We moved from our Lavini Boutique Hotel in the rice paddies of Hoi An to “Local Beach Homestay” just a short walk to the beach. The homestay can’t be accessed by cars as it is on one of many narrow alleys in this area – so we walked the last bit there. We’ve learned that "homestays" are a family's way to run a small hotel – usually 2-4 rooms for guests. They serve breakfast but you don’t live with the family. They vary a lot as you would expect.
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| Signs showing the places in the alley to the right! |
I walked along the beach most mornings, and many locals were exercising – swimming, calisthenics, tai chi, soccer, and more. The beach was busier at 6 am than it often was later in the day with the few tourists around. The beaches near where the tourists hang out have much less trash than the beaches that have no hotels or restaurants.
The fishermen were up even earlier. I missed seeing them out on the water but caught them as they dragged their basket boats up the beach to store above high tide for the day.
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| Hauling in the basket boats and their morning catch |
Sunday, we took a tour of My Son Sanctuary, an ancient Cham (Hindu) site dating from the 4th to 13th centuries. Unfortunately, it was also a site of massive bombing during the Vietnam War (called the American War here) and many of the original standing temples were destroyed. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 and ruins of about 70 buildings from successive dynasties of Cham kings have been partially restored with contributions from other countries. It feels peaceful nestled in a gorgeous mountain setting.
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My Son Sanctuary |
We left Hoi An on December 12th and got a ride (Grab is the Uber of Vietnam) to the Da Nang train station where we stored our bags while we toured the Museum of Cham Sculpture. The Museum is on the Han River near the coast and has fine displays of Cham culture from My Son Sanctuary as well as other Cham sites in the region.
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| The Museum of Cham Sculpture |
An afternoon train took us to Hue where we walked to our very bright Sky Homestay. Our host was amazingly proficient in both English and French and super attentive to her guests while also helping her husband corral two busy young sons!
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| Sky Homestay in Hue |
While Hubby worked, I walked to the Imperial City of Hue which began when the Nguyen Dynasty moved the capitol city from Hanoi to Hue and ruled the country from 1802 to 1945. While the Nguyen were conservative Confucianists, the French also had a large influence during this time, and were the de facto rulers from 1884 until 1945, when the last emperor abdicated his throne. A huge fire in 1847 burned much of the Imperial City, and then the American response to the Tet Offensive in 1968 pretty much finished it off. The site gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 1993 which spurred massive funding to help restore some of the buildings.
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| Imperial City of Hue |
It rained most of the next day but we did a little more sightseeing before catching the afternoon train to Dong Hoi. A driver met us there and delivered us to the Karst Villas in Phong Nha in time for dinner (delicious as always) and a nice room and sleep. We couldn’t see the karst features that night – but the next morning we had this view from our room.
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| View from Karst Villas in Phong Nah |
We borrowed one-speed bikes and headed to town where we joined with two other couples (French and German) to rent a dragon boat to take us to the largest cave in Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park. The karst formations here are about 400 million years old – and the Park is home to the world’s largest cave – though we didn’t go to that cave. We were lucky that the water level dropped just enough to allow the boats to enter the large Phong Nha Cave opening. We were dropped off to stroll back through the impressive formations. We then climbed a zillion (almost) steps to tour Tien Son cave before returning to our boat.
After an amazing bahn mi at the recommended Thang Nhuhg café, we took advantage of the dry weather and the borrowed bikes and headed to the beautiful Bong Lai Valley just a few kilometers past where we were staying. They are just opening up to tourists now - but you can get coffee and wifi along with beautiful views. You'll need to zoom in on the photo to see the offerings!
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| Beautiful Bong Lai Valley |
The next day it rained (again) so Hubby worked inside and I walked on the paths through the rice paddies. We found a nice café for lunch and got in some birdwatching on the way. It is a pleasant area and the folks in the village we biked through yesterday and walked through today were incredibly cheerful and friendly, waving as we went by.
Last view from our porch - incredibly hard working farmer plowing rice paddies in the rain.
Next up – Hanoi!
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