The Marble Mountains
After Hue it was on to Hoi An, with a brief stop at the Marble Mountains. Our stopover was way too short, and it was compounded by the fact that Joe and I went into the wrong mountain. Each of the Marble Mountains is named after one of the five fundamental elements - Water, Metal, Wood, Fire, and Earth. Apparently, the Water Mountain is the most popular and is where the best sights are located, primarily Huyen Khong Cave. This particular cave is quite a sight because light penetrates the cave through large holes in the cavern ceiling. This mountain also boasts several statues of Buddha and other figures, pagodas, grottoes, temples, the "Simply Stunning Sea View," and the "Five-Mountain View."
This all sounds great, but unfortunately Joe and I missed out on all of it because we went into the wrong mountain. Despite this mixup, the mountain that we did explore was amazing in its own right, featuring huge caverns (one had holes in the ceiling, so we did get a smaller dose of the lightshow that Huyen Khong Cave offers) and myriad marble statues of warriors and Buddhas. After a treacherous climb up a long iron ladder to a hole in the cave wall, we were also rewarded with a stunning view of the surroundings. Those suckers who went to the Water Mountain don't know what they missed out on...
Hoi An
Hoi An town itself is simply charming. It's been described to me as a village of tailors, and that description was entirely accurate. Despite its small size, the town is home to over a hundred quality tailoring and clothing shops. The main streets inside town are lined with either tailoring shops, art galleries, or restaurants. It doesn't seem like anything else exists in Hoi An. Joe and I went on a four day shopping spree in Hoi An and ended up with an 8 kilogram box of clothing to ship home. The tailored clothing was excellent quality and the price was right. The largest expense was the cost of shipping all of our clothes home - 265 USD.
I can now empathize with women and their love of shopping. Yes, I can empathize, but I still think it's crazy. Plus, in my defense, part of what was going through my mind at the time was that this one shopping spree could hopefully tide me over for at least another year or two, thus making future shopping ordeals completely unnecessary (and entirely avoidable).
Joe at one of the many fitting sessions at Yaly.
Many thanks to Yaly Couture for the great suits!
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