Vietnam part deux

Despite my 2 days of illness Hue proved to be a place with plenty of things to see and explore but it was time to head to Da Nang. 

We moved slowly on the train making our way from Hue to Da Nang with our mouths hanging open. The view of the ocean as we traveled through the mountains was a sight to be seen.  We went from tunnel to cliff  to tunnel over and over again for about an hour until we finally stopped.  We arrived in Da Nang and took a taxi to the beach as we had surfing on the brain and heard there are decent waves there.  The city of Da Nang is quite busy.  They have 3 very whimsical bridges  one of which looks like a dragon and the are all covered in LED lights.  I am a self proclaimed expert on bridges as a Pittsburgh resident.  

dragon bridge Da Nang

Ferris wheel in Da Nang 

Garrett read about a woman named Tam that had a surf shop/cafe around the beach so we decided to head straight to her shop to ask about renting surf boards.   We found our way to Tams and were immediately welcomed by Tam herself.  She asked us where we were from and when we told her the U.S., she was so excited and happy.  She told us that during the war her village was burned down and the villagers who refused to join the Vietcong were taken in by the American soldiers and they lived on the Army base.  Tam was 12 when she was relocated to the base.  She started telling us about her experience with the war and how she refuses to let people talk badly about the American’s involvement.  This was certainly a surprise to me but as Tam says,” there are two sides to every war.” This incredible woman sat with us telling us story after story and before we had realized, 4 hours had gone by! I’m not gonna write all of her stories here as it would be the longest blog post in history so if you want to hear them you’ll have to wait for us to get home. I strongly recommend asking us because she is truly amazing.  

We decided to get some lunch at the cafe while we listened to Tam’s stories.  She told us she make a world famous hamburger and we were intrigued.   Now Garrett and I had been trying our hardest to stay away from any “western” food while traveling but every now and then it’s nice to have a reminder of home.  We decided to go for it!  As a person who just started  eating red meat after 25 years, I can tell you this was a fine hamburger.

It was loaded with things and served on a fresh bun.   I had decided the ocean looked too sloppy for the surfing I was hoping to do but Garrett decided to go for it!  

Tam 

Garret and I spent 2 nights at the beach before jumping on a bus to the highly anticipated Hoi An.  We had heard you can literally have anything you want custom made by a local seamstresses. It’s a beautiful city separated into two parts by a river and joined by a small bridge where the locals sell lanterns that you float down the river.  It’s very pretty to watch tons of lanterns around sunset floating away down the steady river.  The next morning it was on! Hoi An is a shoppers paradise.  You want a 3 piece suit? No problem custom made to your measurements.  You want shoes, bags, leather products?  same same.  I couldn’t resist designing a shoe with custom fit and specifications.  After a day of running around from shop to shop we stopped for some lunch at the market.  This is when Cau Lau and stall 34 at the market came into our lives.  Cau Lau is a dish made with special noodles that are ONLY made in Hoi An.  The complexity of the noodles, the meat, the fresh greens and the sauce make it one of my top picks for dishes in SE Asia.  I could eat this every day.  

The next day, we decided take a cooking class.  They picked us up and took us to the local market and we shopped for the ingredients to make the 4 dishes we were about to prepare.  Garrett and I spend a lot of time wondering the local markets amazed at some the incredible things we see.  It was a perfect opportunity to ask all of the questions about the foods we had seen before but were unaware of their names.  We headed to the kitchen and it was time to learn how to prepare 4 dishes;  Gỏi cuốn (fresh spring rolls), Banh Xeo (sizzling crispy rice pancake), Bun Bo Xao (Beef noodle salad), Pho (noodle soup).  Many hours and 2 full bellies later, it was time to head back to the city for a few last clothing fittings.  

 

One of the major sights to see in Hoi An is the Japanese Covered Bridge.  This bridge was constructed in the early 1600’s as a way to link the Japanese with the Chinese across the stream as a symbol of peace.  There are a pair of dog statues guarding one entrance to the bridge and there are a pair of monkeys on the other side.  These animals are the zodiac signs of many Japanese emperors.

It is also thought the dog represents the year the bridge construction began and the monkeys represent the year it was finished.  Hopefully the bridge will be a tourist attraction for many years to come as it is so pretty.  A few days later, it was time to fly from Da Nang to Saigon.  

I’d like to start by saying Saigon is gigantic! I had no idea this gorgeous city is quite as big as it is.  The first day we woke up and headed out to walk around the city for the morning.  We walked all over looking at the hustle and bustle of a major Vietnamese city.  The driving in Vietnam is insane.  The joke about the driving in Vietnam is printed all over t shirts in gift shops everywhere:

     

Yes it’s a joke… kind of 

Every time you cross the street in Saigon you have to just go,  if you hesitate you will be stuck in the middle of the road while scooters and cars go whizzing by your body as fast as they can move. We passed by the Saigon Opera House and learned about the building and the performance currently running.  The very nice woman at the opera house told us about the subway they were working on building across the city.  A subway will really make Saigon an even more livable city and it will help relieve some of their traffic issues. 

The following day we headed to Independence Palace or also known as Reunification Palace.  It is the former home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the war.  In 1975 during the Fall of Saigon, the North Vietnamese Army crashed tanks through the front gates.  It was an interesting flashback to the late 60’s early 70’s.  

We spent Christmas in Saigon and went out for a nice dinner.  Christmas was a much bigger deal than we thought it would be.  The city was set up for a huge new years celebration and a taxi driver told me that “world new year” is a huge event in Saigon in addition to Tet (Vietnamese New Year). 


















We decided to spend the week of New years on the Island of Phu Quoc. We flew to the island a few days before new years eve. The island of Phu Quoc was much bigger than I had realized.  We rented a scooter as soon as we arrived and decided we’d spend a few days traveling around the island.  The first beach we checked out was Long Beach.  Long beach lives up to it’s name and goes for miles.  This was the most popular tourist area. There were tons of huge hotels and resorts.  

The next day we took the scooter and checked out the major construction on the island.  There are roads and resorts being built everywhere.  We were amazed at how much construction they are doing.  It is really spread out all over the island.  The next beach we headed to was Soa Beach.  This beach is a nice stretch of white sand and turquoise water. The only down side to the beaches of Phu Quoc was the intense amount of garbage on the beaches.  The pollution is due to fishermen and locals throwing their trash into the ocean.  Phu Quoc was a time to relax for us and we didn’t do that much there.  We did go on a snorkeling/ fishing trip and Garrett saw a bunch of different fish but I got out of the water after 10 minutes of getting stung in the face by tiny jelly fish.  During the fishing component to the boat trip, Garrett caught the biggest fish on out boat and a Russian guy told Garrett,” You Champion!” Oh ya, thats another thing about Phu Quoc, the amount of Russians there is incredible.  Many of the menus and signs on the island are written in Russian in addition to Vietnamese.  

New Years Eve dance party

New Years eve was a lot of fun.  We went to a resort and had all you can eat seafood bbq and then headed to a party with a dj on the beach.  It was a fun night of dancing and I’ll never forget the way we rang in 2015. The strangest thing about the celebration was that there were no fireworks.  As you Pittsburghers know, we love our fireworks.  It didn’t seem like a typical New Years but then again…it’s not!

New Years Eve

Sao Beach

Sao Beach

Baby Duck Lady at the market