Phu My

Click here for more photos of Phu My

A brief drive south from our port city of Phu My brought us to the lovely seaside town of Vung Tau. Here the land is flat and low and there are endless stretches of beautiful sandy beaches. We took a half day tour here as in lieu of a 4 hour bus ride to Saigon.

We began our day at the Whale Temple.  Many years ago a whale washed up on the beach so they saved the bones and built a temple as the whale was seen as their protector during storms.

The famous bones

Making an offering

Next, we visited a giant roadside Jesus Statue on our way to yet another Buddhist Temple nestled neatly in an old seaside neighborhood. This photo is at the bottom of a high hill (that we didn't climb) where the real statue is. Here's a video of the statue from the air.

Incense

As we lit incense at the temple, the custom is to ring the bell. What a magnificent sound!

Here are photos of the White Villa, and old colonial French Royal Residence.

Path through the gardens

Life is good

More photos of Phu My here!

Nha Trang

Click here for more photos of Nha Trang

Nha Trang is quite south and it's getting really tropical, at last. We are feeling the heat for the first time and we finally see a beach filled with sun bathers (mostly from Russia) and an ocean of warm water. We spent time visiting temples, an outstanding marketplace, and the beautiful beach. In Vietnam, all the beaches we saw were right in town with the commercial section directly opposite the beaches. It reminded me of South Beach in Miami. There were outstanding sights to see in Nha Trang.





First, we visited the Long Son Pagoda. There was a service taking place in the temple and we climbed stairs to the reclining Buddah and the giant white Buddah.

Reclining Buddah

Giant White Buddah

Next we went to the Dam Market. I bought a tee shirt here and we visited the famous seafood section. I don't really know what kind of seafood we saw, but it was pretty interesting and really smelly!

Our guide's mother at her booth

Seafood! Don't ask. All I recognize is the dried squid and some sort of shrimp like creature.

Finally, we travelled across the Xon Bong Bridge to the impressive ruins of Po Nagar Cham Towers. The Cham were an ancient civilization who built these temples between the 7th and 12th centuries. They were very well preserved and a real highlight to visit!

The towers

An offering inside the temple

More beach!

This is one of many fishing baskets we saw

Having tea with our guide

More Nha Trang photos here!

DaNang and Hue

Click here for more photos of DaNang and Hue

DaNang was the arrival port and Hue and the Imperial City were to be a 2 hour bus ride away. Both cities were critically important to U.S. efforts in the Vietnam War and those of us of a certain age knew these names, if not anything about them.

DaNang is an important port city and lies on the South China Sea at the midpoint of Vietnam. It was where Marines first landed at the start of U.S. involvement in the war and there was/is a huge military complex there; both an air base and naval base. The air base was the world's busiest airport during the Vietnam War! It is a city with a large port and a long stretch of beach that attracts many Russian tourists.

I have no photos of DaNang other than what I could take from our bus window. Here's a sampling:

Rice paddies...

...and mountains.

We'd pass this kind of "official" building every 10 minutes of so.
I'm not sure what they were. Schools, maybe?

The Imperial City at Hue was very interesting. The Imperial City is a huge, walled city; once the capitol of Vietnam. It's quite a fascinating place with important historical significance for the Vietnamese. It was heavily damaged during the Tet offensive in 1968 and is still undergoing refurbishment, heavily financed by the Japanese. The Imperial City is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight. Here a few photos of the Imperial City:

Hue is where we learned to cross the road. Traffic lights really don't exist and traffic is never ending. Pedestrians simply look at the traffic, and walk into the road. It's quite intimidating, but expected. Cars slow down and scooters go around. Everyone just deals with it. I felt like George Costanza playing Frogger in the Seinfeld episode...

Following our visit to the Imperial City, we had lunch at the beautiful Hotel Saigon, a beautiful hotel built during the French colonial days. There was a "band" playing traditional music during lunch and they were mesmerizing. One string instrument seemed to have one string that the musician played with her right hand while manipulating the pitch with her left; like she was playing musical saw. She was outstanding and the sound was haunting. Their only faux pas was when they played the Godfather Theme. They played great, but that sounded a bit strange.

Hotel Saigon

The band!

After lunch, it was off to the Tomb of Tu Duc. Tu Duc is considered Vietnam's last emperor as the country was conquered by the French during his reign. His is an fascinating story, involving dozens of wives and a horrible slaughter following his death. Here's more information.

The Tomb (hint: he ain't there)

Diane says: "see you next stop!"

More photos here

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Click here for more photos of Halong Bay

Halong Bay (How long Bay) is located in the infamous (of Vietnam War resolution fame) Gulf of Tonkin in far northern Vietnam. The gulf is a near lake created by the curve of Vietnam and the island of Hainan off the China coast, and the bay lies in the western corner, near the Chinese border. As with most of our journey, we had nice weather with mysteriously hazy skies. We were finally to learn that this is winter in this part of the world. The air is dry, but the mixing of cold air from the continent and warm air from the South China Sea creates a perpetual haze which seemed to lessen as we travelled south.

The bay is famous for the 1,969 islands that dot the harbor. We remember how many islands because "Uncle Ho", their revered leader, Ho Chi Minh, died in 1969. The islands are limestone pillars that rise steeply from the sea. Nearly all are uninhabited and they make for a beautiful sight. Tourism is alive and well here and the many tourists from nearby China are a great source of income for the Vietnamese economy. By the way, the U.S. ranks number 3 in tourists who visit Vietnam.

With all the limestone in the area, there are many caves to be explored. We visited the famous Thien Cung Cave. It involved a hike up to the entrance where we were to experience a beautifully lit and high ceilinged cave.

Our guide shows us around

Great lighting inside

There is a world of exploring to be done in Halong Bay. Many tourists stay on overnight cruises visiting the many islands and there is a town to explore. We took a tender trip into town, but found things to be rather quiet, though we visited a nice park beneath their huge bridge and we found a hotel to sit outside of and swipe some wifi!

Families bring their boats alongside to sell produce, mostly little bananas. Very tasty.

This is a huge coal producing region. These wooden vessels are loaded with coal that is destined for China

Off to our next adventure!

Hong Hong

At 8pm the buildings perform a fantastic laser light show (this isn't the light show, it's their normal lighting)

Click here for more photos of Hong Kong

If you've never been to Hong Kong, it's New York in Miami with mountains. After 10 days in Taiwan, Hong Kong felt like we left Asia; much more familiar, less foreign. English is everywhere, lots of upscale shopping and hotels, western food (my first fork in 10 days!), wealth disparity. It's a lively, busy port centered around a huge financial industry and things look great there.

TV on the train to the city center

Arrival to Hong Kong is very 21st century. The airport is huge and well laid out and there is a high speed train into the city. Really, flying through the city in excess of 100mph is pretty outstanding!

Trains arrive from beyond a glass wall!

Hong Kong is on an island, or a number of islands, but part of the city is also on the mainland. Although it is officially a part of China, it is an autonomous region and travelers, and Hong Kong residents, need a passport or visa to get across the border to China.

We had lunch at a Chicago themed sports tavern in a beautiful, upscale mall. Burgers all around!

Here's part of the mall

We took a tour of the city. Here are highlights:

At the top of Mt. Victoria

City view from Mt Victoria

Boat tour!

Apparently, this is the largest floating restaurant in the world. It's in Hong Kong harbor

Harbor scene

Tourist pavilion on top of Mt Victoria

Self explanatory...

I believe this is Asia's tallest building. It's taller than 1 World Trade in NY. It sits on the mainland, though it's still part of Hong Kong.There is a light show covering the entire building and it's amazing!