Hoi An, Part 2

My second day in Hoi An was pleasant. The weather is sunny and clear, but it does get hot.
I went on a tour with the English couple. It turns out he is also a retired high school teacher, geography and history. His wife is a retired nurse, and this is her retirement trip.
We hired the driver from the train station in Danang, and he was excellent. On the way to the ruins in My Son he stopped at the house of a lady who makes rice paper, for eating. She does the entire process, from husking the rice, to grinding it, then mixing it with water to produce a thin batter. The next step is the interesting one. She has a large pot of very hot water, over which is stretched a cloth. She ladles some of the rice batter, which is very liquidy, and spreads it over the cloth. The whole thing is covered with a lid. After  a few seconds she adds another layer, and covers it for a minute.  She then uses a cloth covered rolling pin, and she rolls the whole thing up. It is then spread on a table cloth, where it dries. I actually took a turn making one. The "paper" can be used for making spring rolls, or it can be covered with sesamr seeds, and letf to dry. It ends up like a crispy thin tortilla.
After this demonstration we went to My Son. This is a temple complex built over several centuries, from about 200 AD to 1000 AD, by the Champa people. It is interesting in that this is the time period when the Mayas built their temples. My Son has a great Hindu influence, but the settings of this site and the Mayan sites are very similar, hot humid jungles.
My Son does not have a lot of temples left. The area was invaded many times, by the Khmer, the Viet, the French, and finally the Americans bombed the hell out of it, because the Viet Cong used it as a base.
You must notice that I spend a lot more time describing the food experience rather than the antiquities.
We also saw a demonstration of some Champa dancing. Very beautiful and graceful. I have to say that the great majority of Vietnamese woman are tiny, beautiful, and very graceful. It is something to see a group riding their bicycles, dressed in flowing white robes. They wear loose pants, covered by a robe to their knees, and slits along the side. Beautiful silk. It does look lovely. It is embarrassing seeing a stout Western tourist trying to wear such an outfit. Sort of like an elephant in a bikini.
The food in Hoi An is great. I have found a little restaurant where a small mug of "New" beer is 20 cents. Hoi An had a couple of specialty foods. One is a "White Rose', which is the white, thin rice paper, with a shrimp in it. Served with fish sauce it is delicious. I also had crab with a tamarind sauce to die for. There isn't a lot to a crab, but every drop of the sauce was eaten.
In the evening I left my hotel to take a night "sleeper bus" to Nha Tranh, but that's another story.
I should mention my hotel in Hoi An. Huge room, a/c, mini fridge, bath tub. The hotel is beautiful, it has a large swimming pool, which is decorated with statues, plants, and is open to the sky. I spent some time floating, looking at the sky. There is also a good breakfast buffet. The cost, 25 dollars a night.
Hoi An should have been a cheap visit, but I went nuts shopping. I actually had to buy a second piece of luggage, and it is full. And I haven't bought any coffee yet.
Till the next time
Ralf