March 11th - Good Morning Vietnam!!

Don Juan I and Dhuon Juan II at China Beach.

All ready for a "lucky" wedding on the outskirts of Da Nang.

These are funky little Vietnamese boats....propelled by a single pole-type oar!

Good morning Vietnam!!

For those of us who came of age during the Vietnam War, setting foot on Vietnamese soil was more than a little bit surreal. (I know, I know….I’ve used that word a lot lately! But I really do have to keep pinching myself to make sure this isn’t all just a dream!) Today’s Vietnamese have a modern slogan…. “Vietnam is a country, not a war.”

We didn’t have a tour set up for this port and just decided to wing it with our friends, Marilyn and Don (our fellow DU alum.) We finally negotiated a day’s tour with a Vietnamese fellow named Dhuon. (He told us stories about his parents who were Viet Cong.) All of our guides so far have been spectacular and Dhuon did not disappoint. With Don and Dhuon (pronounced just about the same way) we soon started with the Don Juan jokes and soon we were calling them Don Juan I and Dhuon Juan II which made for rapid bonding!

On Dhuon Juan II’s recommendation, we headed for the delightful town of Hoi An, which is just a bit south of Da Nang. We passed by emerald green rice paddies tended by peasant women in conical hats and had to stop once or twice for cows crossing the road. As we entered the outskirts of Da Nang, Dhuon started pointing out flower bedecked buildings, each with a large wedding portrait propped on an easel by the road. These were all sites for weddings taking place that day. We thought it was strange to have so many weddings occurring on a Tuesday, but Dhuon told us that Vietnam follows the Chinese calendar and this was a “lucky day”….hence all the weddings!

I asked Chuck what his most vivid impression of this area was, and he said the buzzing swarms of motorbikes, some with whole families hanging on for dear life. The roads became more and more congested as we drove through downtown Da Nang. Although there were traffic lights on some of the corners, none of them were actually functioning….so it was a little like playing Russian roulette.

We gathered some sand from China Beach and stopped at Marble Mountain where we had a chance to purchase a huge $30,000 marble Buddha….shipping included! (Not sure what the Historic Commission in Marblehead would have to say if we plunked this down in our garden….so we passed on it!)

The Old Town in Hoi An was a shopper’s paradise. We were actually able to watch silk being woven on a loom and Marilyn and I found it necessary to leave more than a couple of American dollars with the local economy. The best surprise of all was lunch! (You won’t believe this!!) I had one of the BEST meals I’ve had on this entire trip…..rice with vegetables and shrimp (LOTS of shrimp!)…. For US$2.00!! Unbelievable! (Of course, we did have to buy a hammock and LOTS of peanuts from the hawkers who kept visiting us at our open air table!)

We all agreed that the Chinese calendar was indeed correct in naming this a “lucky day!” By the time we returned to the ship, Dhuon was ready to stowaway with us. We took photos of him with Queen Victoria in the background and promised to send them to him.