by Decision day! To go or not to go to Turkey? The lack of solid information makes decision-making more difficult…
Okay, a minibus to Mỹ Sơn about 50 km (one and half hours) West Coast win. The road for the last half hour was by far the worst yet. Mountains and bomb craters all over the road, half of it constructed entirely out of large rock thrown over the road and compacted – shook the bus, chairs, and people to distraction.
The bus drops you at the National Park from where you cross by force suspension bridge and then hitch a ride on an old jeep 2 kilometres further into the park from where we walked into the main area. My Son is the most important Cham intellectual and religious centre and also may have served as a burial place for the Chan monarch from the late 4th until the 13th century
Walking into the area is like a scaled-down version of the Inca’s Machu Picchu. A lot of the buildings are in ruins from the destruction and US caused during the war. The Vietnamese have lost so much of their heritage to various adversaries and themselves during numerous wars and civil conflict.
After a few hours of strolling in, around, and over the ruins we returned to the bus not looking forward to being further shaken into pieces.
On returning to Hoi An we bit the bullet and decided being killed in Turkey (or being at risk) was not our idea of a good trip. No turkey! We emailed Simon Hutton to change our flight. We will head straight to London, and tee up work before choosing another destination for a few more weeks. That decided, we cashed more US dollars for Dong (everything is cheaper in dong)
Ate the local specialty Cao Lau (pork and noodle-delicious), crab wonton, and clear spring rolls with pork and shrimp. Our faith in Vietnamese cuisine was restored.
Spent the rest of the day cycling about town down to the beach for a swim and drink beside the South China Sea. Purchased and ate a small pineapple which was delicious for 5000 dong. Picked up a second set of clothes from Hong. The suit is great, so to the six shirts, bowtie and cumberbund. We spent US$132 for one dinner suit, shirt, bowtie, one black double-breasted suit, three business shirts, one long sleeve men’s silk shirt, one evening dress, one pair of pants, and 4 ladies shirts. Good deal.
Dinner was again a Cafe de Amis, when you are on a good thing…, And we were not let down. Six of us Sean, Majella, Greta, Kim and us were treated to another fabulous meal. Our table and spot was saved for us.
The six of us and spend an hour or two on the balcony of our three rooms, enjoying the evening, saying goodbyes before retiring for the night. It has been great traveling with Majella and Sean and would certainly enjoy their company in the future, on future trips.
