Before I start this blog, I would like to explain the
pictures in this posting. While in Nha Trang, Vietnam, my husband left our
camera at the mud baths. He left it hanging on a hook in a changing room. I was
extremely…”irritated.”
Luckily for us, we emailed the tour guide and mud spa, and
TA-DA!!! We have found our camera and it is being sent back to America! YAY!
So the visual representations of these days have been
created courtesy of Cici. Thank you Cici!!!
So, after we left Halong Bay, we headed south, down the east
coast of Vietnam. The cruise snuck in another sea day between our stops, so we
arrived in Denang, Vietnam two days later.
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| View from the boat of DeNang port |
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| Outside Hoi An |
I chose not to take a shuttle into Denang, a thriving city
in Central Vietnam and instead chose to head towards Hoi An.
Hoi An is an “ancient city” according to the literature, who
was part of the spice/silk trade in the 1500 and 1600s. The structures in the
city were supposed to be pretty well preserved and there was supposed to be
amazing shopping to be found.
The previous day I had come down with a horrible stomach
ailment. It kept me in bed for entire previous day and I hadn’t eaten since. I
awoke to a not much better state, but was concerned about skipping this
excursion, since I really wanted to see it!
I mustered my courage, Immodium, and bottled water and set
out with the family.
Our tour guide was waiting for us, holding a sign LISA
CONNELLY FREEMAN!!!
It was awesome. Similar to a movie. I have enjoyed each stop
in which there is a signed driver waiting for me. (the little things)
We boarded a private van and headed south about 45 minutes
to Hoi An. Our driver was excellent and decided to take us through the country
route so we could see the rice paddies and gardens. I became quite envious of
the gardens that each subset of homes kept. They were so extensive and full of
varied vegetables and herbs.
After trolling around the countryside, he dropped us off at
the ancient city area. We crossed a bridge and entered the area. There were
several historical buildings that we were supposed to tour.
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| Apparently "Nokia" is a kid name...probably! |
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| Lunar New Year in Hoi An |
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| Of course there are fish in there! |
Due to my general ill health, I sent the girls shopping with
Chris. Teehee. I let them stroll the shops and pick out random goods while we
looked around. After a couple hours, I gave up and we headed back to the ship,
where I slept the rest of the day.
Luckily, my health improved over the next two days on our
way to Nha Trang. I was really looking forward to Nha Trang because I had
booked a special day and tour that the girls were looking forward to.
We were again met on the dock by a man holding a sign with
my name on it. This time we had a DRIVER and a TOUR GUIDE!!! Our guide had
pretty good English and had a planned itinerary.
Our first stop. The Nha Trang Buddha.
The Nha Trang Long Son Pagoda Buddha consists of a reclining
Buddha and a large 45 foot seated Buddha in a lotus leaf. The height and size
of the Buddha was very impressive as were the numerous stairs to reach the top!
This was dedicated to the monks who set themselves on fire during the war and
their effigies were on the base of the Buddha.
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| Big Buddha |
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| Burning monks on the base. |
After the Buddha, we headed out into the country to view the
smaller towns. There were many rice paddies and small family cemeteries. It was
very interesting! The guide brought us to “old house.”
Old House is a home that has been preserved since the 1850s.
It was built by a “Mandarin” and was beautifully landscaped with flowing and
fruited trees. We were seated and served tea, fruit, and Coca Cola (by
request). Afterwards we toured the property and learned about the traditional
setup of a household.
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| American Tea |
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| Fruit plate at Old House. |
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| Fish in the fountain. They eat the mesquito larva. |
After old house, we visited a couple homes that created
handmade clay furnaces and straw mats.
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| Naked chicken at the pottery place. |
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| Cock fighting is apparently big in Vietnam. Illegal, but popular. |
We were brought to lunch, which was in a very nice
restaurant. We were served a pre-picked lunch that even the girls couldn’t
argue with! We ate and ate until we couldn’t eat anymore.
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| Our fabulous lunch! |
The “piece de resistance” though, was the mud baths! We went
to Thap Ba Spa, which specializes in mud bath therapy. We entered the facility
and changed into our bathing suits. This was the protocol:
1.
Rinse lightly in shower
2.
Hop into “family” tub and sit in mud for 20
minutes.
3.
Get out of tub and sit out for 2 minutes to dry.
4.
Shower off very well
5.
Walk through high power jet area for massage
6.
Sit in “family” mineral water bath for 20
minutes
7.
Go swim in mineral pool for 20 minutes.
Needless to say. I look GORGEOUS!
I will repost the pictures of the
mud bath once I reclaim my camera. It was a hilarious and entertaining
experience!
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| Family mud bath |
We finished our tour up with a
visit of an ancient Hindu temple called Po Nagar Temple. It is the place of
Cham. Cham is someone important. He has a temple. His Mom has a temple too. We
saw a lot of Cham. It was cool.
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| Cham's Mom. Her REAL head is apparently in the Louvre in France. We will look for her in April. |
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| View from the temple. |
Our next stop: Ho Chi Minh City
(Saigon)
