Da Nang and Hoi An

I spent the second day with the same guide but this time in Da Nang and Hoi An. Da Nang can be reached from Hue by way of the new German tunnel and is the home of Marble Mountain. At the base of which are many marble factories, the largest of which I bought some carved lanterns. Wow the detail and craftsmanship is amazing. On the top of Marble Mountain is a pagoda and hidden temple in the caves. My guide could walk through the caves no problem, but I was constantly ducking to avoiding banging my head. Of course this led to much laughter from other people (haha short people) that were in the caves. I tried to get a laughing soldier to take a foto with me but no deal. I think he was very afraid to stand by the 'giant'. My guide told me that they liked the 'decorations' on my shirt. Funny!

I saw some amazing silk embroidery art work, so I visited the factory where they made everything from the silk (yup from the worms) to the amazing artists recreating the pictures from a photo or whatever.

After lunch we went to Hoi An to see the old colonial houses of the Japanese and Chinese traders. One family operates there house as a tourist stop and will take a tea with visitors and show them the house. It was very nice. To arrive to the house we crossed the Chua Cau or the Japanese bridge housing a tiny temple and guarded by a pair of monkey's. The Japanese built the bridge in the 17th century to trade with Vietnamese and Chinese on the other side of the river.