camera that didn't miss him creeping over the limit. So our first major stop on the trip was Trai having to 'pay off' the local constabulary to avoid the official fine...

Scenery on the way to the Hai Van Pass 

 Fishing boat near some oyster beds. Pearls are farmed in the area.

Where the 'Top Gear' boys stopped and admired the view

The top of the Hai Van Pass was shrouded in fog, low cloud and rain and was the first official stop on the trip. We grabbed a few photo's, down a local Vietnamese coffee, bought a few trinkets and head down the Pass into Da Nang.

A US watch tower and bunker from the war through the mist atop the Hai Van Pass

At Da Nang, the rain subsided long enough for us to stop and check out China Beach before heading for lunch at a very out of the way cafe south of the City for fresh spring rolls with fish, fried vegetable rolls, burgers and fries. Afte lunch it was off to Marble Mountain about 15kms south of Da Nang to view the production of marble statues and the like at one of the hundreds of factories in the area. We have never seen so many statues in one area and all made of marble. We spoke to two of the workers who where 'polishing' a medium sized statue with sandpaper. It was going to take them another two weeks before it reached the necessary shine to be placed on sale....

 Michelle & Phil at China Beach

One of the thousands of marble statues at one of the hundreds of factories

We arrived in Hoi An at about 3pm and checked straight into the Orchid Garden Homestay Resort. The resort is broken into small self contained bungalows surrounding a small pool and restaurant. After settling in, we journeyed on the 1 kilometre walk to town to see what had changed since July. And again, it rained.... And it rained hard. The first thing that was noticeable was that the Thu Bon River was up, in fact the banks had burst and most of the waterfront cafes and shops running parallel to the river were inundated with water. The women selling fish at the markets were crouching and preparing their wares while the flooded river lapped at back of their stalls only a few feet behind them. Apparently, this is the norm for Hoi An in November as we found out when we ducked into a cafe to avoid the rain.

I can see the beer keg......

We ate at Mermaid Cafe for dinner, a standard for us each time we visit, before retiring back to the bungalow for the night. Here's hoping the weather eases as our favourite shirt shop and Bia Hoi cafe are a good 30m dog paddle at the moment!