Day 14 of 36
Hue, Vietnam to DaNang, My Son, Hoi An and China Beach
Today we visit DaNang and Hoi An via car. We awoke at 6:30, showered, dressed, and had a big breakfast at the hotel buffet. Tim was disappointed that there was no "Fa" on the buffet. He had eggs instead and I had a good omelet. We also had some more dragon fruit - really good.
We met Tung at 8 in the lobby and headed south with our driver, Sun. He was a really good driver, really young. The drive down was uneventful and we talked with Tung about Vietnamese culture. We stopped at a local resort on the South China Sea for a bathroom breaBk and watched the people on the beach. No one would go in the water - they stood there in groups with water only up to their ankles. It was amusing.
We headed south to Hai Van Pass - a windy road through the mountains with a good view of the sea and mountains. Beautiful scenery along the way.
As we approached DaNang along the beach (South China Sea), we started seeing the road blocked with women drying their rice on the hot street pavement. As we got further into DaNang and then headed to My Son, the road got narrower and narrower - at some places just enough space for 1 car to pass. Sometimes, a car, or truck, or motorbike would drive on the drying rice - Tung told us that was okay. A couple of times it was scary as it was so close to get by.
We went to My Son (pronounced mee-sahn) which was the center of the Cham Dynasty (2nd - 17th century). We walked through the grounds for about 1 1/2 hours and it was fascinating. All of the buildings were made of red bricks but Tung said they don't know what the mortar is made of. They brought in all of the materials - most likely from Cambodia. Can you imagine hauling this heavy material so many miles over 1900 years ago? There were temples that had "the woman's sex organ" and "the man's sex organ" to promote fertility. Tung gave us a lot of this history. This is a UNESCO site (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and well worth the visit to this remote site.
By this time is was after 1 pm and we headed via our car and driver to Hoi An for lunch which was included in the tour. We passed a lot more streets covered with drying rice and we also saw drying corn - really orange corn. This was fascinating to us that they would use the public streets this way and the drivers would be so considerate.
We got to Hoi An and walked through the old city - really quaint but really developed for the tourists. It is right on the river and Tung told us the river floods the city 2-3 times per year. This must be a mess as they have to move everything upstairs to protect it, but it has to take a toll on the structures.
Our restaurant was clean and we had a 7 course lunch - not as much food as yesterday thankfully. We had tomato soup, pancake that we cut and rolled in rice paper, fish in hotpot, chicken, stuffed squid (that was yummy) and cream brulee for dessert. We skipped any alcohol at lunch today since it threw us for a loop in the heat yesterday.
After the delicious lunch we walked to the Japanese Bridge that was built to separate the Japanese and Chinese neighborhoods years ago. Hoi An was a major trading city many years ago, but tourism is now the big thing here. Tung took us to a factory that employed over 400 young people - and I mean really young - like children - they were sewing, painting, weaving, rug making, carving and making clothes. Looked like child labor to us. But they had some fascinating crafts. We enjoyed walking through the shops but declined buying anything. Tung also took us to an historical house where a man and his family lived. They tried to sell tablecloths and napkins to us here ($25 each!) but again we didn't buy.
During our walk we passed a school and listened to children learning the Vietnamese alphabet. Their version of ABCDEFG . . . On the way back, I shook hands with the children (they loved that) then we did high 5's and then high 10's. They all wanted their turn. Great fun.
Tung took us to a museum like building with old porcelain but this was so hot and not very interesting. Then to 2 places of worship - not Buddha - but the Princess who watched over the sailors. Interesting tales about how these places were used. The gardeners were severely trimming the trees as typhon season is coming and this will protect the trees.
On the way back to the car, I had a banana pancake - banana strips dipped in batter and fried - this is supposedly a specialty in Hoi An and it was good. Enjoyed that. We met the car and drove along the Hoi An beaches - this is where all of the large, expensive beach resorts are and they are building more. When we got back to DaNang, we drove by the bunkers used by the US at China Beach. The new resorts had fences up so we really couldn't see much of the beach. It was late by this time and the Cham Museum was closed (oh, darn!) so we continued on back to Hue. We took the new tunnel this time under the Hai Van Pass - a 7 kilometer tunnel that took us over 10 minutes to get through.
The sun was setting and Tim slept in the car and Larry watched the sites and traffic - still amazed that we could get from A to B without being killed. But the driver was very skilled. There is no road rage here even though everyone is hurrying around. If someone gets in front it is okay. There is a yin and yang at work and the traffic just "flows". Somehow it works - thank goodness.
We arrived back at La Residence Hotel about 7 pm - we have been on the go for over 11 hours - and we were beat. And dirty and smelly. It was SO HOT again today and we sweated profusely walking around. But it was a great day.
We stopped for cocktails in the lobby bar. Then showered and dressed in fresh clothes and took a taxi into Hue. We walked around and were accosted several times for bike rides, cycle rides, pretty women, or "bang bang"! We just kept repeating "No" to all propositions. We found a restaurant that was on the hotels recommended list - Le Carambole - owned by a Frenchman. It was good. Neither of us was very hungry so Tim had a pizza and Larry had grilled pork with mushrooms. We enjoyed a bottle of wine - a Chilean cabernet savignon. And we had dessert - crepes with bananas and homemade vanilla ice cream (that was so yummy!). Dinner was $28 for everything!
We walked after dinner but were approached with more propositions so since it was 10 pm we hailed a taxi and headed back to the hotel. This was the most cautious driver we have had on this trip. The minibikes were passing us but yet he honked his horn constantly. I think they must feel that they don't fit in unless they honk their horn.
Exhausting but interesting and educational day. We are loving this trip. And we saved the Cham Museum for the next trip - always have to save something for next time.
Off to bed in anticipation of some exploring around Hue on foot tomorrow. We had an option to take another tour to the Vietnamese DMZ but we just couldn't stand the thoughts on driving for 2-3 hours again tomorrow. We'll see some war stuff and the tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City so we don't feel we are missing much by not going.
Off to bed. Pick up tomorrow.
Hue, Vietnam to DaNang, My Son, Hoi An and China Beach
Today we visit DaNang and Hoi An via car. We awoke at 6:30, showered, dressed, and had a big breakfast at the hotel buffet. Tim was disappointed that there was no "Fa" on the buffet. He had eggs instead and I had a good omelet. We also had some more dragon fruit - really good.
We met Tung at 8 in the lobby and headed south with our driver, Sun. He was a really good driver, really young. The drive down was uneventful and we talked with Tung about Vietnamese culture. We stopped at a local resort on the South China Sea for a bathroom breaBk and watched the people on the beach. No one would go in the water - they stood there in groups with water only up to their ankles. It was amusing.
We headed south to Hai Van Pass - a windy road through the mountains with a good view of the sea and mountains. Beautiful scenery along the way.
As we approached DaNang along the beach (South China Sea), we started seeing the road blocked with women drying their rice on the hot street pavement. As we got further into DaNang and then headed to My Son, the road got narrower and narrower - at some places just enough space for 1 car to pass. Sometimes, a car, or truck, or motorbike would drive on the drying rice - Tung told us that was okay. A couple of times it was scary as it was so close to get by.
We went to My Son (pronounced mee-sahn) which was the center of the Cham Dynasty (2nd - 17th century). We walked through the grounds for about 1 1/2 hours and it was fascinating. All of the buildings were made of red bricks but Tung said they don't know what the mortar is made of. They brought in all of the materials - most likely from Cambodia. Can you imagine hauling this heavy material so many miles over 1900 years ago? There were temples that had "the woman's sex organ" and "the man's sex organ" to promote fertility. Tung gave us a lot of this history. This is a UNESCO site (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and well worth the visit to this remote site.
By this time is was after 1 pm and we headed via our car and driver to Hoi An for lunch which was included in the tour. We passed a lot more streets covered with drying rice and we also saw drying corn - really orange corn. This was fascinating to us that they would use the public streets this way and the drivers would be so considerate.
We got to Hoi An and walked through the old city - really quaint but really developed for the tourists. It is right on the river and Tung told us the river floods the city 2-3 times per year. This must be a mess as they have to move everything upstairs to protect it, but it has to take a toll on the structures.
Our restaurant was clean and we had a 7 course lunch - not as much food as yesterday thankfully. We had tomato soup, pancake that we cut and rolled in rice paper, fish in hotpot, chicken, stuffed squid (that was yummy) and cream brulee for dessert. We skipped any alcohol at lunch today since it threw us for a loop in the heat yesterday.
After the delicious lunch we walked to the Japanese Bridge that was built to separate the Japanese and Chinese neighborhoods years ago. Hoi An was a major trading city many years ago, but tourism is now the big thing here. Tung took us to a factory that employed over 400 young people - and I mean really young - like children - they were sewing, painting, weaving, rug making, carving and making clothes. Looked like child labor to us. But they had some fascinating crafts. We enjoyed walking through the shops but declined buying anything. Tung also took us to an historical house where a man and his family lived. They tried to sell tablecloths and napkins to us here ($25 each!) but again we didn't buy.
During our walk we passed a school and listened to children learning the Vietnamese alphabet. Their version of ABCDEFG . . . On the way back, I shook hands with the children (they loved that) then we did high 5's and then high 10's. They all wanted their turn. Great fun.
Tung took us to a museum like building with old porcelain but this was so hot and not very interesting. Then to 2 places of worship - not Buddha - but the Princess who watched over the sailors. Interesting tales about how these places were used. The gardeners were severely trimming the trees as typhon season is coming and this will protect the trees.
On the way back to the car, I had a banana pancake - banana strips dipped in batter and fried - this is supposedly a specialty in Hoi An and it was good. Enjoyed that. We met the car and drove along the Hoi An beaches - this is where all of the large, expensive beach resorts are and they are building more. When we got back to DaNang, we drove by the bunkers used by the US at China Beach. The new resorts had fences up so we really couldn't see much of the beach. It was late by this time and the Cham Museum was closed (oh, darn!) so we continued on back to Hue. We took the new tunnel this time under the Hai Van Pass - a 7 kilometer tunnel that took us over 10 minutes to get through.
The sun was setting and Tim slept in the car and Larry watched the sites and traffic - still amazed that we could get from A to B without being killed. But the driver was very skilled. There is no road rage here even though everyone is hurrying around. If someone gets in front it is okay. There is a yin and yang at work and the traffic just "flows". Somehow it works - thank goodness.
We arrived back at La Residence Hotel about 7 pm - we have been on the go for over 11 hours - and we were beat. And dirty and smelly. It was SO HOT again today and we sweated profusely walking around. But it was a great day.
We stopped for cocktails in the lobby bar. Then showered and dressed in fresh clothes and took a taxi into Hue. We walked around and were accosted several times for bike rides, cycle rides, pretty women, or "bang bang"! We just kept repeating "No" to all propositions. We found a restaurant that was on the hotels recommended list - Le Carambole - owned by a Frenchman. It was good. Neither of us was very hungry so Tim had a pizza and Larry had grilled pork with mushrooms. We enjoyed a bottle of wine - a Chilean cabernet savignon. And we had dessert - crepes with bananas and homemade vanilla ice cream (that was so yummy!). Dinner was $28 for everything!
We walked after dinner but were approached with more propositions so since it was 10 pm we hailed a taxi and headed back to the hotel. This was the most cautious driver we have had on this trip. The minibikes were passing us but yet he honked his horn constantly. I think they must feel that they don't fit in unless they honk their horn.
Exhausting but interesting and educational day. We are loving this trip. And we saved the Cham Museum for the next trip - always have to save something for next time.
Off to bed in anticipation of some exploring around Hue on foot tomorrow. We had an option to take another tour to the Vietnamese DMZ but we just couldn't stand the thoughts on driving for 2-3 hours again tomorrow. We'll see some war stuff and the tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City so we don't feel we are missing much by not going.
Off to bed. Pick up tomorrow.
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