Xin Chao!
I've been in Vietnam for a week now. I'm going from South to North. I started in Saigon and I'm in Hoi An right now. I love it here. It's a great place to relax, and there are plenty of wonderful things to see. I didn't stay in Nha Trang for very long. I only was there for a day. I didn't see much of the beach, but it was very beautiful. I went diving and then I went out at night. Diving wasn't as good as it was at Ko Pi Pi in Thailand. But I did see a moray eel and an octopus. And now I am certified to dive in Open Water. I won't ever dive without a dive master though. I don't feel confident enough to do that, and it's good to always dive with someone who knows the local waters anyway.
I met a guy from China. He was really nice, and he spoke English well. He insisted that we had to visit China.
He saw that I was reading a book about China and he said we have a proverb in China: "It is better to walk 10 kilometers than to read 10,000 books about a place."
I agree. I would love to visit China. I'll make it to Hong Kong, but I won't be able to visit the mainland in the near future. Our Chinese friend lives a short distance from Hong Kong. We may see him again. He might also visit us in Bangkok.
As I said, I've really enjoyed my time in Hoi An. So far I've gone on two tours. Yesterday we went on a tour of the old city. We saw temples that were mostly decorated in Chinese Buddhist style. One had ornate dragon statues made of shiny, colorful pieces of glass.
The city has retained much of its identity from its ancient past. It used to be a major port of trade for merchants from China and other places about two centuries ago. Then the rivers dried up. This helped preserve its heritage. We learned some of the history at a museum and also at an ancient house that has been owned by one family for centuries.
Today I went on a tour of My Son. The Cham people built temples when they lived in the area from the 4th to the 13th century. The place was left in ruins from bombing during the Vietnamese-American War. They worshiped Hindu gods. It was a fascinating place. Archaeologists still cannot explain how the temples were held together.
Then we went on a boat to a pottery village. I had a chance to try to make some pottery on a spinning wheel. My bowl turned out half-decent. It was very difficult, but the village people made it look so easy. Then we went to a woodcraft village and saw carpenters making ships, furniture, statues and all sorts of beautiful crafts.
Tomorrow I'll see China Beach and the Marble Mountains. Then I'll take a cooking course in the evening. All this sounds expensive, but it is not beyond my budget. Things are very cheap here. We are staying Hoi An a day longer than we planned because we were unable to get sleeper beds on a train to Hanoi. There are worse places to get stranded in. No one is complaining. We may even go to a lunar festival tonight.
During my trip I've seen many beautiful Vietnamese women, but I'm not advertising that I'm single. The Vietnamese people like to play matchmakers. They don't understand why anyone doesn't have someone else. A bartender claimed he was a fortune teller and he said Cyndi and I would be a great couple. She's one of my friends traveling with us. It was funny because he said that Andrew Ross, my Aussie friend, would not be a good match for her. He got upset when Cyndi told Andrew. He didn't want Andrew to feel bad. He denied it. Then he told Cyndi that fortunes are not supposed to be shared. Fortunes about the heart are a secret.
Well I've gotta go. There is still a lot of time left tonight to go out.
I'll write again soon.
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