My Son, Rickshaws and Fishing Boats

This morning we departed at 7 AM for My Son ruins of Champa Kingdom, a once powerful Hindu empire (early to beat the heat of the day). My Son was a religious center for the Cham people during the 7th-12th centuries and a burial site for the Cham kings after cremation. Originally there were over 70 monuments & towers, but many of them were destroyed by the Americans and Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Many other icons were also moved to the Cham Museum in Da Nang.

 

 

After a short tour of the ruins we were treated to a local dance presentation, which was quite enjoyable.

 

We returned to the Glory Hotel for a wonderful, multi-course lunch at the Morning Glory Restaurant before heading out on our optional cyclo rickshaw tour to Cam Thanh Village, followed by a short cruise on the Thu Bon River. (This restaurant was really cool - more of an open-air cafeteria with lots of food choices and delicious, creamy ice cream. Nancy's milkshake at lunch made me crave one for dessert, so I got one "to go"). Of course we all felt like we'd gained at least 20 pounds since we've been here, and thank god those poor rickshaw drivers only had to pedal one of us at a time, but the most hilarious part of deciding who would go in which rickshaw occured when Richard (who was 6'8") came out the door of the hotel. There seemed to be a unified look of horror on the faces of all the drivers who were lined up outside the main entrance to the hotel - with the same thought..."don't pick me, don't pick me!"

 

 Betty in relax mode.

 

 

6'8" Richard & his poor driver.

The cyclo rickshaw ride through the rural part of town was so relaxing and full of interesting sights. There was a man on a bicycle toting a bed headboard (hilarious); lots of foreigners pedaling a bicycle poorly while they held a camera in 1 hand; parents picking up their children after school - of course on scooters; and a man with a bun bo food truck + megaphone outside the school entrance (reminded me of the Jingle Scoot ice cream seller who would come through the neighborhood daily). (Bun bo is like a meat pie with shredded pork + vegetables inside a sticky, white pastry ball).

 

 Need a bed moved? No problem.

 

 

 School pick-ups...

 

 

 

 

The Jingle Scoot Man!

Or in this case the bun bo man.

Note the white megaphone

resting on his handlebars.

We stopped in for a brief visit with one of the local families, which gave us the opportunity to see the inside of a typical home - very sparsely furnished (shrine in the center of the main room, beds wherever they would fit and kitchen + bathroom to the other side). Beds do not have mattresses - just a thin woven mat on wood or metal board, and dining room table + chairs. The husband & wife were in their late 70s and their daughter was my age. The mother was constantly chewing beetlenut, which she offered to share with us – it was like marijuana for those on a budget. (I didn’t try it but some folks did & apparently it numbed their mouths before the taste & texture sent them scurrying outside to spit it out in the shrubbery).

We finished our rickshaw ride to the pier, where we boarded our little fishing boat for a short cruise along the Thu Bon River. Boy, did we encounter some very interesting characters along the way. The man in the basket boat was a stitch – and I still don’t know why Vietnamese people immediately flash the peace sign when posing for a photo op – and of course he wanted money in return for the photo.

 

Another very interesting man was fishing with his wife – casting a very large net into the river for some very cool photo ops. Then he boarded our boat & asked for volunteers who wanted to give it a try. I didn’t try it because I was afraid of losing my balance & falling into the river, but Iris gave it a shot & since the sun was behind her, I did get an interesting shot of her attempting the maneuver.

Our cruise ended at Hoian ancient town, where we had another delicious, multi-course dinner before heading back to the hotel.