Danang to Hoi An

Well, I am a little preoccupied by the two people across the ocean whom I love who are suffering with stomach troubles.  We are thirteen hours ahead of Soyapango and so it works nearly perfectly that I can talk with Jeff before he and the girls head to bed right when I get up and then when they get up we are wrapping things up here and we can check in then.  It is hard to be so far away and especially since there's not a thing I can do...except pray.  So I do and will keep that up.

See the pigs in the basket?

In the meantime, another traffic report:  We have seen a man on a scooter toting a wire cage chock full of live pigs.  Our guide even waved him over so that we could snap a photo of him from our little van.  He smiled a big smile and accommodated us tourists.  We also saw two men with an eleven foot ladder.  Eleven feet.  The creativity makes for endless wonder.

On the beach with boats in distance

We are now in Danang and arrived last night after a quick hour flight from Saigon.  Danang is halfway up the coast of Vietnam and is a city that was used extensively by the US military during the war for R&R.  You may have heard of the beach our hotel sits on:  China Beach.  Quinn and I got up early and walked down the beach a little way and watched the long low fishing boats go after their catch this morning with the sun's early rays.  It is beautiful here and peaceful, although here, like every part of Vietnam still has the residue of the war.  Most of the city was destroyed during the war and so now it is being rebuilt as a tourist resort town and the building cranes and concrete trucks are keeping busy.

I am not sure if I have mentioned breakfast yet either.  We get up each morning and head to a breakfast buffet at the hotel and have been sticking to a mostly Vietnamese style breakfast which revolves around Pho.  We eat our Pho (soup with noodles, beef and condiments) with coffee (me) and tea (Quinn) and a little cup of yogurt and fruit.  I asked Phong and he said that he rotates between pho and congee and banh mi for breakfast.  All savory, light and steaming hot ways to start the day.  I have tried some spring rolls and dumplings as well, but the Pho is the best.  The later in the morning you get your Pho, too, the richer the broth as it has more time to simmer.

sampling the Pho

Okay, now on to our day.  We spent the day exploring the area around Danang on our way to visit the ancient city of Hoi An, an UNESCO World Heritage site.  We first stopped in a little village where the people were gathering at the market to sell their fruits, meats and fish.  It was not a regular tourist stop, so we were the only foreigners around and the people gathered in the streets stopped us, smiled, tried to make small talk and ask questions about which mother went with with child (we are touring with one other family).  One man who weaves hats was worried about Quinn not wearing one and insisted she take a newly made one for her head.  They made us feel welcome and we left the little village all smiles.

Later, down the road, we stopped at a school (the schools here function the same way Jeff described the schools in El Salvador, one group in the morning, another group in the afternoon) where children were pouring out into the street to walk or be picked up by motor bike and be taken home.  As we approached, their faces lit up and they waved and smiled and welcomed us with giggles and "Hello!"  Quinn was in heaven.

We also got to visit a collective organic farm where a village grows crops by share and sells to the local restaurants.  We saw mint, lemon basil, lettuces, pumpkins just blooming, peanut plants, and so many rows and rows of vegetables.   It made us hungry and actually was a very beautiful and well organized place.

Back on the road, we drove on to Hoi An, our ultimate destination for today.  Hoi An is a city built on a river (Han River, I think?) and has the architectural influence of the Chinese and Japanese traders that once used the river to transport goods.  The houses that are in the old part of the town are three to five hundred years old and even though the city floods nearly every year they are beautiful and strong (made of something called Ironwood).  We wandered around the city, ducking into a temple and wandering around the shops, it is now a major tourist destination and the shops sell tshirts to magnets and lanterns to beautiful silk clothes you can have custom made in only two hours.  After taking in another visual feast in this town and having a literal feast of fish and vegetables and dumplings for lunch right overlooking the river, we shopped for about thirty minutes and headed back to the hotel.

My favorite part of the day were two things.  First, Phong translated a sign in the schoolyard with a list of the expected code of conduct for each school child.  The list included these very wise directions...When you leave for school say goodbye to your parents and your grandmother, Greet your family when you return home after school and your neighbor if they are there as well, Be kind to those that are afflicted, the weak, the lame and those that need help, also pregnant women, and Be kind to tourists, don't run away.  There were other rules as well following along the same lines, ultimately charming and evidently the children have embraced the rules, because they made us feel so welcome.  Second.  Quinn and I were shopping around the little village and when I asked her if she wanted to find something, she told me this,

"Mom, money can't buy the happiness I felt when I saw all the children wave and smile at me when I walked by."

She's right.