Da Nang, Part 1

The ship parked quite a way from Da Nang.  We opted, as usual, for a trip to a temple site.  We're beginning to think we should have called this trip "The Temple Tour of Twenty Fourteen".  More on the temples later, but first:  we left the dock with those who read the instructions knowing that the drive to the temples was almost two hours.  So, of course, half of the bus had an extra cup of coffee before the trip.

So, about halfway to the destination, people hadda go.  The guide said he'd stop if he could find a place with a decent bathroom, but as we looked around, all we saw was rice paddies and little roadside farm houses.  We pulled over to the side of the road.  The guide dashed into a farm house.  The guide dashed out and said the bathroom was acceptable and we were all invited to hop off the bus and see real Vietnamese rural life.

At home, making rice noodles, rice crackers and sesame-rice wrappers, was the lady of the house:

She spoke no English, but was delighted to see us and was more than happy to let 23 complete strangers tramp all over her property.  The rural people grow rice and nothing from the rice plant is wasted.  It provides people food, animal food, and fuel.  The beige stuff off to her right is a pile of dried rice hulls, which she is burning to provide the heat for cooking.

Out behind the little house, the family had a garden, growing vegetables and herbs.  The farm people believe in balance (it's Hindu, all should be in balance).  So we have plants and flowers growing, birds, fish in two ponds, a very large rabbit, three pigs, and the funniest-looking dog you've ever seen.  While a line formed at the bathroom (outside, by the way, in a separate stone building), many of us ate rice crackers and explored.  Here's recycling and balance at its best:

I don't have a picture of the other star of the show, the "wah wah bird".  In a cage in the garden, a robin-sized bird of unknown breed sat watching everyone.  Someone thought they heard the bird say "wah wah", so they walked over to check it out.  Then the fun began:  if you walked up to the cage and said "wah wah wah wah wah", the bird would puff itself all up, lower its head, and repeat back, sounding just like you..."wah wah wah wah wah".  Boy, did we give that poor bird a workout.

Here's the farmhouse.  The round things sitting up on the racks are sesame-rice wrappers, drying in the sun. On the table, rice noodles.  We had to go on although everyone hated to leave!  Our new friend, the lady of the house, made certain that everyone had tasted the crackers and watched us go, waving goodbye.

Probably the most fun stop of all the tours we took, and the most enlightening.

Da Nang, Part 3

Later in the afternoon, we had lunch at a very nice resort at Marble Beach.  Marble Beach is the new name for the famous China Beach where US soldiers went for R&R during the war.  The beach was named China not after the country, but because many pieces of ceramic from ancient times were found there.  The name was changed because the Vietnamese people don't like China (the country) very much and they didn't want to name anything after it.  Vietnam is located on the South China Sea, but the Vietnamese people call it the East Sea for the same reason.

On the beach, we got up close to some typical fishing boats:

In some cases, these boats are powered by hand-held motors that are just stuck into the water behind the boat (similar to the one on our leaky tiki in Cambodia).  Other times, they are towed behind a larger vessel.  Notice the three in the background...they are perfectly round and are used to raise and lower nets.  These are usually towed.  They don't drive well when they don't have a pointy end!

Gordon managed to avoid fighting in the war, but he finally did get his R&R on China Beach:

Nearby, we visited the Marble Mountains and toured a store selling hang-carved marble pieces:

There was a pretty hard sell here, and the carvings were just gorgeous, but we couldn't exactly figure out how to get a 100-or-so-pound marble statue into our suitcases.  If you've ever seen what it costs to ship something from overseas, you'd already know that's out of the question.

The guide gave us a lot of info about politics and the situation in Vietnam on the drive back.  In Vietnam, the people pay for everything:  it is mandatory to attend school and mandatory for the parents to pay for it.  Health care is not free.  The guide pointed out that he had never voted in his life because voting "is just for fun".  The government is actually run by a Communist minority.  They simply decide who's taking power next, no matter who gets voted in.  In his province, there was, for a while, a leader who was doing good things for the people...trying to actually provide some worthwhile government benefits.  He was removed.

We guess that the problem may be that the government has run out of other people's money.  In our opinion, a revolution could occur...60% of the population is under 35 and many are not amused.   Remember all the scooters in Ho Chi Minh City?  Our guide says that the people here are "born on a scooter" so to get a scooter license takes a week of classes and a test.  To get a car license takes six months.  Cars, by the way, are taxed at 250%.  That's not a mis-type.  250%.  Only very rich people have cars.

We crossed the Dragon Bridge on our way back to the dock:

Busy day, and we had to hurry to get ready for happy hour!

Da Nang, Part 2

My Son (pronounced mee-sahn) Sanctuary is a set of fantastic temple ruins built during the fourth through the thirteenth centuries. The ancient Champa people were raised to be the masters of art in building brick.  While the technique remains controversial, the bricks were smoothed and laid closely and securely without mortar.  The complex also contains fine sculpture and carving on brick and stone from the images of deities, priests, dances, plants, animals, and sacrifices.

Vietnam translates as "people of the south" or "people moving south".  These were the Champa people who are the ancestors of today's Vietnamese.  For most Vietnamese today, the war is over, it's history, and they try to forget it.  Unfortunately, places like My Son fell into the way of the fighting.  During the war, the Viet Cong used this area to hide.  The Americans knew where they were hiding, but did not know (or maybe did not care) that the ancient temples were there.  They would be hard to see from the air because of dense jungle.  We bombed the shit outta the area the mostly destroyed at least one of the temples:

Notice the bomb crater, in front of the temple, is still evident in this picture:

Here are a couple of our favorite guys from the selection of carvings around the temples.  My Son has an excellent website at www.mysonsanctuary.com.vn

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon To The Locals)

Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French colony of Cochin-china and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam from 1955 - 1975.  Saigon fell when it was captured by the communists on April 30, 1975 (remember the famous photo of the helicopter on the roof of the American Embassy).  Below, the American Consulate, new building but located at the same spot as the famous Embassy.

The fall of Saigon ended the war with a Communist victory.  Vietnam was then turned into a communist state with the South overtaken.  In 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Dinh Province and was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City, although the name Saigon is still commonly used.  In the city center, the French influence is still obvious in well-preserved buildings, each having its tribute to Uncle Ho.

  The historic Post Office Building, designed by Eiffel, is still the main Post Office:

And it's common practice for newlyweds to have their photograph taken at the Post Office:

Today, the metropolitan area is populated by more than 9 million people, and is expected to grow to 13.9 million by 2025.  Our guide tells us that there's one scooter for every two people in Vietnam...that's 4.5 million or so in the city.

The city is busy, the air is polluted, and everyone has a small business selling food or souvenirs or coffee or fixing scooters.  The family business is run out of the main floor of their house and normally extends right out to the street.  Most places, you cannot walk on the sidewalk.

We visited the Reunification Palace, also called The Barracks.

In an emergency, the president could live there in the bunker.  Here's his bunker office:

The formal reception room is somewhat more plush (note Uncle Ho at the head of the room):

Water puppets are a Vietnamese tradition, so we were treated to a show:

Then we visited the Sea Goddess Temple.  Note the dragon detail on the roof!

We paid a quick visit to the market in Chinatown.  Sorry, no pix of that.  It was the most crowded market we've ever seen.  Crowded with stuff for sale more than people, though.  As well as the usual market offerings of clothing, sunglasses, pots and pans, etc., there were some really strange things for sale.  A lot of natural healing stuff and foods that no one but grandma knows how to cook.  Guess what?  They really do make bird's nest soup, and it's made from swallow's nests.  The darker ones are apparently more rare and have more healing qualities.  Good to know.

Upon departure, we took a very long sail down the Song SaiGon (the Saigon River) to reach the sea, it took about three hours.  Notice the cement-looking buildings on shore in this river photo.  Those buildings are built specifically to provide nesting areas for the swallows.  Bird's nests are big business here.

Finally, sunset over Song SaiGon:

Bangkok! Well, Nearby Bangkok, Actually

We have to admit it.  We can't really remember where this picture was taken.  We think it's leaving Snooky.  In any event, what the heck are they trying to tell us by putting an airplane on top of a half-finished building???

While the itinerary called it Bangkok, we were docked at Laem Chabang Port.  It's a very busy working port, going 24/7 loading and unloading containerized freight.  Watching this procedure is actually mesmerizing...many people were sitting in the Observation Lounge just watching the ballet.  And drinking champagne.  

There's a little civil unrest in Bangkok these days, so we hopped onto the tour bus and drove through Pattaya, the famous beach town full of  hotels of all types, including some really nice resorts.  Also in Pattaya:  serious nightlife.  No one's up in the morning because everyone parties late in the many bars and nightclubs.  The tour guide warns one to "keep your sweetie close in Pattaya".  There are lots of beautiful women in Pattaya who turn out to be "lady boys":  crossdressers.  This, apparently, can become very interesting in bars in the red light district.  

"On the seashore of Rachvate Cape, Pattaya, lies a construction called The Sanctuary of Truth, exposing its top up in the sky, amid many modern buildings.  It proudly shows the ancient knowledge of Thai artists at present".  We thought we were going to see a temple and some people doing the native wood-carving the the area's known for.  It was quite a surpirse...the temple is huge and is entirely made of hand-carved hardwoods, mostly teak.  

We did see native wood-carving.  It's the people who are carving the wood for the sanctuary, which was begun in 1981 and won't be completely finished for another 20 years.  

It's on land that was inherited by the temple's creator who could have built another hotel but opted to preserve the heritage by building the sanctuary.  Here are a few samples of the amazing carvings.

All done by hand.  Check out their website at www.sanctuaryoftruth.com

  

Sihanoukville

Now we arrive in Cambodia, which traces its roots back to the first century.  The Angkor Empire rose in 802 and the following 600 years saw the Khmer kings build the most extensive concentration of religious temples in the world - the Angkor Wat complex.  We docked near Sihanoukville (usually called "Snooky"). This, unfortunately, is nowhere near Angkor Wat.  In fact, one has to fly inland quite a ways to see the temples.

What we did do was visit Ream National Park.

Upon arrival at the park,  we walked across a rickety wooden dock to board our homemade rickety wooden boat.

We had about 15 people on the boat and to a one, we all grabbed for the lifejackets and put them on.  Once we were convinced that the boat was not about to sink, we enjoyed a beautiful one-hour ride down the river.

The boats took us to the dolphin station, but alas, no dolphins were there to greet us that day.  From there, we walked toward the rain forest.  The first part of the walk passed through people's backyards (observation:  picking up after oneself is not a high priority here).

The area also was covered with rice paddies full of water buffalo.  This rain forest can't hold a candle to New Zealand, but here's Gordon hoofing it in.  We were promised that there would be a beach at the other end of this walk.  Sounded good to us.

It was hot, hot, hot and humid.  There was a nice beach at the other end of the trek, and gods be praised, a bar.  We never knew that a beer could look that good and gratefully sampled the local Angkor brand...not bad.

Cambodia has many stories to tell, especially the historic period between 1945 and 1998.  The area has been occupied by the French and the Japanese.  Just when Cambodia became self-sufficient in the 60's, the growing war in Vietnam spilled over into the country.  During the 1970's the "Reign of Terror" under Pol Pot's democratic Kampuchea resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people.  Today, the country has a parliamentary system with a prime minister.  The King, Norodom Sihanouk, has returned to the throne as a symbol of national unity.

Singapore...Famous Locations and F1 Races

The arrival into Singapore tells you that you're now in the modern age:

It's a big city: kind of a city-state, like Monaco, and like Monaco, real estate is limited so they build up, not out.  Our tour was a bus ride around town with a stop in Chinatown to look around.  Singapore is divided up into areas:  Chinatown, the Arab area, the Indian area, and the European area.  The people who originally populated the area decided to stick with their own.

The city is loaded with public housing, VERY tall buildings with small apartments that have reasonable rents.  While it seemed common to us, many of our fellow cruisers were amazed and aghast at the laundry hanging outside the windows on the 20th floor.  Apparently our fellows have not spent much time in Europe.

Singapore is a very clean city...they call it "a fine city".  There's a fine if you're caught chewing gum (yes!  it's illegal to chew gum), littering, spitting, not cleaning up after your dog, and the list goes on.  Fines run from 500 Singapore dollars to over 1000.

The tour hit the high spots, of course.  Here it is, the famous new Marina Bay Sands towers.  This photo is taken from the F1 track:

Also, if you watch F1, you'll recognize the Fullerton Hotel, also on the track:

Here's the actual track, at the overpass:

Finally, we stopped for photos at the infamous Raffles Hotel.

Singapore sense of humor in Chinatown:

We had indeed just crossed the equator the previous day.