DANANG and HONG KONG
It’s July 29, 2014, and as I write this we are sitting in
the Hong Kong airport getting ready for our return flight to Seattle. We can’t
believe our trip is coming to an end and we are a little relieved to be heading
for home. It’s been a few days since we’ve written anything – so this will be a
multi-day post. I’m not sure if it’s the last or not…it depends on how many
topics I get to before boarding the plane.
Vietnam – in one word…INCREDIBLE. We feel a little guilty that we
didn’t get out and explore more, but spending downtime at the beach was so good
for us…but maybe not our skin as Dawn and Xixi got pretty bad sunburns. Xixi
set a personal record and was in the water for a total of 9 hours (6 hours
straight). Danang City was so relaxed and welcoming – we had a few really good
conversations with restaurant staff as they practiced their English. We
couldn’t have been happier with the resort and hope to return their one day and
to explore the North and South of Vietnam as well. The resort’s guests were
truly international and had all come to Vietnam hearing how hospitable and
beautiful the country was. Although we looked forward to home, we all could
have used another day at the beach.
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Danang, Vietnam |
It wasn’t possible to align the flights from Danang – Hong Kong –
Seattle in a single day, so we had another layover in Hong Kong. We arrived
late Monday night
to Hong Kong and our flight to Seattle didn’t depart until 9:00 the
following evening. So, we had a nearly a full day to explore Hong Kong before
needing to be at the airport.
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Hong Kong |
The views from the tram ride were fun and fighting the crowds in
order to ensure our place in line, while exhausting, is also part of the
experience. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we got to the peak, looked around,
snapped some photos and then went back down the hill.
Some of you know my fondness for good craft beer. Let’s just say
that 25 straight days of no other option than mediocre Chinese lagers was
getting to me and I was a little thirsty. On the flight from Danang, I had read
about Hong Kong’s fledgling craft beer community. I noted the location names
and addresses and then somehow convinced the family that we needed to visit
one. The family was great and didn't complain at all about being pulled along
on the quest. We decided to check out a pub that featured both international
and Hong Kong beers for a late lunch. It was really fun trying to track down
the pub through the twisting side streets of Hong Kong. We found it without too
much difficulty and were rewarded with some great food and even better beer. I
sampled a few options from an up-and-coming local brewery called “young
master.” The pub owner was really nice and we geeked out on beer
talk, while the family put up with it. I usually buy a pint glass from the
craft breweries we visit…and he didn’t sell them, but he gave me a “young
master” branded glass as a souvenir.
We wrapped up our lunch and then wound our way back through Hong
Kong to the train station. We made it back in plenty of time to claim our
luggage, change clothes and go through immigration. I’m running out of time
now…so maybe another post will be written while we are in the air.
This is not the post we want to end such an exceptional journey,
but we did want to capture what we did for the last three days. At least one
more post will follow…it will probably be written back in Seattle in the next
day or so when we all wake up at 2:00 in
the morning…unable to sleep and recovering from jet lag.
Next stop - a short layover in Taipei and then Seattle.