And then there was rain...

Since our last uptdate we said our farewells to Hanoi and the north and have been making our way down the coast. Another overnight sleeper train brought us to Dong Hoi, a less touristy costal town with a river running through it. During dinner one night we noticed a table of vietnamese men toasting over and over and we decided to join in for one, and then another, and another, and another.... We were in over our heads. No matter how hard we resisted the men forced beer in our glasses and we then had to go bottoms up everytime. Through heavy drinking and gesturing, hand-shaking, and paper-napkin drawing the men communicated peace between our nations. In an attempt to express peace, one man said to me: "I love you i want to kiss you!"

From Dong Hoi we traveled down to Hue, a city full of art and architecture. We arrived to pouring rain and were told we could not go to our area of choice as it was knee deep in water. After the rain let up, we spent the next couple days biking around to historical sights. We visited many important and beautiful citadels and temples, as well as war sights and memorials. Over half of the people from Hue live within a Citadel, built next to the river. Part of an interior citadel was ruined during the war but efforts are being made to rebuild the beauitful walls.

A short bus ride from Hue took us to Hoi An. Hoi An has become a rather touristy town due to its beautiful and ancient buildings. It has also become a huge market place and it is hard to go half a block without seeing beautiful lanterns for sale or being asked if you would like a tailor made suit. It's hard to pass up the option of getting clothes of your liking made to measure, especially seeing as every block has at least a dozen different tailor shops. We arrived in Hoi An to rain, which continued for 3 days. During this time the river, which splits the town, flooded the riverside roads and some cafes. Though some streets had at least a foot of water, everyday business did not stop. We got used to dragging our pedals through the river-filled streets as we biked from place to place. To be cliche, think about the rain, rain, and more rain in Forest Gump scene. Big and heavy rain drops, hard windy rain, or sheets of water coming from the sky. The center of Hoi Ann is known as Old Town which in which only primitive traffic is allowed. The streets here are lined with beautiful old yellow buildings with dark wooden buttressing as well as colorful fabrics and foods. On the fourth day the rain was gone and we scootered up the coast- along the 30km long white sands of China Beach- to Marble mountain. This was a beautiful outcroped mountain of craggy limestone, marble, and jungle. We ventured through various caves and passageways, arriving at temples, pagodas, and shrines. At the base of marble mountain are dozens upon dozens of hand-carved marble shops selling hundreds of beautifully carved items in every shape, size, and color. We were able to empty our wallets here quite easily. Another day and a half were easily spent swimming in the waves and soaking up the sun on Cau Dai beach just outside of Hoi An. Under the palms of the beach were women selling cold beer, coconuts, and anything else you could possible want during a day at the beach.

Having spent many days in Hoi An, we decided it was time to move further town the coast to a beach town, Na Trang. We took a 12 hour overnight "sleeper" bus. (Each person was given a skinny bed that nearly fully reclined and a blanket for the journey.) We arrived to rain (of course) but can tell this town should be interesting.