Rolling Down the Highway

Today Tom and I traveled down a portion of the original Ho Chi Minh trail on the back of a Honda 150cc motorcycle. I just couldn't help it but I found myself singing the words to "Born to Be Wild" the whole way. We elected to have two young men sit in the drivers seat for this ride. They were very experienced drivers and well acquainted with the area so all we had to do was hold on and enjoy ourselves.

We got up early in the morning to beat the heat and anyone else who might have the same idea that we did. It was lovely to feel the cool breeze and the serenity  of the the rural countryside.  The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a complex web of different jungle paths that enabled communist troops to travel from North Vietnam to areas close to Saigon during the Vietnam war. Now, there is a  Ho Chi Minh Highway that runs along the coastline connecting North Vietnam to South Vietnam.

We also stopped at the Champas historical site, My Son. The My Sơn temple complex is regarded as one of the foremost Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia and is the most noteworthy heritage site  in Vietnam. It is often compared with other historical temple complexes in Southeast Asia such as Angkor Wat of Cambodia and Ayutthaya of Thailand.  In1999, My Son was recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. It's name translates to "Beautiful Mountain".

We ate lunch at a home/roadside kitchen with our friends. They were delightful and kind to us and we enjoyed being with them more than I could ever say. It added an element of excitement and adventure to our trip and we are forever thankful we had this time with them.

Hoi An is stunning at night and we made it home in time to enjoy the night life. The waterfront area lights up with colorful silk lanterns and children selling paper candles on the road side. It is alive and beautiful and no picture accurately depicts the beauty and excitement here.  We walk through the night life and then headed home after a long day.

Tomorrow we may ride our bikes over to the beach.  We head to Hanoi the beginning of next week so we want to get in as much of this area as possible…we will miss this lovely place.