We are headed out of our Hanoi lodging at 6:15 am to the airport for an 8:15 am flight to Dong Hui. The Delta Platinum status is still helping us breeze through check in and security with Vietnam Airlines. The flight is a short 40 minutes. Our guide Hoa and driver Thein pick us up at the Dong Hui airport.

We are starting a journey south of Hanoi with a couple stops. The route will take us across the former infamous dividing line of North versus South Vietnam. We pass through farmland where farmers are preparing for the planting of one of two seasons of rice plantings. Rubber trees used in tires, latex, tapioca and other vegetables are also farmed. Carts are pulled by water buffalo and cattle.

Our first stop is Paradise Cave. The Vietnamese name is Thiên Đường Cave and is in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To be honest we were expecting  “just another cave”. I must say this is one of the most amazing nature scenes I have seen around the world. The cave amazingly was discovered in 2005 by a man searching for herbs in the mountains.
It is a bit of a hike up to the cave, which perhaps is why it was apparently undiscovered for so long. The limestone formations in this cave are absolutely spectacular.  We only explore the first kilometer of this 31 kilometer long cave, the only part open to tourists.  It was first opened to tourists in 2010.  The cave can reach heights to 72 meters and widths of 150 meters.  It is the longest cave in this spectacular park and one of the largest in the world.

After our lunch at the site, which was less than spectacular, we head to our accommodations for the next couple days are at the Chay Lap Farmstay. The grounds, building, and surrounding landscapes are beautiful. There was a recent flood about two months ago.  Many of the buildings were nearly covered from the waters streaming down from the mountains and the river bursting its banks. The building we are staying in had water nearly to the ceiling, just about two feet below. It is amazing the accommodations are nearly back to full operations.

We took a brief siesta in the room before joining Denise, a Canadian expat that works for the farmstay. She has been in Vietnam for the past six years. She also teaches English to the workers at the complex.

Before dinner we enjoy rice wine, music by the chef and Maple Bourbon Tea. It is made with Bourbon, ginger, tea leaves, cloves, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Not a bad cocktail!

Our new friend Denise stays with us for dinner. We love to hear her stories of the expat life in Vietnam. She lives very affordably and comfortably here on less than $12,000 per year. We polish off a couple more bottles of the homemade rice wine.  Great conversation and great fun.  It made for a late night!

Day Two on Our Journey South

As you can imagine the rice wine makes for a slow morning, but we make it to breakfast early. We are on our way for the day’s journey at 8 am!

We walk to some falls in the area. They have walkways that are taken down during floods and then reinstalled. There is plenty of swimming in the summer here, but the water is a bit cool for me today!

Next stop, the Phong Nha caves. Again, not “just another cave”. These caves are amazing!  Of course pics do not do justice, but see below for a few more…I tried. It is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. It starts with a boat ride down the Son River then the motors are turned off. We are “rowed” about one km into this over 7 km long cave. At some points the cave roof is over 40 meters high! We are just in awe at the size of the cave, the formations and beauty. This would be heaven for Gaudi or Tim Burton.

If you continue throughout the entire cave you will eventually meet the country of Laos. The entire cave system in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park is 126 km, with many areas yet to be explored. During the Vietnam war the cave was used for shelter, to store ammunition as well as containing a hospital. This area was heavily bombed along the river and the cave opening.

Heading South Day 3

We enjoyed our farmstay and the young Vietnamese kids working here. They all have warm smiles for us all the time.  We depart thinking we could spend more time here for sure!

Today is a rainy day as we head to Hue from Phong Nha. It looks like rain most of the week. The total drive is a about five hours. About 90 minutes or 100 km down  we make a stop at the DMZ.   The DMZ, or the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, ran from east-west near the center of present-day Vietnam for more than 100 kilometers and was a couple of kilometers wide. It ran along the Ben Hai River for much of its length, and was roughly along the 17th parallel.  Five kilometers on either side of this border was declared to be demilitarized in 1954 at the Geneva Conference, troops from both North and South governments barred from the area.

It was pouring rain, but I did get out of the car with an umbrella to walk across the bridge that divided North and South Vietnam. Visitors in these areas are encouraged to stay in marked areas as unexploded devices could still exist.  Between 1966 to 1972, the United States Military released over 9,000 tons of bombs in the area, a ratio of 7 tons of bombs on average per person. It is an eerie feeling of course thinking about all that took place here, all of the civilian and military deaths that occurred.

The bridge was originally painted red and yellow; the yellow half representing South Vietnam and the red representing the North. A newer monument has been built on the south side of the bridge with a quote from Ho Chi Minh. There is also a large statue of mother and child to represent them waiting for their husband and fathers to return, which never happened for so many.

Our drive continued south. The drive took us along what had been named the “horrible highway”, where nearly all buildings were destroyed and thousands of civilians and soldiers killed from the bombings. The memorials along the way are numerous.

We arrive in Hue, Vietnam around noon and head next door to our hotel to “Little Italy” for dinner. There are a few Italian restaurants in Hue catering to westerners. Our guide, Hoa, used to work their years ago. We split a pizza and penne arrabiatta and loved it! It was good and was a treat from the Vietnamese routine. We check into our hotel which is very nice! Called the Romance Hotel. The modern amenities and rooms are much appreciated!

Day Four

The rain continues this morning, a warm and humid start to the day! After breakfast at the hotel, our tour begins down the Perfume River on a “Dragon Boat”, taking us to the Thien Mu pagoda. This pagoda is often described as one of the most beautiful in Vietnam, was built in the 1600s. It is the home to Buddhist monks.

The grounds include the car, a light blue Austin, that was driven by the monk Quang Duc in 1963. He used this car to drive to the center of town, set himself ablaze, sitting in the lotus position, not moving until his body was totally incinerated. The scene was photographed, which won a Pulitzer prize for the photographer.  It has been reported that upon seeing the photo, then President John F. Kennedy said, “Jesus Christ … This sort of thing has got to stop.”

His act of martyrdom was to protest the suppression of Buddhism by the South Vietnam leader Ngo Dinh Diam. This served as a key to sway support away from Diam, including “the beginning of the end” of American support for his regime.

Our next stop is the Citadel, which contains the Imperial City, the Forbidden City and many temples and buildings.  All of this is inside a two km by two km square area, surrounded by a moat and walls two meters thick. Construction began initially in 1804 and served a lineage of kings and royal family in the mid 1900s.

Many buildings on these grounds were heavily damaged or destroyed during wars with the French and then the Vietnam War.  The Battle of Hue in 1968 virtually destroyed the entire city with many casualties and wounded, including thousands of citizens. It has been described as the bloodiest and longest battles of the war and the beginning of the decline of American support for the war.  Marine Captain Myron Harrington who was a commander during the battle said: “Did we have to destroy the town in order to save it?”  It took nearly a month to drive the North Vietnamese from the city and the Citadel which they had taken control of earlier.

The Citadel was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.  Restoration of some of the buildings has been completed and much more is still underway.  Signs of war still remain with bullet marks in the walls.

It is here where we continue our exploration of Vietnam’s history, its emperors, mandarins, and feudal system. Like so many areas around the world, in prior centuries, there was much senseless fighting, wars, and violence for control, power, religious and political gains.

After the morning at the Citadel, we have lunch at a local home in Thuy Bieu village. Xuan Dai and his wife Bach Yen are wonderful hosts. Our visit begins with tea and mut gung, or candied ginger. It is delicious!  The food is eaten by locals in the winter for warmth and energy. This was followed by a foot bath in hot water infused with a rare grapefruit leaf while talking to Xuan Dai.

Xuan Dai is 70 years old and in terrific health. He was an officer in the Vietnam war and flew Chinook helicopters for South Vietnam. He now hosts guests from around the world in his home for stays and meals. He and his wife are some of he kindest and warmest people you can meet.

The meal is outstanding. Fortunately, we spend a little extra time chatting since the steady rain of the day continues. We depart with hopes of returning to see them again one day. Xuan Dai told us that this rain will likely continue through Christmas, about two more weeks. The rain never stopped all day, but we continue on.

The next visit is to Tu Duc tomb, which is on the grounds of what was once his “summer home”. The grounds are large, thirty acres and the buildings are beautiful. Tu Duc who was the longest reigning King of Vietnam from 1843 to 1883. He would retreat here to relax, hunt, fish, and enjoy theater.

The area sits on a lake that once had a floating pagoda. The King would listen to live music performances here when visiting. We were able to, as well! The King had a residence here and enjoyed a posh lifestyle, apparently with many wives.  He could not father children and had one adopted son who served as King, very briefly.

The tombs of both the King and Queen are on the grounds, as well as, the adopted son.  The Queen buried here is apparently his “primary wife”. There is speculation as to where the King is actually buried. Because of gold, diamonds and other valuables buried with the King the actual whereabouts are kept secret. The criminals carried the casket at burial and were beheaded, so no living person knew the actual site…and still do not know.

Before heading back to our hotel for the day, we make a quick stop on a hill overlooking the Perfume River.  It is supposed to be a great view of Hue, but the rain and fog make for a sort of eerie one.  It is on this hilltop where US bunkers remain from the war. It is an incredibly strange feeling to think about what occurred here almost 50 years ago.

The last day of this leg continues south. Of course, it is still raining. The rice fields along the way are heavily flooded and planting will not be able to begin until these fields are drained. Generally, the winter rains usually subside by mid December. In some cases an alternative planting method will be used, where the rice plants are sprouted in dry conditions outside of the fields then transplanted. It all sounds like a lot of work!

We also drove by an area know for its mushroom farming. We stop to see the huts where the mushrooms are grown on racks. These huts are numerous in this area along the road. The mushrooms appear to be fed elephant dung!

The drive also takes us on Vietnam Highway One and past the Phu Bai Airfield that was a combat base for the US Army and Marines. Bunkers are still scattered around this area.

Before we enter the Bach Ma national park, we also pass by the coastline and the three rivers area. The park area was once called the “Dalat of Central Vietnam” in the early part of the 20th century.  Most of the villas were destroyed in the 1950s after French independence and war.

Today however, the  Bach Ma National Park is flooding, with landslides occurring, so no hiking today. We tried, but just too dangerous.

Onward we drive through the mountains.  It is now easier and faster to get across these ranges. We take a series of tunnels built with Japanese technology that lead us to DaNang.

Monkey Island and Mountain is a peninsula at Denang that was once a base for the US military. It provides a good vantage point to view and oversee the area, but not today with the clouds and rain.

Instead we make a visit to the Champa Museum in DaNang representing the interesting history of the Champa people.  The Champa were a civilization that lived along the coasts of what is now central and southern Vietnam for around 1,000 years.  Originally they followed Hinduism, but today primarily Buddhism.

The museum houses the largest collection in the world of Cham artifacts, mostly sandstone, with over 300 pieces from the 5th to 15th century. The pieces include altars, lingas, garudas, apsaras, and many images of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.  Very impressive and worthy of a visit to learn some of this history and view the pieces.

We visit a marble “factory” in the area, then visit Marble Mountain, its temples and caves. The temples are numerous with views of the South China Sea…but not great views today with the continuing clouds and rain. The caves were used by Viet Cong during the Vietnam war to hide from the South Vietnamese.

The picnic lunch did not transpire because of, yes, the continued rain. So we had a bit of “linner” at Goda Bar and Restaurant.  The lunch is excellent, I guess the rain was fortunate.  We head on into the now flooded town of Hoi An for some more wet adventures ahead the next few days.

And a few more pics…