Day 12: Sun 10 Nov - Quang Ngai to Hoian

- November 10, 2024

21-29 deg C

Ride: 26km

"Ride to My Lai, the site of one of the worst massacres of the War, and take a guided tour of the site and museum. Continue cycling into Vietnamese countryside and visit pagoda. Loop back through quiet, rural roads to the main highway. Transfer to Hoi An. The afternoon is free to explore Hoi An. Overnight in Hoi An. Hotel: Anio Boutique Hotel Hoian. Cycle: 50km”

We both had a very ordinary sleep due to various factors, mainly the traffic noise and both of us coughing. After a smaller than usual breakfast, we were riding away from the hotel just after 7:30am, through the traffic chaos of Quang Nai (not quite as bad as Da Lat though). We eventually found our way onto some quite roads and over the Co Luy Bridge to visit the Chùa Minh Đức Buddhist Temple and the Statue of Buddha Guan Vayin Bodhisattva that stands at 125m tall. She is not quite finished yet. We spent about an hour wandering and taking photos.

Minh Duc Pagoda has a 125m high statue of Buddha Quan Am. The construction of the statue's rough structure has been completed. This is the tallest statue of Buddha Quan Am in Vietnam, surpassing the statues on Ba Den Mountain (Tay Ninh) is 72m high and at Linh An Pagoda (Da Lat City) is 71m high. This statue also becomes the tallest Guanyin Buddha statue in Southeast Asia and is in the top tallest Guanyin Buddha statues world.

Back on the bikes for a short downhill run to the big, fat, and happy Buddha statue on Thien Ma Son; he was rather jovial-looking.

Back onto the road and down some side streets to the My Lai Massacre site, where 504 people (men, women, and children) were killed by US soldiers from Charli' Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, on March 16, 1968. Such a senseless loss of life, but being soldiers ourselves, we can see both sides of the story. If you are really interested, Google it.

Greg was starting to get worse, so decided to jump on the bus. Wendy joined him (and Bob and Mark) as she was just not enjoying the riding this time around. Mornos was had rather late, then the riding continued for those that wanted to, and the bus took the rest to lunch stop at a very local restaurant - the front yard of someone's house! It was probably the best meal Wendy has had all trip as it was very simple - rice and a roasted rooster leg (it was very tough and very skinny!)

From lunch it was another hour or so to the hotel, Anio Boutique Hotel Hoi Ann, and we were checked in to room #207 just after 4pm. A quick unpack then we hit the streets looking for a pharmacy for some more cough tablets. Job done, we were back in the room after 5pm.

We were collected at 6:30pm for dinner at Silk Village where we had two tables about as far apart as they could be. Greg stayed in bed, so Wendy dined with Bob, Ellen, and Ralph. We all had a great night discovering a little more about each other. Wendy was back at the hotel about 8pm.