March 12
Night train from Lao Cai to Hanoi. We arrive in Hanoi around 5:30 AM and, as we promised Luke, we walk through the mist the half a block to the hotel instead of taking a van. Despite a better night's sleep than on the train to Lao Cai, I'm still tired. So, I took a nap before breakfast. Then it is time to head to the airport for our flight to Da Nang. Luke takes us all the way through check-in to security and then takes a final picture of us to prove to our travel agent that he has handed us off.
The plane was supposed to board at 12:10 for a 12:50 flight but no one is at the gate until perhaps 12:30. Finally everyone lines up goes down the stairs to a bus to take us to the plane. Flight was pleasant enough including the flight crew bowing to the passengers on boarding and deplaning.
I was a little worried that our "Find My" app last showed my baggage as being in Hanoi 2 hrs ago, but at the very end of the train of bags, all of our bags appeared! Outside, there are like a million people with small signs with the names of passengers that they are looking for. Chris sees a guy holding a sign saying "Peters" (note, Chris' last name is Peters). We follow the driver off to a smallish SUV. We are a little skeptical that we've got the right driver since there is barely room for us and our suitcases and he speaks no English. Chris shows him our itinerary and asks if he is supposed to be going to Hoi An and if he is with our tour company. He says "yes, yes" so off we go. After that, there are several phone calls between our driver and his dispatcher and from the tone of the conversation, there seems to be a problem. In the meantime, Chris has WhatsApped our travel agent telling them that we are in a van with a guy who speaks no English and no guide and asking whether we are in the right van. Finally, the driver hands his phone to me to speak to his dispatcher. He tells me that the driver picked up the wrong group and that we could go on to Hoi An for some large amount of money or return to the airport. In the meantime, Chris has handed her phone to the driver and our travel agent tells him to take us back to the airport. That settled, we head back to the airport and find our new guide Vu and his driver.
Vu is from Hoi An and is telling us about the sites as we drive south along the coast from Da Nang. During the Vietnam war, Da Nang was the home of the largest American airbase in South Vietnam and we pass the airfield (which is now used by the Vietnamese Air Force):
as we turn onto what he calls Five Star Boulevard. It's called that because there is resort after resort on our left (next to the beach) along this road:
This is also where the US servicemen would come for R&R for short periods. For longer leaves, they went to Thailand.
Eventually, we come to a number of resorts that were under construction when the Covid epidemic started and have been halted ever since. On our right is a couple hundred-meter-high hill that Vu calls the Marble Mountain. All of the businesses in these areas are selling sculptures (Budda, Madonna, mythical creatures) in white, brown and red marble. Here are some pictures of what was available for sale:
Vu tells us that Hoi An was the most important city in central Vietnam since the 7th century and was a major stop in the spice trade. By the 18th century China and Japan both considered Hoi An to be an important port for trade, particularly for the ceramics produced in the area. But by the end of the 18th century, the Nguyen clan, which had controlled southern Vietnam for more than 200 years, was defeated and replaced by people who were anti-trade and who gave the French exclusive trade rights in Da Nang. At the same time, the river mouth in Hoi An had silted in enough that large ships couldn't go there. At that point, Hoi An was forgotten (and generally left alone) for more than 200 years. As a result, its old town is considered one of the only well preserved south-east Asian trading ports dating from the 15th century. This is why UNESCO listed it as a world heritage site in 1999. Our hotel is right on the edge of the old city. Vu tells us that we should go to a restaurant called the Morning Glory Original in the old town and check out the lanterns and night market along the way.
After a rest at the hotel, we decide to follow Vu's advice. The night market is cheek-to-jowl full of people, selling street food, fake designer brands, and lots of tailor shops who offer custom clothes made in about 24 hr. It is close to the full moon and people are putting little floating lanterns with candles in the river like prayers for prosperity or longevity. We learn that Morning Glory Original is owned by Ms. Vy. Chef Vy's vision was to serve Vietnamese street food in a comfortable setting and to rediscover many of the dishes and recipes that had been lost during the post-war period of food scarcity and rationing. She has been wildly successful and now there are a whole string of her restaurants. We can see why. Dinner is fabulous - deep fried red snapper, chicken curry and morning glories as a vegetable, lime juice to drink, mango sticky rice and Vietnamese banana ice cream for dessert. The bill comes to 901,000 Dong. That sounds like a lot of zeros but is actually only about US $35 for four of us! Here are some pictures:
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