Stormy Weather

Thursday 30th April

After the storm

Been a bit rainy of late, Ruth's been on a Son Doong tour and then a few days off while I have just finished a Tu Lan 4 day tour. Fortunately for me, the tour passed without rain except for the last day when we had a thunderstorm.

Tu Lan Entrance

Meanwhile, Ruth had a damp trip into Son Doong and then, when that was over, our neighbours invited her to a wedding.

Erecting the wedding marquee

During the wedding there was the storm to end all storms.

Lightning over the National Park

It rained, the wind blew and then it got wetter and wilder.

Random pictures and brief update

Friday 24th April

Doline One Sunbeams in April

In this post I'm just adding a few picture that I feel worthy, but haven't been able to include them in regular posts, hope they are of interest.

Son Doong Entrance

Since returning from Hoi An, we've had a busy schedule, we were both on a Son Doong tour (our first together) which went well, at least we had no arguments!

Lampshades for sale in Hoi An

After the first tour, Ruth went out to meet her daughter (who was visiting for three days), but I was staying in the cave to do the next tour. In reality, I walked up to the road, met the next group and then turned around and walked back down the hill with them.

Wet conditions in Hang En

I also picked up a can of cold beer which I placed next to the iced water that Dick had brought me, this kept the beer cool all day and was a welcome reward back at Hang En that evening.

More Hoi An Lamps

As I walked up the hill (yesterday) at the end of my second tour I met Ruth on the way down with her group, then on Sunday I am doing a Tu Lan four day tour, then one day after finishing that Ruth and I do our second Son Doong tour together. A busy time for us so additions to this blog might be a bit scarce at the moment.

It's me!

Ms Vy's Market Restaurant Cooking School

Sunday 12th April

Red Snapper, Ruth had one of these for tea last night

(If you are not interested in food, don't bother with this post, unless you wan't to see some of the weird stuff we just ate.)

Bucket of baby Crabs, how cute

So, the sea is going to be too rough for snorkelling, it's going to rain and we've done just about everything Hoi An has to offer........ Except a cooking class, Hoi An is noted for its cooking and there are many establishments running cooking classes, Ms Vy has been running cooking schools for eighteen years and was the first to open in Hoi An, we ate in one of her restaurants last night and the food was good so we decided to go back to school for half a day.

The daily grind, coconuts.

We met at the Market Restaurant at eight thirty after a wet cycle ride into town. We were given a green tea to drink and divided into small groups for a tour of the market so they could show us how to buy fish, what vegetables and herbs they used, and what fruit was available.

Apparently this is an Apple

The market was a short boat ride away, even though we had just cycled past it! At the market we learnt that the mystery fruit we saw last time (see earlier post) is called a Plum, well you could have fooled me! It tasted like an Apple/Pear cross.

A neatly tied Crab, this one is female apparently.

One thing about a tour of the market with a guide is that you don't feel like you are just in the way and so you do get a better look around and we saw every thing from fresh turmeric root to a bucket of frogs.

Bucket of Frogs

Once back at The Market Restaurant we were given a quick drink (I had Lime and Kumquat (they are green here) juice which was very nice and Ruth went for her standard Green Tea and Lemon) before a tour of the restaurant which is set out in various sections so you can look at areas like ration food, dumplings, weird and wonderful, rice noodles and puddings. Some parts of this tour were hands on, we got to try making rice noodles (looks so simple but they just end up as a sticky mess) and also to look at and try some of the foods on offer (but not all).

Back to school, I think this used to be called Home Economics

Of particular interest to me was the weird and wonderful section, I got to try Silk worm salad.

Jelly Fish Salad.

Baby Clam Salad.

Sadly I didn't get to eat the Spicy Lemongrass Frog.

I think it was probably too expensive.

Looks a bit like a small human

Duck Embryos and Pigs Brain.

No picture of the embryos or brains, but you can see they sell it

After the restaurant tour we went upstairs to the classroom to cook our lunch. The tutor first went through the ingredients, before demonstrating how to cook the dishes, after each dish was cooked we ate it before moving on to the next dish. First up was Cabbage Leaf Parcels with Shrimp Mousse in Broth.

Because Ruth had opted to cook vegetarian she made Cabbage Leaf Parcels with Tofu Stuffing and Mushrooms in Broth. Both were really nice although we both agreed that the shrimp version was better.

Next up was Banh Xeo, which are crispy pancakes which you serve with Rice Paper, mixed Herbs, Green Banana slices, Green Mango and Bean Sprouts. Mine was with Pork. Ruth had Tofu and Mushrooms.

Banh Xeo, the other one was not such a looker!

The final two dishes were (for me) BBQ Chicken and Lime Leaves served with a Mango and Prawn Salad.

While Ruth made Grilled Tofu with Mango Salad.

We finished our meal with Lemongrass Ice Cream, although we did not make this ourselves. At the end of the session we were given recipe sheets for the dishes we had cooked and a Mango slicer, rather like a giant potato peeler. All in all, an interesting morning and given the amount you got to eat, good value for money (it cost 800,000 VND).
The weather forecast was correct, it rained all day.

The latest thing in lightweight waterproofs

Snorkelling off the Cham Islands, no thank you- Sea too rough

Saturday 11th April

Cham Islands, where we should have been

A days Snorkelling trip to the Cham Islands was planned, pickup was due at 8.10, at 8.30 our homestay got a call to say that the trip was cancelled as the sea was too rough. What a disappointment, and now we had no plans for the day. We were offered either a trip tomorrow or our money back and as the weather looks bad we decided to take the money rather than waste another day.

Môc Són, Hòa Són and Kim Són from Thûy Són

After a bit of faffing the only thing we could think of to do was a visit to Marble Mountain so we got a taxi and set off.

After half an hour in a taxi we had arrived (they are near Da Nang), a very busy spot and as seems to happen in Vietnam, every one sells the same thing, in this case, marble statues ranging from small to absolutely massive. This results in desperate sales people.

Budda stood on my head!

According to the guide books the Marble Mountains consist of  five hills on a flat plain, we could see six! One of them is so steep sided that it looks impossible to access the top so perhaps it doesn't count.

The biggest (and the one everybody visits) is called Thûy Són, it has three Buddist Pagodas, six caves, two view points (if you don't count the tops of two hills that you can climb) and an elevator (that the lazy can use).

Linh Úng Pagoda

We also visited this one first, the Pagodas are temples, the caves are small, as you would expect from being in a small hill, and most have some sort of Buddist statues in them.

We got in one through trip in Vàn Thông Cave where you end up climbing out nearly at the top of the hill, not the biggest hill but the views were good. From the biggest hill,the views were good and on a clear day they would have been excellent. You could see the whole length of beach from Hoi An to Da Nang.

Da Nang from Thûy Són

The biggest cave is called Huyén Không Cave and this has temples and statues within, and holes in the roof of the cave where sunlight streams in.

Sunbeams in Huyén Không Cave

The whole place has the potential to be really nice but there is litter all around and they are gradually filling every available space with cheap looking statues.

How many bits of tat can you spot?

We decided look at the next biggest site, on the basis that it was a short walk away and would therefore be quieter, this has two Pagodas and one cave. Ten minutes of walking got us to the foot of the hill, the first Pagoda looked shut so we walked on to the next, where the cave was. Quan Àm Pagoda was uninspiring, the cave was a small hidden entrance with a walk into a chamber with formations and,statues, beyond a small passage continued but after a short while the floor was under water and although the passage could be seen to continue, we did not.  Outside, there is a massive concrete construction which looks like it is going to be a huge Buddist temple.

When this lady claps, cover your ears

We were now Marble Mountain'ed out so we went home and then to the beach, even venturing into the water to be battered by the big waves.

Aprés Mý Són

Boats Parked at night

After we had been dropped of by the boat we were pretty hungry so we stopped off at the nearest decent looking waterfront cafe for something to eat.

Chicken Cao Lao

I had Chicken Cao Lao and Ruth had Vegetarian Wontons, which we ate while watching the ferry load and unload.

Ferry Boat

Both nice but not as good as our previous meals, mind you, it was half the price!

Vegetarian Wontons, no Meat!

After lunch we booked tomorrows snorkelling and then got a taxi back to the homestay before heading to the beach. We didn't go for a swim as the waves were rather large.

Cúa Dai Beach

Back to the homestay for a shower before heading out to the Little Menu Restaurant on Le Loi Street where we had BBQ Pork Patties with Rice Vermiceilli and Chicken Fried Rice.

Pork Patties, otherwise known as Mini-Burgers

Both were easily amongst the best food we had eaten so far so we decide to have pudding, we both went for the White Chocolate Mousse, this was so good that we can't have any more puddings here as we would only be disappointed. Pictures of food are not very good due to the low lighting.

Chicken Fried Rice

We park our bikes on the riverside, same place each night, and when we return we have our own little dog watching the bikes.

Guard Dog, our bikes are safe with this monster

Mý Són Tour

Friday 10th April

Wee Beasty

Our pick up was arranged for four thirty in the morning, so we were away by ten past five, our guide Tin was very apologetic (probably had lots of practice) then a few more stops were made to pick up further guests (one place we had to go to three times because the lazy b*stards couldn't wake up. I would have left them, they made us another half hour late). Eventually the minibus was full and we set off towards Mý Són.

Temple groups B and C

En route we were given "breakfast", a salt sandwich made with Vietnamese sliced bread (very dry) and a garnish of egg and salad and a bottle of water. Not the best meal but unexpected and welcome as we weren't going to eat again until at least ten in the morning.

Temple C

Mý Són is "A most important complex of Hindu temple towers which is a symbol of Chāmpa art" they were continuously built between the 4th Century and the 13th Century.

Detail of carved block

On arrival we had to pay the entrance fee of 100,000 VND as it wasn't included in our tour price, before a ten minute walk to the first (and largest) set of temples. This set is by far the most complete although there are still many ruins.

Group B temple, or maybe a kitchen?

According to the guide "the ancient Chāmpa people were raised to be masters of brick building, laying the bricks closely and securely without mortar, then carving detailed images". That the images remain after nearly one thousand years is a testament to the quality of the bricks and carvings.

Wall of Group B temple

The next group of temples were not so well preserved, the same could be said for the next group as well but some restoration work has been undertaken. With replacement bricks costing 70,000 VND each funding is short and will take some time.

Temple

The final two groups were in a much poorer state and will need quite a bit of work, the first one was falling down.

Barely holding together

The second could do with a bit of weeding.

Any one got a strimmer?

After we had finished with Mý Són we were due to cruise back down the river to Hoi An, to get to the river was a thirty minute drive. It felt like we were nearly back.

Fishing boat on the river

An unexpected bonus was stopping off at a woodworking craft village. It's here that they do most of the carvings for the tourist souveneers sold in Hoi An.

Unusual vice, mind your toes!

They also make boats here.

Sad boat

The visit to the island would not have been complete without a visit to some shops, one had a life sized statue, of Gimli?

Was Lord of the Rings filmed here?

A final five minutes sailing bought us into Hoi An.