DaNang and Hue

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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

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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)

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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!

Taroko National Park

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Taroko National Park is one of 8 national parks in Taiwan. It's located on the east (Pacific) coast near the town of Hualien, where we stayed. It has a spectacular gorge cut through the marble rocks by the Liwu river. Hiking trails abound and camping is a big attraction. Many trails are very rugged and require permits to hike. Helmets are required on some trails because of frequent rock falls; not surprising since the mountains are so vertical here.

On the way to the park, we stopped at a roadside shop to have a lemonade made with their special green lemons (they refer to them as green lemons; we thought they were limes). It was delicious!

Nancy inquires about how much hot sauce to add to her lemonade

In 2013 heavy rains triggered a huge landslide that knocked the road out of commission for some time and one can still see the effects, which will be apparent for many years to come. I should mention that the road through the park is an engineering marvel and a real white knuckle ride!

Dressed for Success!

Yeah, it was a deep gorge!

It was high, and it was rickety..

You want us to cross what...?

After our Taroko trip, we detoured to the Pacific Ocean beach on our way back to our B&B. It was a beautiful beach, a bit haunting in the grayness of winter, and a bit rough on the feet as it was a stone beach.

Our patient guide!

Our beautiful Hualien B&B

With our delightful hostess, Kate