Caves and Tunnels

Phong Nha Caves and Vinh Moc Tunnels

Our long day started with an 8 am pick up at our hotel, the Sun Spa Resort. It was a typical huge beach resort with several pools, a spa, and a golf course...which we had no time to enjoy. Not that we cared, that was not why we came. Well, I guess I did get a massage out of it.

An hour and a half drive along the Ho Chi Minh trail, which is now a nicely paved two lane road, and we arrived at the place where we boarded our boat for the trip down the river to the cave. Our boat was able to enter the first opening of the cave, but the second opening that would have taken us all the way in was too short for the boat to get through, due to the recent heavy rains. So we had to get out and walk into the cave.

The river continues underground for 10 kilometers, we are told that it is the longest underground river in the world. But the tourists can only go into the first 500 meters. Scientists have explored the first 2 kilometers, but no one has ventured any farther in. The danger of flash floods filling the cavern is too high.

After touring the cave and riding the boat back to our car, we decided to have a small bite to eat before beginning our 2 hour drive back to Hue and the Vinh Moc Tunnels. I had a bowl of beef pho, but Augie's stomach was still too distressed to have anything but water.

Augie and I both dozed much of the way to Hue. We finally arrived at the tunnels. We first went to the small museum where they had a map of the area and pictures depicting life in the tunnels and various other war propaganda.

The tunnels were built to house some 2000 people of the village of Vinh Moc to protect them from the American bombs. The Viet Cong helped them to build this complex labrynth in three levels, some sections as deep as 60 ft underground. They lived there from 1965 to 1967. There was a severely physically and mentally disabled man who lives in or around the tunnels and escorted us into the caves. He was sort of a Vietnamese equivalent of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He giggled along either in front of or in back of us, and he gave me a flashlight to help me in the dark. Our guide told us he was one of the 17 children born in the caves and is the last survivor. His birth defects were caused by Agent Orange. The rest of them all died from the war or from the affects of Agent Orange.

Augie and I had to walk with our heads down and our backs hunched in order to fit. There were square rooms where each family would live, a well, a wash room, and a big meeting room. There were several openings onto the cliffs above the sea to allow air circulation, and openings toward the land to offer protection. They were different from the Chu Chi Tunnels in Saigon in that the Chu Chi Tunnels were made for combat, these were made as shelters. It was very interesting to see, and a very sad reminder of what life in a war zone is like.

Finally, we drove the last 2 hours back into the center of Hue, where we had our dinner at a nice restaurant. Hue seems to be a nice city, it reminded us of Saigon when we were here 11 years ago. We hear that Saigon is now more crowded and more smoggy than even Hanoi. So we are worried about what we'll find when we get there.

We are now at the airport waiting for our late night flight to Saigon.

Hue Citadel and Imperial Palace

Last night we said farewell to the Picas and the Austins after our Cargo Club dinner. They were off this morning for Saigon, and we were picked up by our guide, Long, for our drive to the caves and our spa resort. He said it would be better to switch our itinerary around, so today he took us to the Citadel, the DMZ, the Doc Mieu American base (or what's left of it) and the cemetery across the street which has over one million graves of Vietnamese soldiers from the province of Quang Tri that were killed in the war.

When we arrived at the spa resort, I indulged myself with a 90 minute hot rock massage and facial. Inflated spa pricing - $20. But it was worth it. Tomorrow we will visit Phong Nha Cave.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We had a dinner of rice, stir flied vegetables, chicken, and shrimp.

Marble Mountain, DaNang

Another Day in Hoi An

Today we all flaked out on our Cooking Tour. We still have more important things to do...shop, shop, and shop. Augie woke up not feeling too well, so we had a quick, light breakfast and he was anxious to get out into the fresh air and get some exercise. So we grabbed a couple of the hotel bikes (provided at no charge) and headed off to find the geo cache and locate the hotel Mary Ann and her group will be staying at in December. It's about two miles away, at the beach. The ride was against the wind, so it seemed like longer. But it was all pretty flat. Their hotel is beautiful, but very huge. I prefer the personal attention of our little boutique hotels.

The ride back into town went so much quicker. Before I knew it, we were back in the familiar streets of downtown Hoi An. Then I heard someone shout my name. It was Paul and Mike having a drink at a side walk bar, while the girls were at a jewelry story a couple shops down. Augie joined the guys and I went to see what the girls were up to. I was so impressed with their treasures, that I had to pick up a few of my own, mostly pearls.

After rejoining the boys for a cool drink (Lemongrass Mojitos...yum!), and showing off our newest treasures, the Picas and the Austins set off for the Cargo Club for lunch. Augie and I have a tour to Marble Mountain this afternoon and we wanted to get back to the hotel to call the guide to more it up to an earlier time. On the way back to our hotel, we ran into Beverly again, and she was about to buy some barbequed pork on a stick from a street vendor. Mike thought she was nuts, but I told her I'd join her. It was very delicious. Augie and Laura ended up giving it a try too.

Our Breakfast Buffet at the Ha An Hotel

Hoi An Continued

We have all been doing our part to support the local economy. It's been non stop retail therapy for 2 days. Clothes, shoes, jewelry, glasses...literally everything under the sun can be found here. And bargaining is mandatory. Today we all have to make the rounds all over town to pick up what we've ordered.

Yesterday, Augie and I took some time off from the shopping to take a tour of My Son, another set of temple ruins. These are set in a lush tropical jungle, so they had an entirely different feel from the Angkor Wat complex. After climbing all over the ruins, we took a boat ride down the river back to Hoi An, having lunch on board. We couldn't make the walk back to our hotel without stopping and making a few more purchases. We got back just in time to meet the rest of the gang for happy hour at their hotel. They had made 8 pm dinner reservations at what is now our favorite restaurant in Hoi An, The Cargo Club.

Hanoi to Danang to Hoi An

Finally, we have escaped the smog of Hanoi and made our flight to Danang. The south is clearly different from the north. The airport is large, but much more the feel of a small airport. And best of all, the air is clear.

We retrieved our bags and found our driver and van and began our 40 minute drive to Hoi An. The coast line is dotted now with resort after resort, and even some condo complexes. They are taking advantage of the tourist trade in a big way. We finally pulled into Hoi An. It is what we expected Vietnam to be, a quaint little village with a small central market and small hotels, restaurants and shops lining the streets. The town is situated on a river, about 4 kilometers from the coast.

Our hotel, the Ha An Resort, is a quaint little boutique hotel with a small restaurant and small, but comfortable and clean rooms. The others are in the Life Heritage Resort, a larger 4 star resort on the river. We're all happy with our accomodations. We settled into our rooms and began our serious quest for shopping bargains. Whatever you want, you can find it in Hoi An. First stop is the taylers to get our clothes ordered.