July 26, 2014

DANANG, VIETNAM

I wish we had some exciting adventures to write about during our stay in Vietnam.   So far, it’s been all about the R&R. All of us are enjoying the down time and opportunity to play in the South China Sea and just relax by the pool. We’ve ventured away from the resort a few times, but to be honest our energy is pretty low and we booked this leg of the trip knowing we’d just need to rest. It’s everything we looked forward to when planning this; a beautiful resort, great beach, ocean view and hot weather. Our biggest accomplishment so far is Xixi and Jing swimming the length of the beachside pool, underwater, in a single breath.

View from Hotel Room

China Beach in Danang, Vietnam

We’ve taken a few taxi rides to go to the grocery store and to go out for dinner in Danang. Today we hired a guide and driver to take us to a nearby UNESCO World Heritage site called, My So’n. My So’n was constructed between the 5th and 7th centuries C.E. and was a holy temple site of the ancient Hindu Kingdom called Champa. The temple complex was dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva.

  

Until the Vietnam War the temple complex was largely intact and included nearly 70 temple structures. Now only about 15 remain as most were destroyed during American bombing raids. The site is now being restored and has been recognized as a world heritage site. I really like archaeology and history, so I really enjoyed seeing the 1,300 year-old ruins. The drive to the temple was nice as it gave us a glimpse into the countryside of Vietnam.

This part of Vietnam reminds of us China 12 years ago, not many cars and a lot of motorcycles. It will be interesting to see if the economic growth currently happening in Vietnam changes it as much as China has changed in such a short period of time.

The people here are so friendly and we’ve had great experiences, both in the resort and outside of it. Xixi is thrilled as she gets Vietnamese soup three times a day…yes, even for breakfast. She says, “It’s way better than her favorite Pho’ restaurant at home in Seattle”.  Jing also has eaten her weight in rice noodles and beef broth, but she also left room for room service chicken nuggets (she’s ready to be home).

Tomorrow is out last full day here and we plan to take it easy and probably just stay at the resort. We may venture into Hoi An, but we’ll wait and see how we are feeling. A couple more days and we’ll be back in Seattle.