Bicycling through Hoi An, Vietnam

Following our silk lantern experience, we hired two bicycle taxis to take us on a tour of some of the local spots. As you can see, it was a bit of a tight fit in the bicycle! It was also around 95 degrees and sunny, so it was also a little uncomfortable. Spoiler alert, we ended up only visiting two locations out of the 6 because the kids couldn't take the heat and needed to get back to the resort pool.

We first went to a shrine, I believe it was called the Tran Family Home & Chapel. We were given a brief tour and allowed to take pictures of everything. Basically, this is an old family home and is a good demonstration of ancestry-worship. There was a wall that had the names of the deceased family members hanging on the wall with incense and food offerings below. We were also shown coins that were used for "good luck". The coins were dated by the various dynasties that ruled throughout Vietnamese history. We were given the opportunity to toss the coins, with the goal trying to get a ying & a yang, meaning "good luck". We all achieved the ying & yang in our 3 alloted throws, so it looks like we are destined for great things :)

We then hoped back into the bicycles and headed towards the Japanese Covered Bridge. This bridge was built in the early 17th century by the Japanese to help with trade. It is said to be a symbol of cultural exchange between the Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese people. It now has a temple inside for worship for local people. The one end of the bridge is guarded by monkey statues and the other end of the bridge is guarded by dog statues. I read one account that stated this was because the bridge construction began in The Year of the Monkey and ended in The Year of the Dog, but I can not say that is a true fact with certainty. The architecture of the bridge represents both the misfortune and happiness of the local people, or ying & yang, according to the signage outside of the bridge.

Following the bridge, we hired a taxi to head back to the resort. I don't think have mentioned it yet, but we were very fortunate to be vacationing with our dear friends that we met in Hong Kong. They are actually relocating back to Ohio in a couple of weeks, so this was their last big vacation in Asia. They had rented a pool villa, so we hung out there swimming and chillaxin' in the afternoon. They have 3 kids that are older than ours, however, their kids are troopers and endured hours of playing and talking sports with ours :)

We then cooked and shared an Easter dinner with them in the evening. It was very nice to have a "holiday feel" and be able to spend some time celebrating with great friends. We absolutely love our life here, but it is difficult to be so far away from family and friends. Holidays can be a little bit of a let-down. We know that our families and friends are all together celebrating, while it's just another day here. However, this year we were able to spend Thanksgiving with Janelle and Easter with our friends, so it wasn't so bad!