Hoi An

05:00 comes around way too early, but I am up and head down. Damn! It's raining again! The hell with it I am going back to bed. I throw my gear on the bed. No, I can't wimp out. Down to the lobby I go, stumbling in the dark past the pool, I see others are down there. The rain lets up as we are transferred to the My Son Sanctuary. This ancient Hindu religious site is a popular tourist attraction, thus the reason for the early departure from the hotel. We are the first ones there and it is a great place to photograph. The crumbling brick ruins have lost a lot of of their detail in places, but still make for very interesting subjects. It is indeed unfortunate that during the war the Viet Cong used this as a hiding place and subsequently it was bombed by US forces, as evidenced by the bomb craters here and there.

After we are at the ruins for sometime, the rain starts up again. It's relatively light and actually, for me, adds to the scene as the color of the ruins deepens and some of the smoother stones take on an attractive sheen.

About 9 we head back to the hotel for breakfast, followed by a stroll down into the old part of Hoi An. It is very touristy with lot of gift and souvenir shops, restaurants and the like. Still, there is a lot to see and the myriad lanterns, unlit at this point in time, are interesting. The waterfront also provides a lot of subject material.

I do some shopping. Gotta bring home some trinkets for the natives. Finally, a bit tired of walking I stop into the Hoi An Roastery for a cappuccino served up by the cutie in this picture.

She informs me they have wifi so I check emails, etc. for awhile. Then I proceed to the Cargo Club, a restaurant we are to meet at for lunch. We are seated upstairs on a balcony overlooking the street with all these lanterns.

Joey gives us some tips on photographing the lanterns once they are lit. As dusk approaches I start clicking away.











Remembering Dan's suggestion of taking some pics from the balcony of the Cargo Club, I go upstairs and take a few shots from there.

As the evening darkens and the lantern light begins to overpower that of the background, I wander over to the riverside and up towards the Japanese Bridge. Lots of folks are now going out on the river in small boats sporting lanterns similar to those crossing the streets. There are also candles in paper basket being released into the river and floating down stream. I am attracted to the way the light from the candles illuminates the faces of the vendors selling them. The vendors, mostly old women are very reticent about being photographed so I have to "snipe" them from a distance with the telephoto lens.

Lisa had mentioned a place that served pizza, so I looked for it thinking I would run into her and some of the others. Found a pizza place, but no Lisa. Decided to stay and have pizza and beer. I was pleasantly surprised at the pizza. It was very tasty. Curious though it had no sauce. It was mozzarella with thin slices of tomato on top.

Finally decided it was time to head back to the hotel. I had marked its location on the map in my iPhone so it was easy to find my way back, less than a mile walk.