Since our guides haven’t arrived yet, we decided to do a little wandering around the streets of the Old Quarter of Hoi An. The Old Quarter itself is quite small and can be comfortably explored in half a day. One of the must see places here is the Japanese Covered bridge.
The Japanese Covered bridge is a symbol of Hoi An and has been adopted as their emblem. It was built around the 16th century. According to legend it was built to prevent violent earthquakes caused by a dragon whose heart is in Hoi An. The head is in India and the tail is in Japan. The pillars of the bridge symbolically pierce through the dragon’s heart – and conveniently provide a pathway for those who want to cross the river.
There is also a small temple above the bridge. Unfortunately, the temple itself is closed so we didn’t really get to see much of it. Anyway, the bridge itself is quite elegant. Not that long either. It has some lanterns inside to light the way at night.
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