Dear Readers,
Thanks so much to those who have responded to my Haber Reports with such kind words. It encourages me to continue! Hoping to hear from the rest of you. To those of you in the NY/NJ area, I hope you are coping with the snow. I was sad to miss it; not!
On Thursday morning we flew from Saigon to Danang; about an hour away; another name I’m sure that many of you recall. We are wending our way north through Vietnam. We were met at the airport by a new guide & new driver & taken straight to the Cham Museum which documents a little known culture that produced elegant monuments and fine sculpture. The Cham flourished in central Vietnam from the 4th thru the 13th century before being displaced by the Viets. Here’s one of the sculptures we saw:
From there we were taken to a marble factory. I bought a small black & white fish to add to my collection.
On our way to Hoi An we drove by China Beach where the American soldiers used to go for R&R during the Vietnam War. Today it is in the process of becoming a luxury resort area. Many resorts have already been built, while others are in the works. The 4 Seasons just opened. Life continues.
In Hoi An we walked through the old town. It’s a combination of stores (selling everything from t-shirts to custom made clothing) and old buildings including this Japanese covered bridge.
We had dinner at one of the restaurants in the old town. We are staying at a boutique hotel right along the river.
Today was a terrific day. We spent the morning at a private cooking class at Miss Vy’s cooking school. She’s become a local legend. Besides the cooking school, she owns 4 restaurants in this small town, including the one we went to last night. The experience started with a young man taking us to the local produce market to see all the different ingredients we would be using. We saw lots of different types of fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats & fish.
When we got back to the cooking school, we were given the opportunity of hand slicing some noodle dough and also rolling out dough for a small baguette.
At this point we were taken to another floor where our private lesson began.
We each made a spring roll with shrimp, crispy pancakes, grilled chicken skewers and a mango & shrimp salad. Then we got to eat what we made. It was all delicious & such fun. Marty was a good sport about it. He agreed to this activity because he knew I would love it. Don’t expect to see him cooking any time soon. 😃. Here’s the spring roll:
In the afternoon we were driven to the 4th century Cham religious sanctuary of My Son. This is the group whose museum we went to yesterday. The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage site located in a beautiful green valley surrounded by mountains about an hour south of Hoi An. The temple ruins are in poor shape, but still quite impressive. American bombing during the war destroyed a lot of the buildings. Only 20 structures remain of the original 68.
Back at the hotel we participated in the Vietnamese version of Rosh Hodesh!! Today started the new moon. The custom is to take a small candle in a paper holder, make a wish and place it in the river. It was really pretty to see them all floating down the river. Unfortunately, the sky was totally overcast & cloudy so the moon itself was not visible. Other than that, it was the perfect ending to a lovely day.
That’s it for now. Keep those comments coming.
❤️
Irene
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