Da Nang and Hoi An

Yes, I’m speaking Vietnamese! These are two towns I knew nothing about until this trip. Situated on a beautiful beach, DaNang is a thriving town catering primarily to the Korean travelers. I’d certainly vacation it here, though. Our first stop was China Beach, we are told it was a place for R and R for all the weary American soldiers during the war. The war, by the way, is referred to here, as the American War. Somehow, that just doesn’t sound right. We witnesses a bride and groom having the month-before wedding pictures, wedding dress and all with pigeons everywhere on China Beach. Our tour guide, Susan, said they fed the pigeons and wanted them in the wedding pictures. Good luck!? She also said couples make beautiful wedding pictures so the girl can remember after her wedding because she quickly becomes overworked, tired, fat, and no time to care for herself. She makes the role of wife sound pretty tough – taking care of inlaws, husband and children. Lol.

Marble Mountain , our next stop, was quite interesting. It’s a series of five mountains rising near the sea. Well, one has been mined away so now there are four remaining mountains with mining restrictions. There are natural passageways inside one of the mountains and the caves are filled with Hindu and Buddhist statues. Stone Mountain reduced the aw-factor for us but it was interesting just the same. We then toured the local silk factory and saw lots of silk worms and silk products.

Finally, we arrived in Hoi An, an ancient city and a Unesco World Heritage Site. It’s a beautiful, picturesque town, car-free, and situated on a pretty little canal that beckons to tourists from around the world. Again, lots of Koreans, and I pick up on the fact that Vietnamese aren’t too happy about that. Hoi An, in ancient times, was where the Chinese empire and the Japanese empire met. We saw the Japanese covered bridge and the Chinese Assembly Hall and so much more. We ate lunch, walked the streets, gawked at the canal and headed to the Dragon Bridge.

There are motor scooters everywhere. Well, everywhere except Hoi An. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many. Cars are $40,000 but the tariffs are super high and wages are ridiculously low so everyone buys used scooters for $700 – $800. The women want light skin so they ride scooters wearing winter jackets and gloves to protect their skin from the sun. Oh, and yes, it is quite hot here. Eighty degrees this week.

OK. I’ve made you wait long enough to catch up with the Golden Girls. Poor Dorothy had a rough start. She couldn’t walk up the steps and Marble Mountain and then the guide discouraged her from walking the rocky sidewalks in Hoi An so she was escorted right back to the boat, complaining all the way that she wanted a refund! Rose behaved herself properly today so it is Blanche that is center-stage here. Now remember, she’s 82 and does quite well for herself but she believes the rules are not for her. She complained vehemently at the silk factory and asked the guide why she was being forced to shop. Then, in Hoi An, she got hit by the elephant craze and off she goes to buy elephant pants. We waited, and waited, and waited. You get the idea. Then, at lunch, she decides she got ripped off and wants to take them back. She tried. Then we all walk to the bus together. We get to the bus and guess what. No Blanche. The hunt began! She was with us 5 minutes before the end of the trip. George and some others retraced our steps and went in all directions. No Blanche. We searched for 45 minutes. Finally, the tour guide stayed back to continue the search and the bus driver took us to our next stop – a lantern factory.

So, a hokey lantern factory it was and it was another highlight. It was a paper and glue activity, so right up my alley and even then, I had to have some special attention. The end results are marvelous and we’ll be bringing them all the way home to display! Ha!

Guess who arrived in the middle of lantern-making. . . Blanche and Susan. Susan, the guide, found her sitting in the parking lot. However, it wasn’t our parking lot, it was the taxi lot. But, according to Blanche, she was in the right place the whole time. She was just a little ticked that we weren’t there. So there you have it! We all made it back to the boat to do normal cruise stuff – like eat. But, we are already skipping the big dinners and eating salads and healthy food instead. Good for us. Right?