Marble Mountain N Sewing Circles

Trip Start Dec 01, 1999

103

Trip End Aug 31, 2000

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Flag of Vietnam Hue, Vietnam
Wednesday, December 29, 1999

Marble Mountain & China Beach (10)

Marble Mountain & China Beach (5)

Marble Mountain & China Beach (6)

HeyHeyanda Big G'Day toya

We left Hoi An and made our way towards Hue.

On the way we stopped in at a place called China Beach. Like Dalat it was a place the elite enjoyed and stayed in to relax and forget about all the soldiers dying around them. It was made famous by the television series of the same name. It lies against a back drop of the visually inspiring Marble Mountains. The five peaks which are actually limestone with marble and are said to represent the five elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wood and Metal.

The Marble Mountains were once used by the Chams for religious purposes.

That all changed in more recent times when the Viet Cong moved in due to the great views of the Danang air base. Believe it or not at that time it was the busiest airport in the World. We spent several hours climbing one of the peaks and visiting several caves within. All the time the 'You Buy You Buy' women were hot on out tails trying to sell us everything from water to tee shirts. These 'You Buy You Buy' women were pretty bloody good too.

They had never heard of the word 'No' in either English or Vietnamese.

The views at the top when you finally sat yourself in the little carved marble chair were breathtaking. I think the only thing that has come close and I won't chose between them is the sensational views from the top of Moon Hill just outside Yangshuo in China. I've climbed others but it's these two that I always remember.

We also visited shops where they carve huge blocks of marble into priceless 'things'.

We continued our journey to Hue through some pretty awesome mountains with some pretty hairy roads! Along these roads we spotted several 'tip trucks' full of Fido's (dogs) on their way to China. When I say 'tip trucks' I mean those you see with the tippy thing on the back that has huge hinges at the back and an air lift at the front to push it up. They were filled with fidos piled to the top. We shove our sheep and cattle on boats and the back of trucks.

In Vietnam and China they throw them in the back of a tip truck, literally!
I don't want to write about it anymore.

So change of subject, hey, the view from the top of the Hai Van Pass was pretty impressive, try to get there one day!

We arrived in Hue well after dark and sat for a group dinner. By now the group had split into little groups. Some were like sewing circles where they squinted and glared as they talked about others in the group. As open minded as I am with people, yes there were people by now I wish had fallen ill and had to be left behind in a past town as I'm sure others felt about me.

But I chose not to squint about it!

Beers N Cheers toya...shane