Monday 17 March
We left Saigon at 11 o’clock pm last night. Settled down in the two rooms that were to be ours for the next 15 hours and were very pleased that there was room for our big suitcases under the seats. We had bought food and drinks in advance so before we went to bed we sat together in one of the compartments enjoying ourselves while the train took us up north. I think we all slept pretty well for some hours and got up around 8 am - Henning much earlier, but Birgit and Tom took an extra long sleep. Now it was time to look at the beautiful landscapes which rolled past our windows – quite often we were near the sea, sometimes we passed beautiful paddy fields where people were working, and we passed small and large cities and also saw mountains. The staff passed sometimes through the train and offered drinks, snacks and we could also have had breakfast and there was also a small dining area in one of the wagons. It was a long train with 12 wagons, our wagon had rooms with 4 bunk beds, others with 6 bunks and there were also wagons where you had to sit up - but the seats were like the seats in an aeroplane. There is only one railway track from Saigon to Hanoi, so sometimes you have to wait on a sidetrack till the train from the other direction has passed. We arrived in Da Nang at about 3 pm which was a delay of maybe two hours. We were picked up at the station and taken through the beautiful city of Da Nang with its wide streets with beautiful trees, flowers and green, green grass and the traffic mostly consisting of motorbikes. For a long time we drove next to the sea and we could see many big resorts there. It all looked beautiful with the sun shining and it was also very hot. We were well received at the hotel – just like old friends, rented bikes and have also already had a look at what we might have made at the tailor’s almost opposite to the hotel! Erik does not cycle as he has a bad sight, and Anette is not very used to cycling but we are going to try our skills tonight when we go out to eat and Erik will sit on the back of a motorbike. Now we can relax, send our laundry across the road and have a look around. It's hot!
Station Danang
Henning
Street with many sellers
Everyday picture in Hoi An
Tuesday 18 March
We started our first full day in Hoi An with a nice breakfast, and then met to see what the city had to offer in the way of dressmaking and buying jewellery. We walked down to the city, where we passed the large market. All the time we were contacted by eager sellers - You buy from me - but all that could tempt the Danish group was silk sleeping bags, which were purchased at a good price! But when we came to the silver shop the tone was quite different when we began to ask Thao - the owner of the shop - for both gold, silver, pearls, fine gems and other stones, chains, bracelets and earrings. Some of us bought or ordered, and then we went on to a silk factory where we were shown different departments of the company, among other things we saw both large and small silkworms devouring mulberry leaves. The last stop was near our hotel where Henning already yesterday had taken us to a tailor who he thinks is really good. Already yesterday some of us had ordered something, and we were surprised and pleased to find out that the goods were ready for pickup, so some of us ordered something more inspired by both lovely fabrics, other customers and books with models. Then it was near lunchtime, and why not have it by the sea seated comfortably in the shade, so we biked to the beach. Quite a ride to get there, but there were lots of houses, trees, flowers and rice fields to look at, so we enjoyed the ride, and after lunch it was time for the first dip in the water for those who wanted it. The waves were large and there were sandbanks to get past before you came out where you could swim. The water was n o t warm, but after a short while it was very nice. A lot of young girls walked around and wanted to sell different things to us but we did not help them much – only by talking to them! After returning home we had plenty of time to go do whatever we wanted and I think everybody again had a look at the city. In the evening we had been invited to eat at one of Henning's acquaintances namely Luu and Hung, who live in a fairly new house close to the river. Every year the river floods so sometimes they must stay on the first floor for days. We had a very delicious dinner with various dishes, as they always do for banquets but where we have the soup at first they finish with the soup. Their daughter is deaf and dumb, but was very interested in getting to know us. She wanted to know who was married to whom, why Birgit and I had no husband, and how many children we all had, and if it was boys or girls. After a pleasant evening we walked homeward through the streets that were now very quiet compared to the hustle and bustle you see in the daytime.
On the way to the beach
Hoi An beach
Towards a visit to a silk factory
Wednesday 19 March
We get a nice breakfast here in Hoi An, but our program is big so today we had to get up early, have breakfast and then get ready for the day's adventures. We had to be ready at 7.30 am and wait for a bus that had to pick up guests from different hotels. We did not wait for long, and when the bus was completely filled with tourists who like us wanted to sail to Cham Island, located approx. 20 km out to sea, it went to the harbour where we got on board a big motorboat, got on life jackets, and then it went literally over the waves meaning that the boat jumped and jumped and hit hard against the waves, so we found it a little too much, but nobody got seasick. I visited the island 6 years ago and thought it was heavenly to walk across the rice fields to a small pagoda. This time I felt that too many tourists were coming to the island and the feeling of being on an unspoilt island had gone I am sorry to say. In 2008 we stayed at a quite undisturbed beach with a very simple restaurant and hammocks under palm trees, but this time we stayed at another beach with boats and people coming in all the time and the beach was not very nice. Henning and the rest of our little party were also disappointed. But we ate, bathed and lay in sun beds, and on the way back it was once again a bumpy ride to the mainland. The rest of the day was free to do what we liked. Birgit and I went three houses away and got a very nice facial, a manicure and a pedicure, before we went to the tailor’s to pick up some new clothes that we were also very happy with. In the evening there has been a big party at the hotel. Henning celebrated his upcoming birthday with more 40 guests. It was a very nice evening. The Vietnamese are great singers and entertained us with many songs, and the small group of Danes had prepared a birthday song to Henning which was also well received - by Henning - and all the other guests. At 10.30 pm all Vietnamese guests had gone, and our small group sat and talked a little before going to bed. All agreed that it had been a fine evening.
Street Kitchen
Pagoda on Cham Island
Port of Hoi An
Thursday 20 March
Slow boat from Hoi An
As implied in the title today’s boat ride was quite different to yesterday’s. We started off on our bikes through the busy streets of Hoi An. Although there are only few cars in the streets there is a lot of traffic - motorcycles and scooters driving in all directions and also lots of pedestrians. It sometimes causes some problems, but fortunately we have not seen any accidents. Today we had to find our way down to the harbour where we got on board a boat - with our bikes - and sailed to an island half an hour’s boat trip from Hoi An. It was great to sit in the boat and look onto the coast where we had a good look at both houses and palm trees. In Hoi An a large hotel towered up above all other buildings and on the water there were lots of ships. From the island where to we were heading came several large boats with many people on board - people who with their motorcycles on board, were on their way to work in Hoi An. Our bicycle trip took us around three islands. To find the way, we had a young Vietnamese man with us - Ahn, who had Erik on the back of his motorcycle. First stop was at a woodcarving centre, where there were many pretty things to look at - and buy - before we drove through the village, where almost every house had a little shop selling small necessities, and one or maybe two people sat waiting for customers while we went by. We drove out into the countryside, where the rice fields looked beautiful with their wonderful green colour. At one point we passed a rather large cemetery from the Vietnam War time. We crossed a bridge and came to a new island and later we came to a third island. It was a really nice ride through beautiful scenery and with very little traffic and when it was 10.30 am the children began to go home from school and we were greeted by happy smiles and hellos when they saw us. We also had a stop and a drink at a very small cafeteria, and at the end of the ride our boat was waiting at the third island to pick us up. A few years ago there was a bamboo bridge from one island to the other, but that was gone and fine new bridges had been built. The trip back home was somewhat longer, and on the way we saw many large fishing nets hoisted on four poles. How they used them for fishing I do not know, but if they just were fairly full, it must be a lot of work to get the fish ashore. When we were back in Hoi An we visited a factory where they make rice cakes. We saw how they made them and a large rice cake each to taste them. The factory is owned by Mao, who is one of Henning's friends, who was also at the party last night. Then it was time for lunch. We found a lovely restaurant near the harbour, where there is always life and much to look at. We could also see the Japanese Covered Bridge from there. There was no programme in the afternoon so everybody did what they wanted to do - had a look around the town, slept , shopped, wrote postcards, bathed in the pool and maybe something quite different. At 7 pm we were at a nice restaurant in the heart of the city, where we got a table on the first floor right next to a balcony and had a delicious dinner. We had a little chat with a couple of Danish girls from Odense, who had been travelling in Thailand, Vietnam and later they would go to Bali. Erik, Anette, Gunver, Tom Henning went to another restaurant afterwards for a good night drink while Birgit and I went home.
Group at cafe
Rice cake factory
Maos cake factory
Down at the port of Hoi An
Hoi An's landmark : The Japanese Bridge
Visit at Thao from 41 le Laye
Friday 21 March
Today we have been away from this small delightful resort town to visit a school for deaf children in Da Nang called Village of Hope. With us were Luu that we visited the day before yesterday and her daughter Chau who came along to visit friends, she still has at the school. First we were given a small introduction by the deputy director, who could tell - in Vietnamese, so Luu interpreted for us - that there were only 18 deaf children at the school, which is a private institution operated for sponsorship funds . Moreover, there are some poor or homeless children who get a chance for learning if they are lucky enough to come to this place. Only the deaf pupils got taught in the school, the other go to school in the city. Henning had a couple of sponsor gifts to give to some pupils plus a lot of pictures that he had taken last time he was there. The kids were quite excited when the pictures were handed to them while we ate lunch with them. For a few years part of the school’s grounds have been occupied by elderly people - a kind of re -housing until new homes will be built for them. After visiting the school we went to the Cham Museum which has an exhibition of stone figures that are more than 1000 years old. There were plenty of European tourists there. I remembered a very nice figure from my first visit, but could not find it, and when I tried to ask for it, they said that it had been loaned out to another museum. When we got back five of us went to a massage place where we had a nice massage while Gunver and Tom went down to the town. We also had time to take our laundry across the street and pick up clothes from the tailor’s. She has been really good - made the ordered goods from one day to the next, and most has fitted right away. In the late afternoon we suddenly had a huge thunderstorm. Tom and Gunver were still out and got quite wet before they came into shelter and bought a couple of raincoats. Our group is not a group of eager cyclists, so when we went out to dinner tonight, the bicycles were left at the hotel while we walked. Only Henning cycled because he has a bad leg. We visited Sy and his family - contractor and father of Ahn, who was with us on a bike ride on the islands. They had a lovely dinner ready for us and the whole family was there and we had an enjoyable evening. I sat next to Ahn’s wife, who was very good at English and very interested in hearing about our trip and many other things. They live near the harbour, and there was a lot of traffic and commerce, when we went home.
At school Village of Hope
At school Village of Hope
At Village of Hope
Teaching at the school Village of Hope. We see in the image Luu
Girls and boys eat each of you at the Village of Hope
Saturday 22 March
Until now we have not done much cycling here in Hoi An, but today Birgit and I have been on our bikes a lot. I think we have cycled about 25 km - Gunver and Tom have cycled 12 while Anette and Erik have been on the back seat of motorcycles on the 12 kilometre ride. This morning Birgit and I went with Henning visiting a 5-star hotel at the beach, where Henning knows the director. Unfortunately, she had a meeting in Saigon, so we did not meet her, and even more unfortunately the weather has changed today. No sun, and the temperature just a few degrees above 20, and a heavy shower, and during the night it also rained. When we got to the hotel we went to the swimming pool, where we could also look out over the water. There was a strong wind and the waves were pretty high. Therefore we did not stay there long - just long enough so that Henning could give pictures that he had taken last time to different employees and they were received with great joy. Back in Hoi An we immediately headed for another star hotel - this time one with only 4 stars. Ahn’s wife works there and last night she offered to show us around if we came by. We saw different rooms – also the best room of the hotel - a suite- with a large balcony and views, with drinks , incl. a bottle of wine per day - cost about 100 $. I would have liked to stay there for a few days! Now it was time for lunch, and we had been invited by Thao – the silversmith - to a restaurant in the middle of town, and once again we had a delicious meal. Everybody went their separate ways afterwards, and at 3o’clock pm Birgit, Henning and I took our bikes again. Now we went to see Luu, who had invited us to come and see her teaching private students. But I must not forget that we also had to go to the silversmith’s to pick up the things we had ordered, and everyone was happy with their purchase. At Luu’s there were around 10 children who she was giving private English lessons. They sang for us and told us their names and how old they were, and before we left the next group of children were waiting outside. So Luu is a very busy lady! Tonight we went out of town to visit another Thao, who works at a silk factory. It was the first time Henning was there, so he did not realize how far away it was. When we got there dinner was ready on the floor as it is typical in Vietnam. The two married couples managed to sit on the floor but Henning, Birgit and I asked to sit on chairs during dinner. The family- mother, father and a little daughter- were, like all the others we have visited, very sweet and friendly, and again we had lovely food. We were back home again about 10 o’clock pm. Tomorrow we will be leaving this lovely city!
Hoi An
Hoi An
Hoi An