Port 18 Hue, Vietnam

Hello! Xin chàu once again!

Today is April 12th, 2024, and we awake to smooth waters heading into Hue via the port of Chan May Bay. Once again, we are overnighting at port, and we have two days of excursions.

The sky is hazy – not good for photos – but the water is smooth – great for cruising!

We approach the lovely port of Chan May! Well, not so lovely. OK, the dock to the buses is lined with colorful flags – those are lovely!

Joy and I will be heading out to see “Life on a Peninsula” today, then “Da Nang & Marble Beach” tomorrow. Walking out to our first bus, I snap a picture of Insignia. See the lovely flags?

We begin driving southeast from Chan May Bay to Lang Co (the town is named “Lang Co” – “Co” does not mean “Company”). Little fishing huts dot the waterfront. The Lan Ap lagoon is ripe with oysters!

We also noticed the roads are lined with piles and piles of rings – would you believe these are old bicycle tires?

Oyster “processing facilities” are largely just lean-to tents on the shore. More bicycle tires fill the landscape – they should be in a landfill!

Someone put in a nice farming pond. Not sure what they’re growing in here – they don’t need this for oysters!

We are able to stop to watch a crew bring in a catch of oysters.

One man shovels oysters into a net that is held by the other two.

They carry the oysters to shore to their “processing facility”. Others are already working on a batch! Someone is gonna eat well today! These oysters are well-known for their sweet and tasty meat!

Deeper into Lan Ap Bay we see fishing huts and oyster nets all the way across the bay!

Here’s a great facility! A pool “hall”!

We arrive in Lang Co! The street is lined with interesting little shops!

For example, this sundries shop sells new bicycle tires!

This is a restaurant, but doesn’t appear to be open yet. I think that’s the kitchen crew eating in the corner…

This is my favorite – a handyman shop! I watched this man dig through the box at his feet to find the perfect screw to repair the drill!

What size pipe do you need? This is not your local Home Depot!

This cheery man approves of us visiting his town!

At the end of the street is the Lang Co Assembly Hall!  I’m not sure whether this is an official meeting place or that is a euphemism for “pub”.

This is “Hotel of the Week” – the smallest hotel I’ve seen! I guess every room has a view of the beach and water!

We arrive at Lang Co’s Catholic cathedral.

We climb the stairs, and discover the cathedral is closed.

But the grounds are filled with statues. I chose this one because of the overall setting! This is a classic Madonna and Child

On our way to the next stop, we drive along the bay again. This little chain of huts “in boats” catches my eye! This must be a resort – the building on the far right is a restaurant!

Looking across the water we see the city of Da Nang! The water between is filled with fishing boats, and the shore is lined with “bekiboats”! Bekiboats are round boats made of bamboo – inexpensive and hard to maneuver, but the locals have made a living with them for generations!

Here’s proof I am here!

We settle back in on the ship, ready for a relatively quiet night! Tonight is the World Cruisers special event! We are not Worldies on this trip so we aren’t invited. We stand on the balcony watching the Worldies head down the gangway and out to the awaiting buses. Twelve buses! There are about 340 Worldies on this cruise.

Today is now April 13th, 2024! Day 2 in Hue/Chan May!

Our excursion today is to visit Da Nang and Marble Beach! Our bus takes us southeast again, passing through Lang Co and continuing on to the city of Da Nang. South of Lango Co we pass through the Hai Van Mountain tunnel. The Japanese built the first tunnel, and the Vietnamese liked it so much they copied the Japanese design and methods to build a second tunnel to have two-way traffic! Fuel trucks and motorcycles are not allowed!

A coffee house sign tells me we’ve reached Da Nang! But do they really drink coffee all night long?

And it’s 85 degrees. Remember what I’ve said about white skin good, tanned skin bad?

This is the most remarkable building I saw downtown! I discover it is the Da Nang Administrative Center (OK, Centre)! Fabulous!

We follow the Han River on our Da Nang tour. We make our way to the city market – it is three floors of wall-to-wall stuff! Joy finds some flowers to take back to our room stewards!

Hiep, our tour guide leads us to this map near the Cham Sculpture Museum (our next stop) along the Han River. He explains we are at the 16th parallel, just south of the 17th parallel which is the division between North and South Vietnam, as agreed in the 1954 Geneva Accords. In Hanoi, North Vietnam, the Vietnam Conflict is called the American War. Here in Da Nang, South Vietnam, it is called the Civil War.

We enter the Cham Sculpture Museum. It was built in 1915 by the French and houses a large collection of Hindu sculptures, mostly from India.

This is a striking set of works with celestial dancers, or nymphs, known as Apsaras, all performing the three-bend posture which was considered very graceful and sought after! The figure in the lower right is a heavenly musician known as a Gandharvas providing accompaniment for the dancers.

One complete wall of the museum is covered with images, like these, cataloging Hindu temples from all over Vietnam!

Some of the familiar Hindu entities seen here include Hanuman, the monkey king I told you about in Bali!

This is Garuda devouring the snake known as Naga! There were actually three Garuda sculptures, all very different! This one is my favorite.

This incredibly detailed diorama in a glass case shows a section of hilly terrain with dozens of Hindu temples.

Leaving the Cham Sculpture Museum, and looking to the south, we see the elegant Nguyen Van Troi Walking Bridge over the Han River. The red cables are supposed to be incredibly beautiful at night!

To the north we see the impressive Dragon Bridge!

Our next stop is a sculpture center. Do you know how Marble beach received its name? Yup, it’s next to Marble Mountain. Marble sculpting is an ancient and prolific art here! This marble sculpting center is at the base of one of the Marble Mountains!

The carvings greeting us at the street are excellent!

Parking lots are lined and filled with sculptures, life size and larger!

Inside are spectacular works of jade of many colors! There are Buddhas…

… fabulous waterfall scenes…

…and gorgeous mountain scenery!

Outside, I find this stunning eagle attacking a snake!

We move on to Marble Beach and Hiep tells us there are a lot of 5-star hotels here! This is one of the top 5 beach destinations in the world! We’ve actually been passing many of these resorts to get here!

As we proceed down Marble Beach we pass the Crowne Plaza Resort. This is one of the more beautiful resorts and is huge!

Another large resort is under construction! No sign of what company is investing in this!

As we drive north we get a closer look at the public part of Marble Beach.

It is very well maintained, and surprisingly empty!

These curious signs are standing along the beach. They’re not billboards or umbrellas. I’m not sure what I’m seeing, but they’re fun! One says “Stop Ocean Plastic Pollution”, one says “DanAnG”, and one says “Happy New Year 2024”.

Across the bay I see an interesting statue on the far side! I believe this is the White Lady Buddha we are visiting next.

Da Nang is equally hazy on the other side of the bay!

At the Lady Buddah site we are greeted by this sign as we enter – “Serenity and Dignity”!

We tour the temple then head across the plaza to the gate.

Seeing the Lady Buddha in relation to the gate helps to see how large the Lady Buddha is!  67 meters tall!

Looking up at her from her feet, the Lady Buddha is massive!

From the front, here face is serene, but she has a Mona Lisa-esque smirk!

On our way back to the ship, we pass a herd of water buffalo! They line up for us as if to be saying “goodbye” to us!

Back on board we gave the flowers we bought at the market to our stateroom attendants! Meet Gricel and Camille! They are excited to receive them!

Soon we are pulling away from Chan May Bay!

Farewell, Chan May Bay, Hue, Da Nang, and Lang Co!

Next stop – Nha Trang, still in Vietnam!