Today, we went to what is referred to as the Vietnamese Angkor Wat...It's not...the Americans bombed the shit out of it during the war...it was a VC stronghold, controlling most of the area around Da Nang...the largest US airbase in Vietnam during the war, and currently an international airport. Not much was left of My Son...the Vietnamese pronounce it Mason...no, really! So we did the tourist thing and got on the BIG BUS! I've never really talked about horns in Vietnam because a certain number of unsavory characters read this blog...which is a credit to them...I didn't think they could read. Horns 101...in Vietnam, honk anytime you like. Honk when you get in the vehicle to announce control over the machine...honk when it starts...honk when it first moves, and frequently thereafter...honk if you think someone might step off the curb...honk if they don't...honk if a water buffalo has strayed into the road...honk if it's still in the field...honk twice if you fart...once if you don't...honk if you see people, dogs, cats, scooters, cars, buses, trucks, birds, signs, airplanes, trees, houses....especially someone you know! Honk if you think someone is thinking something that you should honk at. The number one rule of the road in Vietnam...HONK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our neighbor Eli came home from Vietnam last year...sat in his car, in his carport, and honked his horn because he missed Vietnam...Ok, he's an idiot, but you catch my drift.
So, we got in the BIG BUS...he had air horns...when he honks the horn, it's like calling in an airstrike...everything clears off the road...peoples ears bleed...HOOOOOOONNNNNKKKKKK! At the end of the honkfest, we pull into the parking lot at My Son (did I say Mason?, I meant Lipshits), what do we see but this beautiful pond...complete with water lilies...
...and because it's been raining, lily pads with big water drops...
...the ruins are quite small, and (for the most part) un-restored...Vietnam is a poor country....
...bomb craters were everywhere, but full of vegetation...Cassandra explores in her spectacular Tyvek raincoat!
...there was a dog that had the run of the place...maybe the security guard's (right)...
...not much carving left...here is a small 12" detail...
...some of the ruins had displays inside...
...some were just empty rooms with one window, and a door...
It occurs to me that english is a very difficult language to master. The Vietnamese have figured most of the key words out...come to my restaurant, it's very good....buy something in my shop today...love you long time daddy....stuff like that. You have to admit....Mr. Corona is very smart, he can speak english much good! But you knew that, didn't you...hehehehehehe. Ya know, as I write this, you are a day behind...I'm so smart!
Our last night in Hoi An, dinner at the Morning Glory Restaurant...
...after an excellent dinner, we walked around town...found the tide was in, and the water was getting high...
...and the last night in our little hotel...
...Da Nang, here we come!
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