Danang City Bridge

Our guides came early to fetch us from the Blue Sea Hotel. This was our last day in Vietnam and they have come to bring us to the airport. But before we left for the airport, we managed to grab some breakfast. Fortunately, there was a roadside stall just across the Blue Sea Hotel. They have the huge bread that I’ve been eyeing ever since we got to Vietnam.

Weaving Through the Streets of Danang City

Of course I took the chance to order it. It has a some meat and of course vegetables true to the Vietnamese way of eating it. This is probably something they got from the French. It was really cheap for something that big. I also ordered some Vietnamese tea to go along with the bread. I thought it was a fitting way to end our fascinating trip to Vietnam.

When we got back to the hotel our guides Le Tien and Cuong were already waiting for us. Well, actually they have to, since this is also the time we pay them the rest of the fee for the entire trip. Unfortunately, we only had foreign money with us and no Vietnamese money. We tried changing at the hotel counter but they didn’t have enough, which was funny for a hotel. So our guides took us on their motorcycles and drove off to the city to a jewelry shop in town.

How Many Can You Fit in a Motorcycle?

The jewelry store seemed to be owned by Vietnamese of Chinese descent, since it had all sorts of Chinese signs everywhere. This also seems to be a good place to exchange money, since they specifically brought us to this place. I thought we got pretty good rates there. We finally paid them the fee and they mentioned that if they were satisfied with their service, we could add some more to the fee. Any amount would do. Well, who could say no to that request, right? Oh well, ridiculous as it may seem, after the fee we gave them for the service they already rendered, we gave them a token amount as gratitude. They did take good care of us. I don’t really know what constituted a good amount here in Vietnam but they gave us puzzled looked when we handed our “tip”.

You Can Stop Anywhere Just to Take Photos

Anyway, they drove us past the city of Danang one last time before entering the airport area. Actually, they didn’t even got to enter the airport compound itself but rather the perimeter along a busy road. We got off near a traffic guy and he was scolding us for getting off at the wrong place while we were saying goodbye to our guides. I didn’t really pay attention to the traffic guy, we just proceeded to the airport terminal.

The departure terminal was quite drab. I tried looking around for snacks to bring back home but there weren’t any that were worth bringing back. I ended up buying some coconut based snack and some Vietnamese beef jerky. Apparently, the folks in the office didn’t like them either since they didn’t look really appetizing. Anyway, after a hour of waiting, we finally boarded our plane and flew back to Kuala Lumpur.

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Blue Sea Hotel

As previously mentioned, we stayed at the Blue Sea Hotel in Danang for the remainder of our trip. This hotel it very near China beach and has a more residential feel to it. The rooms upstairs were clean and decent. This post is basically to give an idea to propective visitors on how the hotel looks like inside and out.

Road Outside the Hotel

The Blue Sea Hotel is pretty much the same as the hotels I’ve been to in Vietnam, the level of quality is pretty much the same. One thing that got me though is the sand just outside the hotel itself, this can’t be helped since the beach is just a block away. This is actually a good thing since you can basically walk to the beach and do whatever you want without worrying about your stuff.

Wonderfully Made Beds

It was a pleasant stay there at the Blue Sea Cafe. Lucky for us our guide Le Tien knew someone there or we might have to sleep on the beach that night.

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Hordes of Beach Loving Vietnamese at China Beach

Our next and final stop in Vietnam is the famous China Beach of Danang. But first, our guides Le Tien and Cuong have to drop us off at the hotel where we will stay in – the Blue Sea Hotel. It is a smallish hotel just behind the main road along China Beach. The hotel isn’t really anything to write home about but it was clean and decent and it was near the beach.

Reclining Chairs All Around

There was actually no room at the hotel but it seems Le Tien knows someone there, he managed to get us a room. The immediate area of the hotel feels more residential than commercial. Just further down the road are several more places to stay but since we already have a room, it didn’t really matter anymore.

After a short rest from the motorcycle ride from the Marble Mountains. We changed to our swimming attire and made off to the beach. Since the hotel is just a stone’s throw away from the beach itself, there was already some sand coming from the beach. This is because the locals would just walk from the beach and straight back into their homes. How convenient.

Sunset Over China Beach

China Beach was actually a rest and recreation place for the US soldiers back in the Vietnam War. In fact it is possible for you to visit some of the old war bunkers used back then. The actual spot is still a further distance down the beach. It seems though that there are big plans for this stretch of beach.

There is a new highway separating us from the beach itself. It seems like this was a newly constructed highway and even the promenade fronting the beach is quite new. There were already quite a lot of people at the beach since it was already late afternoon. In fact, now I realized why they called it China Beach. There werw so many people that it feels like the whole of China was there.

Native Fishing Boat

Of course, I was exaggerating, but the number of people at the beach were enough to ruin my mood for the beach, so I just wanted to content myself with taking photos. There were a couple of old ladies who were motioning us and asking us whether we wanted to seat by the beach. We agreed and they basically just led us over to “their” spot on the beach where the seats were. We ordered some drinks and watched as the people pass by.

Some Peace and Quiet

Vast majority of the beach goers were Vietnamese, in fact we were probably the only foreigners at that time. The beach looked like any other beach scene I’ve been to. Reclining seats, umbrellas and vendors hawking drinks. The beach at Danang City is a very long stretch of beach, so, many as the people were there was actually enough beach to go around with. My friend went in for a dip and since I didn’t really feel like swimming, I guarded our stuff.

My friend eventually came back irritated as well because of the huge number of people swimming there. but what can we do? We just spent the rest of the time just people watching. At around six in the evening, there was a horn that sounded and people started leaving the beach. Maybe it was a shark alarm. I was wondering what was going on and realized that the beach was closed! Of all the beaches I’ve been to, this was the first one that actually “closes”. It was just so bizzarre for me.

Dinner at Nha Hang Phuong Hong

With nothing else to do, we likewise packed up and left the beach to look for dinner. We chanced upon this restaurant along the highway selling Vietnamese food and we decided to give it a try. It was an open air kind of restaurant. We ordered a couple of dishes and ate the night away. There wasn’t really much stuff to do around that area, which was strange since it was supposed to be a tourist spot. We walked back to the hotel knowing that this would be our last day in Vietnam.

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View of the Marble Mountains

After lunch at the My Son Sanctuary, we headed back towards Danang City. Danang City isn’t really that far but there are still a few sights to see before we get to the city. One of these sights are the Marble Mountains.

Huge Collection of Marble Statues

The Marble Mountains, called Ngũ Hành Sơn in Vietnamese, are essentially limestone monoliths in the middle of the plain and are just south of Danang City. There are a total of five monoliths each one name after each of the five elements (earth, fire, water, metal and wood). The limestone monoliths have tunnels and temples built into them and do seem to be a popular tourist attraction even for the locals.

Path Up the Mountain

Our guides brought us to one of the monoliths and probably the most popular one, I didn’t really know which one it was though. We entered from the side where there was a store selling marble statues. It used to be that the marble from the Marble Mountains was used to make these statues, but now the marble is imported from China. They are, still however, carved here in the store. There were a lot of these figures on display and they would probably help you ship the bigger ones over, I didn’t bother asking how much they cost since they would obviously cost and arm and a leg.

Small Mausoleum

It was amusing to just wander through their collection of statues ranging from Buddhist carvings to Christian inspired carvings. From here there is a stairway leading up to the top of the monolith. After a few minutes of walking, we reached the viewing deck. There was a marvelous view of the city together with the others monoliths. It actually feels like looking at Uluru in Vietnam except of course it wasn’t red and it is in the middle of a city.

Buddhist Temple on Top

After taking a few photos on from the viewing deck, we continued on to where the path leads us. There was a small mausoleum overlooking the city. And further on there was a Buddhist temple with services being conducted. As we follow the path, I notice that the people seem to get lesser and lesser. It was already quite late in the afternoon and I guess people have already gone home. There was a path that led us to the inside of the monolith.

Temple Inside the Monolith

The place felt like a cave but this enclosure had a skylight which lets sunlight through. There was a small Buddhist temple in the enclosure and it was very serene inside. There weren’t that many people and the people that were there were very quiet. Obviously respecting that this is a place of worship. The place is also quite cool since it was shielded from the outside. On the way out there was a flight of stairs that was quite dark and it would be better for visitors to bring a torch just in case.

Elegant Pagoda on the Way Down

The staircase leads to a path down the monolith but along there way there was this magnificent pagoda. Further down there was another Buddhist temple with a prominent statue of Buddha beside it. After taking a few photos we continued down the stairs where our guides were waiting for us.

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Ruins of My Son Sanctuary

So far the UNESCO World Heritage Sites I have been to have been quite impressive. The Puerto Princesa Underground River, the Citadels of Hue and the Ancient Town of Hoi An. All of them have made me feel that they deserve to be in that prestigious list. We were on our way to the My Son Sanctuary. It is way out of town and nestled in the forests of Central Vietnam.

Bridge to the Sanctuary

The My Son Sanctuary is the remains of the ancient Champa civilization that flourished from the 4th century to the 13th century. The Champa kingdom was an Indian inspired civilization that made their home here in central Vietnam. It is similar to other kingdoms such as the Khmer empire in Cambodia and the Borobodur in Indonesia. Only that the Champa kingdom lasted much longer than all the others.

Bridge Over a Dry Riverbed

There is a short walk from the entrance of the park to the My Son towers with a short bridge crossing at the entrance. There weren’t that many visitors here and I think I’m about to find out why. When we got to the towers themselves. We saw the crumbling remains of what was once the seat of power of the Champa kingdom. There used to be around 70 towers here in My Son, but the ravages of time and war have reduced these to 25 crumbling towers all in various states of disrepair.

Champa Towers in Various States of Disrepair

There were some towers which were under restoration but it seems that it would take them a long, long time before they would be called impressive. We took a few moments to explore the temple remains. Before leaving quite disappointed. Needless to say, I felt like it didn’t really belong in the list of World Heritage Sites. It really is significant since it used to be the seat of power of the ancient Champa Kingdom, and since it is in such a state of disrepair the UN funding will definitely help them restore and preserve the towers. But from the selfish tourist’s point of view, I don’t think it is worth visiting yet. However, the entrance fee from visitors will also help in the restoration efforts. But I think it is going to take a lot of tourists to get this place restored. On the bright side, this place can only get better, right?

We had lunch at just outside the entrance, it was a small hut just and serve simple food. I guess you can call this authentic Vietnamese food, too. After a few moments, we were on our way again.

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Here is How You Make Rice Paper

We checked out of the My Chau Hotel in Hoi An and headed back to Da Nang City. Of course, we will not be heading there directly, we would be passing through some sights first. Just outside the town of Hoi An, on our way to the My Son Sanctuary, we stopped by a small hut. I was wondering what we can see here when Le Tien mentioned something about rice paper.

Cooking the Rice Paper

Rice paper is used a lot in Vietnamese cooking. Food like Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Banh whatever all make use of this rice paper. This place apparently makes them the traditional way. The place is just a small hut on the side of the road, but it seems that Le Tien and Cuong know them and have brought us here to see how rice paper is made, as they have countless of other tourists.

I’m not really into this kind of thing but we just went through the motions of listening how they make this. They grind the rice with water until it is something like a paste. Then they smear the thing over a screen until it is flat. This is then cooked over a hot sand until it is solid. It is then moved over to some bamboo screen where it will be left to dry until it is crunchy.

Finished Product

The lady showing us all this doesn’t really speak English at all but she does her best to make us feel at home. She offers us some of the prepared rice paper and some of fish sauce. We readily ate, though nothing really special about it. But knowing that it is hand made here gives us a little satisfaction. Our hosts offered us some tea to wash it all down.

After a while we we on our way, but before leaving Le Tien encouraged us to make a small donation for that little demonstration. I knew it was going to come to this. But seeing how the family was living, you couldn’t help but pity them. I gave them a small amount as payment for the demonstration and she was grateful for it. Although her place is not a real tourist atrraction, people in the tourist trade like Le Tien and Cuong try to involve them in their business, this way they give something back to the people.

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Old Chinese Temple in Hoi An

Continuing along the streets of Hoi An, I notice that the houses along this stretch are more old. In fact, practically all of the houses here are old. The design is more Chinese infused with French design. This was Hoi An as it was more than a hundred years ago.

Fujian Association Temple

In fact, it feels a lot like wandering down the streets of Singapore, with its old shop houses, though the houses in Hoi An feel far more authentic. Melaka in Malaysia is also another of these old towns with its Dutch influence. Similarly, the people in Hoi An try to keep to their way of life as they did long time ago. Only the presence of modern technology like mobile phone and television will give it away.

Streets of Hoi An

We came across not a few Chinese temples, in fact some of them even have Chinese characters written on them. One of these was a structure for people who originated from Fujian, China. It probably means that there are people who speak Chinese here in Vietnam, since all this time, I haven’t heard anything that I can understand yet. However, to enter the association grounds visitors will have to pay a small fee. We didn’t feel it was worth it so we just went on our way.

A lot of the old shop houses have been turned into souvenir shops to my dismay. However, there are still a lot who are as traditional as they can be. It would have been interesting to explore more of the Old Quarter but we need to hurry along since our guides are waiting for us.

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Selling Flowers at the Hoi An Market

Just beside the busy port along the Thu Bon River is the equally busy Hoi An market. It seems that everyone is at the market since the place is so packed. What is interesting is that market is packed not by tourists but by the Vietnamese locals themselves.

Crowded Street of Hoi An Market

The main street along the market entrance is lined with vendors wearing their traditional conical hats selling vegetables, flowers, fruits and even souvenirs. Actually, I was there looking for something to buy to give the folks at the office. but it seems that there aren’t really a lot of snacks worth bringing back. Most of the snacks were coconut based – something which I don’t particularly like. But it seemed like it was the thing to buy when you come from Hoi An. Actually, when I brought them back it didn’t really sell very well either. Apparently, there are a lot of other people who share my dislike for coconut based snacks.

Selling Fruit at the Hoi An Market

The market was also selling souvenirs from T-shirts to communist style army hats. My friend wanted one so I bought one to bring back. One thing to remember here is to bargain, and bargain hard. It can be really cheap here and it is a surprise how low you can bring the price to. Bargain and try to walk away until they agree to your price. I’m sure they know about that strategy but that is what bargaining is about. I bought a T-shirt for myself – one of those “I was in Vietnam” t-shirts.

Bread at the Hoi An Market

You can also eat at the market, I’ve been seeing those huge delicious looking loaves of bread but have been unwilling to try them no matter how tempting they looked. Maybe next time.

By this time, the tourists have also come out and were also buying stuff from the market. I feel that it would have been worth exploring more of the market if only we weren’t in such a hurry to get back to the hotel, since our guides we supposed to meet us.

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Along the Thu Bon River

Following the river from the Japanese Covered Bridge, is the Thu Bon River. A lot of old establishments line the river here. The buildings are more of the old French colonial style buildings with Chinese aesthetics.

Old Ship

A walk down the river is a pleasant one. The river itself is relatively clean. A whole lot of boats line the river too. Some of the boats here look pretty old and may be there only for show. Most of the boats here are for the river cruise. I wasn’t really interested in it though.

Loading the Ship

It was interesting to see the locals of Hoi An go about their daily lives. Some of the boats were being loaded with cargo and some of them even had some monks as passengers. It was still early in the morning and yet there are already a lot of people milling about. Tourists or no tourists the locals still need to work. In some way, the riverside scene reminded me of Boat Quay in Singapore. Since both have the same colonial style buildings along the river.

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Japanese Covered Bridge

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.

Inside the 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.

Entrance to the Bridge

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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