The rain subsided with minor drizzled. We rang Dan Arif's room,
met them downstairs, and requested for map and directions from the hotel
reception. We rented 6 bicycles with locks, and started to cycle towards the
first junction. Since it was dark, we turned on the dynamo and cycled with
beam. I tell you, at this point of moment, I felt like PocketRocketMan! Hahaha!
Keras jer peha! You know what, Pak Ein and his wife are better than me in this coz they have their own mountain bikes at home and cycles 2-5km every month! (My brother is a hardcore fan of bicycle.)
After few left and right turns, we had to stop due to Aqram,
Dan Arif’s bro, had difficulties. Pak Ein advised him not to carry on for his
safety. So he decided to return back to hotel and rest. We then continued
looking for direction to town and stopped over at one shop, to ask for the
correct way. It happened that the shop sells plastic ware, so we grabbed 4
pieces of Tupperware for instant noodles back in the hotel.
I then asked for the direction from but they hardly understand
and hardly know how to direct us. The shop helper then went out from the shop
and stood next to hubby. Without saying anything, he pointed straight, left, then one unique action that
we barely understood. It took us 5 minutes to figure out what the action was,
till Dan Arif suddenly guessed it right “Ohhhhh junctionnnnn!”
Hahahaha!
We continued cycled and reached the said junction. Vehicles
were now everywhere, compared to those alleys where we came from. They were
honking here and there all the time, showing that we were 100% confirmed, in
Vietnam. And what we had, just that little silver round ice-cream-bell that
produced “kring kringggg” sound. Loser. Hahaha!
At the Pan Chu Trinh junction, Dan Arif quickly checked his
Google Map and led the way, where we finally approached the ancient town.
Souvenirs shops were in lines, alongwith local choices of shoes, apparels, and
what not.
We cycled into one of the alley and saw one ticket booth
with two entrance guards in uniform. The signboard showed that it is the way to
the ancient town of Hoi An. I approached the booth and right away asked for 5
tickets (VND90,000 each). The ticket is valid for visiting 6 cultural places
that you can choose from 18 sightseeing options, like bridges, temples, old
houses, museums, halls, and workshops. Since we had listed out our options, we
cycled towards the night walk area, where we saw hundreds of colorful lantern
before us. “Let’s go there!”
While cycling in the dark, we saw other tourists walked
behind us. They passed the entrance booth, without paying any! We were like, huh? No
need to pay ke?? How come the guard just let them in? I quickly looked at the
ticket and it was written down there, in italic, “Thank you for your donation
to maintaining the ancient town of Hoi An – the world cultural heritage.”
The exact sentence. Pfft!
Fine. Anything to save the world heritage. Take! Take!
At the end of the alley, we saw locals and tourists loitering
around, some were holding lantern, some were eating by the riverside, and some
were singing/dancing, more or less having their best night life, I guessed. Since
this area is a walking street, we parked our bicycles at one corner and locked
them up.
We then headed to the lively and shiny bridge where locals
hung colorful lanterns at both sides, in celebrating Full Moon festival. They also offered small lanterns to
tourist (with small fee), to let it go into the river, resembling letting go
your wishes. Local boat operators were also calling out for tourist, to enjoy
night boat ride. Among the lanterns, I saw Malaysian flag on it. Next to it was
Israel flag. Dang.
Dan Arif quickly setup the tripod and took few shots for his
video. It was indeed, beautiful ancient town by the river that mirrored the buildings
and lights, perfectly. Later, we lined up and snapped group photos and enjoyed
the scene.
“Where’s the Japanese Bridge?” Hubby asked. He was dying to
see this bridge, since the day we came to Hoi An.
“I don’t think this is it. The bridge is covered and more
antique.” I explained how the bridge should look like, since I was the one who
compiled the info in our Tour Cookbook.
“It might be covered only when it rains.” He added.
“Definitely not! It should be non-convertible…” I confirmed.
And so we looked for it.
8 comments:
Hamboi banyaqknya lantern!
heheh
naik beskal tuh
hahaha
best weh
ekersais kekdahnyer
aishh..bunyi loceng 'kring kring' tu yg inzal bibik oii...igt senang nak dpt bunyi camtu skang ni...hehehe
korang naik ke boat waktu memalam... sure cun gila kari babas...
Ehem....
keadaan dan cuaca pada saat ini... lantern bagai...
tetiba teringat cite james bond skyfall.. hahaha...
boleh naik ke sampan sambil dikelilingi oleh lantern semua tu?
Ya Allah, fefeling sgt nak merasa... sobs.
cantik Hoi An ni utk night photog huhuhuhu
dia jual murah murah ke x?
janggel, banyak sgt! hahaha!
anash, mmg, letih gak tu tapi best sbb berangin :D
hulubalang, buduhhhhhhh hahahaha bunyi kring2 pun ko inzal! kitorang tak naik boat pun, maunyer buaya nganga sedapppppp jer hahaha!
fida, tak tgk lagi cite tuuuuu! cis! bleh naik tapi tak tanya lak bape rega. diorang ada la lambai2, tapi gelap! ko nak merasa?
na, aah mcm cantik gak sbb berlampu2...
meng, jual pe? lantern? aku tak tanya plak hahahaha.
Thanks great bloog post
Post a Comment