A month in Hoi An

[GarrettM]

We do continue to have plenty of positive moments though. Neither of the kids wanted to head out last night, but we eventually coaxed them into it. And we had a delicious roadside noodle soup.

 

[GarrettM]

A slight mishap today, as Dingo Deli was closed when we arrived. So we took a bit of a walk to the busy part of town and ate at Home Taste.
Conspicuously more expensive than most other places as it's right on the river, but not exorbitant or anything. Hell even the boy ate a curry.
We also had some canine company.

 

[GarrettM]

And some pics from the walk, which was really our first proper excursion on foot through the popular areas during the day.




More interesting power solutions.


I am contemplating getting a leather jacket. This one would be handy.

 

[GarrettM]

Enjoyed a little solo walk this afternoon to visit the Martyrs' Cemetery of Hoi An. Only a kilometre or so from our villa.
It honours, and is the resting place of, many of the fallen men and women who hailed from Hoi An and surrounds. Not just during the Vietnam War (theAmerican War as it's called here), but also in conflicts during French colonial times dating back more than 120 years.
Seems to be set out in a baroque style. Big cenotaph and matching gazebos, with row upon row of tombs.


The view from the entrance.


Not sure what exactly you'd call this. Nor did I have any clue what it said. I've taken the liberty of turning to Google Translate for a partial rendition, but I obviously can't vouch for accuracy.

CURVED

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Cua Doi, Hoai River

Cu Lao, Hoi An

Charming scene

Heroic person

One- time trading port

Old town forever

Nguyen Duy Hieu raised the banner of the Righteous Association, wielding the sword of the Royalist movement to strike fear into the enemy; in the execution ground, he defiantly wrote poetry, his righteous words shining brightly across the mountains and rivers. Chau Thuong Van embraced the winds of the Reform movement, his democratic doctrines terrifying the enemy; in prison, he calmly went on a hunger strike, his broom shining like the moon and stars.

Determined to shatter slavery, the resurgence of the Communist Party, a misguided force, to crush the shackles of oppression, a day of reconstruction, Ho Chi Minh leads the way.

In the autumn of the fourth year, that amount of work covered hundreds of regions. On the night of the 17th of the first month, under the golden star, the deity was everywhere.

"The voice of the mountains and rivers resounds... BETTER TO SACRIFICE EVERYTHING... I" Old and young alike blazed with the spirit of meritorious service: men and women were filled with the fervent spirit of saving the country; potatoes and seeds were snatched from the enemy's hands; street corners and village entrances were stained red with the blood of innocent civilians. Secret tunnels sheltered cadres and provided supplies to the battlefield. Homemade mines were used to destroy enemy boats; rudimentary guns were used to destroy enemy outposts and fortifications. The fire of Dien Bien Phu, the total destruction of the provincial capital, the liberation of Thong Dang prison, the devastation of Kho Dau wharf... together with the whole country, we achieved victory.

Tears still wet behind my eyes, yet I swallow more resentment than at Ben Hai Hien Luong... My head still covered in white mourning cloth, I also swallow the bitterness of Vinh Trinh and Cho Duoc...

Unable to sit idly by, the indomitable spirit ignited the flames of struggle for the truth: "VIETNAM IS ONE..." They fought fiercely, breaking through prison barriers, joining the South in eradicating evil and destroying the system: with bamboo sticks and homemade guns, barefoot and bareheaded, they took up arms in the night of the uprising. Living the revolutionary life, they shook the cities, determined to charge forward with Da Nang and Saigon... the land and people shouted in unison, charging forward, villages and towns united in the fight against the Americans.

Offering up to Mother Mary, reaching high to block the chains of the bicycle.

My sister's tribe drooled as they turned their guns on the enemy.

The prison was overrun, the district capital was razed to the ground.

The naval vessels were wrecked, and the fort was completely destroyed.

The sky over Phuoc Trach was ablaze with dark clouds.

The land of Tra Que is a mix of pink and white sand.

Water and land, flat plains, corpses lying exposed in the Seven- Acre Coconut Forest

In the years of Mau Than and Ky Dau, guns roared over the city's strongholds.

The final battle shook the four corners of the earth with thunder.

The fatal blow to the roots of the heart.

The flag of victory flies over the streets of Hoi An.

A triumphant song sung in the spring...

Thirty years of unwavering loyalty and steadfast commitment; half a century of fulfilling the vow of liberation.

The glorious land of heroes - a legacy etched in history.

A radiant homeland of culture and heritage.

Recalling those rainy nights, trenches sharing fire, and dark bunkers without food.

Dien Ban - Duy Xuyen - Thang Binh... Comradeship remains strong.

With the lingering warmth of many scorching days, the rice grains need to be in pairs, the pill needs to be discarded.

Hoi An - Thanh Hoa - Hai Phong... True brotherhood.

When we set out, we slept under the open sky, determined to sacrifice ourselves. When we returned, flowers and lanterns were hung, mourning those who were gone!

 

[GarrettM]

More pics. The base of the monument has four scenes in bas relief, which I assume display the history of Hoi An and its military and social importance.

 

[GarrettM]

A panoramic shot from the base of the cenotaph out to the tombs.


One of the gazebos, which contain marble engravings of the fallen martyrs.


Not surprisingly there are hundreds of hundreds of names.



These names honour the heroic mothers of Vietnam.

 

[GarrettM]

Hundreds of identical tombs laid out in a grid. Some fancier ones at the rear of the grounds.



A handful had more personal tributes. Not sure how long they'd been there.


I saw a groundskeeper leave and I knew I was the only person in the cemetery, so I was a tad shocked when I heard a voice behind some palm trees. Turns out someone had left a speaker on this tomb. The red bowl looking thing. Could be several reasons for doing so I suppose. Might have been there a while it looked a tad weather worn.


A view back the cenotaph.


And again through the small pines.


And then it was time to walk back home. Across the road from the cemetery is a school, and the kids were finishing dor the day. It was scooter mayhem.

 

[drron]

You are doing a wonderful job with those kids. They are learning a lot when she changed schools and went to high school.that they wouldn't get in any school. We took our son to Asia a few times and he has done the same with his children.
Our eldest granddaughter was on the spectrum. It changed when she changed schools and went to high school. She really blossomed and planned her study and stuck with the plan. So in her higher school certificate she got an ATAR score of 99.90 and is guaranteed entry into medicine. A high proportion of medicos I have known were neurospicy.

Those kids are going to do well. You can tell them I think they are very lucky and have great parents.

 

[GarrettM]

We've had a big day trip and overnight excursion to My Son Sanctuary and the nearby My Son Heritage Resort. I'll mention the resort first.
We have a family suite, which is really one big room with two beds separated by a 3/4 length wall. Totally adequate for us for a night. Also a "private" balcony overlooking the generously sized pool.





The view out to the road.



The view from our balcony back to the main building.


The hotel foyer.


Walking the corridor.

 

[GarrettM]

We just came back from the buffet breakfast, which was about what we expected. Again, adequate without being more. We were expecting stuff we could eat and that's it.

It's kind of like this is an imitation resort. They've copied what's been done elsewhere and planted it here. It also seems new, with things that aren't finished, but also shows signs of longterm wear. Here's a close look at the exposed cabling in our bathroom for instance.


There's also bugger all people staying here as far as I can tell. We've seen maybe a dozen other people. I suspect most visitors to the sanctuary simply do day trips from Hoi An.

I'll share more of the sanctuary when I get back to some better wifi later. Got a lot of pics to get through.

 

[GarrettM]

The TV in the lobby essentially sums up the attention to detail on display here.

 

[AuSammy]

Some strange decor for VN. More what I would expect in Cambodia or India. [lobby & walkway]

 

[GarrettM]

Some strange decor for VN. More what I would expect in Cambodia or India. [lobby & walkway]

I wonder if that's due to the connection to the sanctuary, which recognises the ancient Indian heritage of the area.

Speaking of,

My Son Sanctuary

You can hit the UNESCO site for the full info as I would no doubt butcher the facts. But in brief this region was once controlled by the Champa Dynasty originating from India. They reigned for almost a millenia from the 4th to the 13th century.

The site now is mostly recreated based on various excavations and studies over the past few decades. But remnants of original structures remain where they weren't destroyed by time, conquering peoples, or American bombing.

The entrance, once you've secured tickets.


Walking across the bridge to grab the buggy up the hill.

On the buggy.


We decided to splurge on a guide, rather than waste energy on the tour explainer app. I think she cost 50,000VND and she was worth every bit. We got way more info than we would have managed ourselves.

We also stoppep to take in some traditional entertainment.


Before arriving at the actual ruins.

 

[GarrettM]

The site is divided into many individual groupings of buildings, all built originally over various centuries. In the past 20 years or so research teams - mostly European and Indian - have been coming back to study, map, date, and recreate the structures as close to their original form as possible.

I won't get bogged down in what each "temple" was for, mostly because I'vealready forgotten. But they existed in groups of three which was quite important for the Champa people.



The Champa built with local clay and sandstone, using tree resin wixed with clay dust as a mortar. If you look at the structures the areas where there is no moss are all the original elements. Apparently the clay brick and mortar was seamless and totally waterproof so the moss couldn't take hold. All the moss and darker bits are recreations, either the current works or stuff done post Champa. I'm not sure of the mix.

 

[GarrettM]

Some of the buildings are surprisingly large inside, and their interiors resemble pyramids, which means the walls at the top are thick.

Our guide told us the Champa settled in this valley because they believed the nearby mountain was holy. They worshipped the Trimurti of Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. That is the extent of my Hindu knowldedge I admit. In any case they positioned themselves to take advantave of what they considered a holy stream which comes down the mountains and forms or joins the Thu Bon which flows on through Hoi An.



This is the base for one of thr columns that existed in this courtyard.

Here be one of said columns. Very Roman in design.

 

[GarrettM]

They used Sanskrit here, but only the Champa king was allowed literacy we were told.
Quaint.


We went into the biggest of the structures in this group, which houses a number of found artefacts from the site. Some of which used to be on the roof.



This particular relief is more than 700 years old, and they just let people like me touch it. Remarkable.


I mentioned the damage done during the war.
The hills near here were used by the Viet revolutionaries as a base, and so there w as a lot of American bombing across the region. And teams spent years afterwards getting rid of unexploded stuff, as well as numerous landmines. Several people died in the process. Some of the remnants remain on site, both in the form of physical reminders.


And in the impact they made on the ground. Although that's a little harder to show in pics. There are several craters across the grounds, intentionally left as is.



In the couple hours we spent in the sanctuary we only explored one group of buildings, but there are more than a dozen similar to be looked at. We were content with our explorations, and the kids were keen to test out that resort pool, so we returned to the hotel.

 

[AuSammy]

Some of the buildings are surprisingly large inside, and their interiors resemble pyramids, which means the walls at the top are thick.

Our guide told us the Champa settled in this valley because they believed the nearby mountain was holy. They worshipped the Trimurti of Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. That is the extent of my Hindu knowldedge I admit. In any case they positioned themselves to take advantave of what they considered a holy stream which comes down the mountains and forms or joins the Thu Bon which flows on through Hoi An.
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This is the base for one of thr columns that existed in this courtyard.View attachment 488367

Here be one of said columns. Very Roman in design.
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Ah, the Champa, explains a lot. Fascinating.

Added to my to do list. Been to Hoi An three times but not out to My Son.

 

[GarrettM]

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Dunno if this will work, but it's a link to my Instagram which includes a video of the hotel gateman singing a song for us on his guitar. He got me to play also, and I largely froze before opting for something simple and obvious. He filmed me and posted to his facebook. Maybe I have a future gigging in Vietnam bars. Or maybe not.

 

[drron]

I have visited the My Son ruins on a day visit from Da Nang. Our guide for the visit did not mention any thing about the American bombing. But he was a teacher whose father fought for the South so he could not get a teaching job. his wife had a teaching job at a good high school. Her father had fought with the Viet Cong.

We first went to Vietnam in the early 2000s. We arranged it through a Viet travel agency and we had a car,driver and guide to take us from saigon to Hue. The guide changed in Hoi An. He stayed with us until we flew from Hue to Hanoi. He had been a pilot in the South Vietnamese President's Squadron and spent 8 years in re education camps. It didn't work. In hue we went to the hue Imperial city and our guide tagged along with a couple of English speaking groups so we could hear the official version. It was about the damage caused by the American counter attack.
Our guide had flown an A10 as part of the cover for the Americans in that battle. He said the Americans attacked across the river so if they were responsible for the damage wouldn't it be worse on the walls facing the river. It wasn't. Around the other side the damage was much more severe. He said the Americans knew the Vietcong wanted to destroy the Imperial City and blame the Americans.

But winners write the official history.