Thursday
Aug062009
From Hue South to Da Nang and Hoi An
Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 2:43PM
Your tour bus will take you or you can purchase bus tickets at travel outlets near the DMA Café in Hue. The drive south, which will take no more than four hours, will take you past Phu Bai (12 miles south of Hue) where the nice smaller Hue Airport is located. It was here in 1967 the 3rd Marine Division was headquartered and when it moved north to Quang Tri in March of 1968 the Army’s 101st Airborne Division moved into the area. Today it is a growing industrial area. Proceeding south, you’ll pass through villages with rice fields on both sides and mountains to the west. Eventually you will see a bay and then the South China Sea with an inlet or bay on the right. This area is good for photo stops—with the fishing villages, nets and boats all around. You then climb over Hai Van Pass with great photo ops to the north as you climb up and to the south as you drop down into Da Nang. At the top there are some tourist shops and places to buy a Coke. You need to walk to both sides and look at the views to the north and the south. When we ran convoys over this pass in 1967-68 we used to look at the views from the top and said that someday there would be resorts to the north and south along this beautiful coastline and we were right. You then drop down into Da Nang. We had a huge base here in the war and you can still see some of the cement bunkers at the airport we housed fighter planes and helicopters in to protect them from rocket attack. The only thing to enjoy in Da Nang is an hour’s visit to the Cham Dynasty Museum. It is nicely done and provides you with the story, history and artifacts from this important era in this country.
From Da Nang you head south on Hwy 1 past Marble Mountain (nothing to see except lots of stone carving shops and a temple on top you can hike up to) to the World Heritage Site of Hoi An, built by the Japanese more than 400 years ago. I love this quaint town, and it’s fun to walk around at night with the lanterns lighting the town up. The atmosphere at night is wonderful. You have plenty of restaurants, art shops, shops of all types. It has a special feeling to it. In the daytime you can buy a ticket and take a tour through five of the ancient homes and temples. One restaurant we like is called Brothers. Call for reservatipns and ask for a table on the river side of the patio. This town also has a nice public market you can walk through and feel the bustle and energy of it all. There are more and more nice four- and five-star hotels being built along this section of the coast. The one we like those is one called the Hoi An Beach Resort. It is smaller than the biggies and has nice grounds and two pools. It has unique setting in that it sits off the beach road with their section of the beach (lounge chairs, etc) on the other side of the small road. It also faces a river on the other side that has fishing boats put putting up and down the river and from which side you watch the sunsets. You have the best of both worlds. Ask for rooms on the side facing the river. Some nights, while having dinner on the terrace, they release paper lanterns with lit candles inside of them so they float pass you. It is beautiful and unique. They have local shops near this hotel you can have clothes made for small dollars. They have shuttle busses into town on schedule. Also fun to take pedicab ride back to hotel from town. They also have bikes you can check out for free (or a $1.00 a day) to explore the area. Ask at the front desk where to turn off the road to get through nearby fishing village to visit the End of the Earth Café. One tour most people take while in this area is out to My Song, one of the major Cham Dynasty ancient sites. Well worth your time. You need at least three-nights in this area to do it right.
From Da Nang you head south on Hwy 1 past Marble Mountain (nothing to see except lots of stone carving shops and a temple on top you can hike up to) to the World Heritage Site of Hoi An, built by the Japanese more than 400 years ago. I love this quaint town, and it’s fun to walk around at night with the lanterns lighting the town up. The atmosphere at night is wonderful. You have plenty of restaurants, art shops, shops of all types. It has a special feeling to it. In the daytime you can buy a ticket and take a tour through five of the ancient homes and temples. One restaurant we like is called Brothers. Call for reservatipns and ask for a table on the river side of the patio. This town also has a nice public market you can walk through and feel the bustle and energy of it all. There are more and more nice four- and five-star hotels being built along this section of the coast. The one we like those is one called the Hoi An Beach Resort. It is smaller than the biggies and has nice grounds and two pools. It has unique setting in that it sits off the beach road with their section of the beach (lounge chairs, etc) on the other side of the small road. It also faces a river on the other side that has fishing boats put putting up and down the river and from which side you watch the sunsets. You have the best of both worlds. Ask for rooms on the side facing the river. Some nights, while having dinner on the terrace, they release paper lanterns with lit candles inside of them so they float pass you. It is beautiful and unique. They have local shops near this hotel you can have clothes made for small dollars. They have shuttle busses into town on schedule. Also fun to take pedicab ride back to hotel from town. They also have bikes you can check out for free (or a $1.00 a day) to explore the area. Ask at the front desk where to turn off the road to get through nearby fishing village to visit the End of the Earth Café. One tour most people take while in this area is out to My Song, one of the major Cham Dynasty ancient sites. Well worth your time. You need at least three-nights in this area to do it right.
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