Good Morning Viet Nam

Danang

We docked in Danang at an industrial port. Fortunately, the buses were close to the pier because it was already hot. On our drive to Hoi An, we saw quite a few of these round fishing boats. Our tour called for us to stop at a beach on our way back. YEAH! Our guide told us that Danang meant good sunny beaches. However, on our way back the beach stop was not anywhere near the round fishing boats. Oh well, I’m getting fairly decent at getting pictures from the bus window.

Why Round Fishing Boats?

Legend has it the round fishing boats started when the French started taxing the fishing vessels. The Vietnamese then devised these round woven boats for fishing, thus avoiding the tax. Today these boats are made of a variety of materials such as fiberglass, canvas, and composite materials. Viet Nam has a lot of festivals during the year giving them many reasons to decorate the boats. We did see a few out in the water presumably fishing, but not close enough to verify from the bus.

Hoi An

This once famous trading village is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It dates back to the 15th century and still has a few of the original buildings. I’ve said before that a tour guide can make a tour really come alive. Our tour guide was brand new, in fact, we were his first tour group. He did his best and we enjoyed the day so all was not lost. We started out in a silk factory. We learned this factory still uses the traditional weaving methods of 300 years ago. As always, we could have used more time at the factory.

Japanese Bridge in Hoi An

The next stop was the Japanese Bridge with a temple on top. The bridge dates back to the 15-17th centuries. Currently, it is under reconstruction. The bridge is guarded by two Gods: Monkey and Dog. These guards were placed to placate the earthquake monster Namazu.

Old House of Quan Thang

Next, we went to the Old House of Quan Thang. The woodwork and artwork were gorgeous. The house is a good example of a one-story building that connects the two main streets with doors in the front and back. It shows the prosperity of Hoi An as a trading village. Today, the small rooms have been repurposed to suit modern-day business.

Hoi An Photos

Yeah, free time to wander around. That is always a plus with any tour. We stopped at a small cafe near the river to have a drink. We saw a woman carrying fruit baskets hanging from her shoulders. She posed for a picture and then came over to sell us some fruit. It was hot, so I bought a couple of bananas. They were so good and fresh. I thought it was a good trade-off.

Below are some of the street scenes from Hoi An.

Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon

Our tour guide’s name was Sa. Armed with a great sense of humor and a catchy phrase “you get me” I found myself smiling a lot during the day. On the way to Ho Chi Minh City, he told us on this tour it will be referred to as “Saigon” at least until the government started paying guides a livable wage.

The population of Viet Nam is 100 million and Saigon is 10 million. There are virtually no homeless because multigenerational families tend to live together. Sa and his wife live with his parents. He hopes his daughter, a recent college graduate will be able to buy a home. An estimated 63% of college graduates can’t find a job. Proudly he told us his daughter has a job.

Reunification Palace

This building housed the President and his family. President Nguyen Van Thieu directed the Vietnamese forces during the war. The tour started on the third floor. They had an elevator but it was not working so we trudged up 3 flights of stairs. Coming down it was 5 flights because we went to the basement bunker.

Today the building is used as a historical site. The day we were there, several school tours were also there. One of the visual images we all had as we looked out of the 3rd floor was the site of the tank rolling down the boulevard and crashing into the building.

The Bunker

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) Adventures

We had a good day in Saigon. Our tour took us to the Chinatown area. Saigon is a big bustling city with a lot of interesting sites. The new section of the city is like any modern city except with more scooters and motorcycles than cars. Below are a few of the sites I found quite interesting.

From the Bus

We spend so much time on buses when we take tours that I am going to start posting “From the Bus” series. Here are some of the bus photos from Saigon.