Central VietnamTrip
Trip Start
Aug 18, 2003
1
4
6
Trip End
May 28, 2004
Dong Ha, Hue, Danang, and Hoi An,
Vietnam
Thursday, November 20, 2003
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NEW ENTRY....
2 weeks ago we were in Central Vietnam. Here's what we did:
Dong Ha: Still pissed at our director for making us stay in this tiny rotten town for two whole days. After a 12 hour overnight train ride, we checked into a hotel that apparently doubled for the town's premier place to have wedding receptions. Loud, tone deaf Vietnamese ripping out karaoke ballads late into the night, not what you want to hear after a rumbling night on a train berth. We visited the DMZ (demilitarized zone during the Viet/American war, separated North and South Vietnam), Lao Bao (suppose to be black market for Lao/Thai goods, it looked more like a mini-mall in the middle of the mountains), and some other historical war sites. The only real highlight was eating BBQ chicken/duck on the side of the road with my bare hands.
Archway in Forbidden City
I felt like a prehistoric animal ripping apart a carcass that I just roasted over an open fire, adding a modern couch potato twist by washing it all down a few glasses of ice-cube cooled beer (sounds sacrilegious, but that's how they serve beer here), mm-mmm good. Danang: Typical Vietnamese big city. Made day trip to My Song, incredible site full of Cham ruins. Best known for building large temples out of red brick with no mortar, looked more like oversized chiminees. Second day Erin and I rented bikes and road 11km to the Marble Mountains, a grouping 5 mountains that offer spectacular views of the S. China sea and the surrounding countryside. Bike ride was awesome because we had no idea where we were going, we just kept asking locals for directions, true adventure. Dirt and dust flying into our eyes as motorbikes and construction trucks blared passed us, all the while trying to keep our balance on our brakeless bikes that had deflating tires by the minute. Somehow we made to the mountain, drenched in sweat and happy to see other tourist had made the trek out here. The mtn we climbed is home to 2 Buddhist monasteries and a bunch of ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples and shrines. The mountain is pocketed with dozens of caves, each housing it's own unique place of worship. Some of the caves opened up into HUGE cavernous rooms, with religious gods carved into the walls, and whole temples inside. I felt like I was in Indiana Jones.
Hue: Beautiful CLEAN city, it didn't feel like Vietnam.
Cyclo Drivers
Visited the ancient imperial palace (incredible), large city market, and ancient burial grounds of past kings. It was tradition for ancient Kings to plan elaborate burial grounds for themselves before they died. Some even went to their burial grounds to vacation before being encased in tons of cement. We also met up with some American friends from a study abroad program in Saigon, we had met them the week before when they were visiting Hanoi. Good times.Hoi An: My favorite city in Vietnam thus far. Quaint, small town with narrow roads and tightly packed Chinese style houses. Best known for it's tailors - the girls in my group went crazy. You could get ANYTHING made here, all within 2 days. I even caved in and had a fleece shirt and a pair pants made for me. The girls had business suits, dresses, winter coats, etc. made, all for dirt cheap. Many people brought L.L. Bean and Eddie Bauer catalogs for the tailors to copy from. The coolest thing I got made was a pair of shoes. I met a man who could fix the soles on my Birkenstocks. He then convinced me to buy a pair of custom fit shoes for $10. I sat there for 3 hours watching him cut the leather, sew it, and then place the soles on. It was like watching a Mr. Rogers special on how shoes are made. His wife, who is a kindergarten teacher, and 2 year old daughter kept me company while the father worked. They practiced their English while I practiced my Vietnamese. This is when I found out we were lucky to be visiting that day because there was a full moon that night, which means a full moon festival! There was dancing, singing, and best of all, lanterns. All the city lights were turned off and residents put beautiful red lanterns outside their homes. Simply magical.
Thanksgiving Dinner: Our director planned an elaborate thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant last week. The American chef did a spectacular job. It really feels like we're one big family now.
Birthdays: We celebrated Eddie's, Mike's and my birthday last Tuesday night. We rented out our favorite local hole in the wall restaurant, Com Ga (literally means rice chicken). They have rooftop seating, which is where we dragged our 2 $5-kegs and catered food. Plenty of cake throwing and drunken debauchery. We turned 22, 23, and 24 respectively.
