This small city has a charming lifestyle. The different handicraft lay out in the small shops in the tiny streets, very nice, veryu cosy. Our hotel was a little away from all the traffic, so it was really quite. The first day we discoverd the streets and figuered out how to do My Son and how toi travel on to th south. We book cheap tickets on a Open Tour Bus down to Nah Trang, Saigon and Phu Quoc.

On our next day trip through Hoi Ans Old town we went to Pagodas, museums and assembly halls as well as a „Old House“ which belongs to one family since seven generations. We gained nice views into the history of traiding over the last centurys and pictures when tousands of ships landed in Hoi An.

Who wants to visit Hoi An in between late September and late November should get some information about high water. The „Old House“ had highwater marks. One of the highest about 3 m above normal, which means 2 m high in the house was just 8 weeks old.

The trip to My Son was a small taste what we can expect in Ankor Wat. Loads of theses old ruins got destroyed in teh Viet Nam War. Till today archeologists try to fugure out how these temples where build in the 4th century. There is no sight of mortar. There is also a secret about the briggs. They don’t have anything growing on them, not even when they are completly wet. Surrounded by jungle it was cool to see these buildings.

On our way back we took the boat. We wnet to a small village to see even better handicraft than in Hoi An. This touristictour wasn’t that much our taste, but sometime it is easier to follow the crowd. This evening we head down to Nah Trang.

Today we did a small adventure. The possibilities were to takle a big touristbus, a expensive solo-bustour or a motocycle. What we took you can see on the pictures...

Everybody told us not to do that. 110 km on a scooter? Each direction? Stupit idea, to much of a hastle and stress... Hm, we did it anyway. When it started raining after 10 km we doubted if this was a good idea. When it stopped raining 30 minutes later we knew, this was the right thing to do! When we got the tickets at the tunnels it just turned out that nobody was there. JUST us!!! So we had the tunnels for ourself.

We went to see the small museum bevor we entered the tunnels. There had been pictures of a newborn-station and small kids who had been born in the tunnels. Just after we took a picture of a small kid in diapers and gun we had a small vietnames guy next to us. He tried to „tell“ us something. A few moments later we understood. The newborn and the small kid on the picture with the diaber and the gun was the same kid. The guy who just showed us the pictures, the guy next to us, just some 40 years later. That fast we had a personel guide who wanted to show us the place he was born. 

These tunnels are about 2. 8 km long and the three stories are digged by hand. Storie 3 is 23 m deep under the surface. The tunnels themself are approximatly 90 to 130 cm wide and 150 till 180 cm high. Even Nadine had to bend the head. Our guide did not speak a single english word. But that did not matter. The atmosphere itself pulled us in. It just took every word you could think of. Except for some „Wow, amazing, unbelivabel“ we did not say much.

We used entrance 3 and saw familyrooms not bigger than 1,5m x 1,2m x 1m. We discovered wells and washing rooms where teh water did not come out of a tap but the wall. There were meeting rooms and bomb shelter for protecting the people. Several exits lead to the sea.

We did not recognize the time. After one hour we left the tunnels. This was an absolute highlight! Wicked! This is for everybody who was disappointed with the Cu Chi Tunnels or for highlight seekers. Not for people with claustrophopia.

We made our way back to Hue, 110 km still ahead. Ladscape was pretty nice even when it was hazy. We had to stand the rain again but fortunatly the was a bathtub waiting for us. Tomorrow morning at 7 am we head down to Hoi An, where we stay two nights before we go to Nah Trang. Head for teh south, into the sun.