So after our big rest 3 to a bed, we woke up refreshed and ready to take on the day. We had missed breakfast already so we took leisurely showers/baths and then ate downstairs in the hotel restaurant. It was all decked out like there should be a wedding there and it made us all laugh a little bit.
Chuck and Caitlin headed out of Danang for Hoi An to check into our new resort and go to My Son while the rest of us got ready for a day at the beach. Chuck and Caitlin checked into the new hotel which was very interesting, but nice and then went and toured an ancient temple grounds about an hour outside of Hoi An in the jungle. They had artifacts and lots to explore out there and both of them loved every second of it. I think if we had come a year or two later, that site would have been way different. They just have artifacts laying around that you can walk right up to and touch. I bet it will be some sort of museum or something soon.
The rest of us got a cab and had him take us to China Beach. It was so nice. We saw some of the traditional basket boats on the beach and walked all the way down to the original resort we were supposed to stay at. We got a cabana there and played in the ocean and then swam in the pool for a little while. We had to have some more taro and coconut ice cream after all that playing outside before we headed down to Hoi An. Kathryn and I are going to miss that stuff.
We headed down to Hoi An and went to silk road to do some shopping. Chase got a kick out of taxi because it couldn't idle. If we weren't moving forward it stalled. This isn't really unusual. We came upon the silk factory there and they gave tours so we took one, but not before I got the "Delhi Belly" as the Indian people here say. I did spend a while in the silk factories one stall restroom with no toilet paper. I had to use the butt rinser which thrilled Cori. I think she's going to make us install one when we get home. It's just basically a hose with a vegetable sprayed at the end of it. Moving on, we toured the silk factory from baby silk worms to weaving the fabric and it was super interesting. We also saw the amazing embroidery work that they were doing. Some of the pictures they were making took two people up to 8 months to complete. I just can't imagine going to work to work on one picture every day for 8 months!
We left the silk factory in a little bit of a hurry because of my belly and headed to the hotel. When we pulled in, let's just say it didn't have any curb appeal. The lobby was nice which gave us hope. We had to walk along the trail to our room past the pool and it was very tropical. The whole time Cori kept saying " this isn't our hotel. Let's go back to where we slept last night". We've taken to calling her little Emily - sorry Emily! Once we got into the room and Chase broke the toilet paper roll by climbing in the window, we realized that it was in fact very, very nice. Unusual, but nice. There was a window with no glass, but just shutters separating the bathroom from the bedroom. There were three twin beds - two right next to each other and one down a few stairs ... Also, we had two of the rooms facing the back of the property so we overlooked someone's little farm complete with farm animals. That darn rooster crowed/roostered/cockadoodled what ever you say ALL NIGHT LONG. They also had dogs that howled all night. It was kinda in the country so during the day, the side gate was opened and you could walk right out into some rice fields which was cool. We are still a little bit puzzled about the rice and how it grows/is harvested, but we're working on that. We ate dinner on the roof that night at a japanese style raised platform table. It was good, but just as we were finishing dinner, the largest grasshoppers you have ever seen started hopping around the roof. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but the wait staff got excited and began harvesting them and putting them into a baggie. They didn't eat them in front of us ...
We booked a snorkeling trip out to Cham Island for the next morning. We woke up and enjoyed some breakfast before going. They swung by and picked us up in a little bus and we went down to the dock. There were 18 of us total - 3 divers, a dozen or so snorkelers and some spectators. It was definitely not a speed boat and the sea was a little bit off flat so of course Chase got sea sick. He was sitting over by the rail in the very first seat and I see him start to look sick. I told him to go to the back of the boat and he was very put out by that. The boy has thrown up on every boat he's ever been on - I don't know why he can't remember to do it at the back of the boat yet!! We arrived at the first snorkeling site soon after that and it was pretty. Not the best snorkeling I've ever seen, but nice. The sea was the exact right temperature and the perfect color of turquoise. Soon after we got in the water, we noticed stinging sensations. Nothing too serious, but stinging none the less. That's when we noticed that there were jellyfish about the size of half of the palm of your hand. We snorkeled around getting stung from time to time, but after the third sting, Cori had had enough. To tell you how mild they were, she didn't cry or really complain even too much, but she didn't like the sensation either. She and I got back on the boat and the people there once again doted over her. They rinsed her off with the fresh water and even combed out her hair. They also gave her 5 ankle bracelets which she is still wearing. Then she and I laid down in the shade on the boat and napped for 15-20 minutes. The kids and Chuck jumped off the second story of the boat a few times. Kathryn stood up there for quite awhile, but chickened out ... you had to step over a rail and balance on the edge to jump off. We picked up and moved to a second snorkeling spot. Yeah - no jellies! Cori rode on my back and put her face in the water and we snorkeled like that for awhile. I'm sure it looked pretty funny, but it worked for us! She loved seeing the starfish the most I think. They were the brightest blue. We picked up again and went to a beach for a barbeque next. We were starving at that point and I was glad I had smuggled two big slices of bread out of breakfast for Cori as she couldn't wait. The barbeque was really good. It wasn't a back home barbecue though. We had noodles, sticky rice, whole fish cooked in foil, some water spinach (which Cori can't seem to eat enough of the way it's prepared here), spicy calamari, and some egg type thing. Oh - they also served fish tail soup, but only Chase ate some of that. We then relaxed on the beach for awhile before heading back.
When we got back to the resort, we jumped in the pool for a minute and then took showers for our flight to Saigon (preferred here to Ho Chi Minh City).
I'll have to update our flight from Danang to Saigon and our day here in Saigon later as we're off to the market now.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Love, Kristen
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