March 24, 2026
We docked at Chan May, a deep-water port in Central Vietnam, and took a bus ride of about an hour to the city of Hoi An. The land we rode over was relatively flat, but we were surrounded by mountains. The scenery was beautiful.
Although Ho An was described as an ancient city, it looked very modern to us. We saw many cafes and restaurants that were open-air, usually with the motorcycles that were Hoi An’s transport of choice parked in front. The bridal shop clearly showed western influence, but we did wonder how many of the motorcycles parked in front belonged to perspective brides.
More than a few shops had colorful lanterns in front. One had flags with a hammer and sickle.
Our guide gave us a bathroom break at a place devoted to making and selling what we’d call lawn decorations. We decided not to buy any.
We next visited a silk factory, where they showed us how they grow silkworms, harvest silk fibers from the cocoons and make them into threads, and weave the threads into cloth
The factory also had women making silk pictures by hand sewing silk thread into stretched fabric. It was incredibly intricate work, and they were fast.
We visited a Chinese temple that had a dragon sculpture in front, and colorful art and sculptures inside.
Lunch was Vietnamese food, which was spicy, but not as spicy as Dottie’s expression suggests. Dessert was coconut ice cream with small pieces of cut fruit, including watermelon alongside. It was good enough that we plan to try it at home.
After lunch we took a boat ride. The boat was okay, if a bit touch and go, but we were safe because we were given US Amry life jackets. Yes, that’s US Amry.
To sum it up, we were treated well and we had a very pleasant day.
On to Singapore,
Dottie and Mal
