Vietnam - Hoi An - the middle

We moved onto the central part of Vietnam - flying to Danang and then driving on to Hoi An. This was the area where the North and South divide of old V had occurred so it was a changing point of views in Vietnam - we had strongly communist views and also some alternative views expressed for the first time. Danang was also where the US army landed during the V war and where the soldiers did R&R on the beach. Whereas the north had been coldish - the middle was warm and balmy! Hoi An was a stylish old town on the coast and with rivers through the town (a tiny Venice) that had had Chinese and Japanese traders living there for centuries - and the houses and temples are classy and styled by each culture along the very narrow cobbled streets and canals. About 30 years ago the japanese were told they had to go home and so all the Japanese left and then in 1990's chinese left so now a historical town lived in by wealthy vietnamese - the town has a lovely feel to it and a very different one to the hustle and bustle of Hanoi.

We toured the temples - Chinese, Japanese, Buddhist etc... and had tea in one of the old Japanese houses - cultured Vietnam had arrived. We visited the silk factory and the kids made lanterns and learnt how silk worms created the silk. We saw one of Chinas first newspapers from the 1600's - a daily typeface newspaper carved out of wood for each daily edition! (Who said Rupert Murdoch invented newspapers!).

The next day it was pouring with rain so we decided to go on a covered boat trip and find a fisherman for the boys to go fishing with. After a tour around the rivers, we found a fisherman in his wooden canoe. Our guide negotiated and Sam and Toby were despatched on the canoe in pouring rain (the first time we have used our lightweight rain macs that we have carried around the world for 6 months!) The fishing hour was not very successful but one small fish was caught - this fisherman made an average of $5 a day on a good fishing day and this day he made a bit more than that but did not catch much! It was an experience for us all to see a trade in action which earned the fisherman a living - even if sometimes it was very frugal. An essay was written by the boys about a day in the life of a Vietnamese fisherman which were both very good!

We learned a bit more about the politics of the country from various guests in the hotel. The communist party still keeps a strong feeling in the middle of the country. We left to find out about the final bit of Vietnam - in the south.