Our last two stops have been good choices. In Nha Trang, where we stayed a few km's north of the main tourist area, we were across the street from a beach in a bay surrounded on 3 sides by mountains (hills by our standards). We walked around the town, spent time on the beach and had a fabulous Red Snapper meal at a table-side DIY bbq restaurant. We also went to a Hot Spring that featured mud baths and rolled around in our own private bathtub for half an hour before showering and relaxing further in a hot tub. The following day we went on a fun boat tour that included 3 snorkelling stops (beautiful coral) and a plentiful seafood lunch that a dozen of us couldn't finish off. We also had an interesting conversation with a couple from Tennessee who were spending a year in Nha Trang and contemplating starting a new life there now that they had retired and sold their home. They were living comfortably in a rented fully furnished and modernized home close to our beach for less than $700 a month including all their expenses......they seemed quite happy.
From Nha Trang we took an overnight train north to Danang.......unfortunately when we booked the trip two days in advance (our normal custom), there were no sleeper berths left so we ended up in reclining chairs and got some sleep but not enough. After arriving in Danang (the first landing spot for the U.S. forces in the war) our hotel had a taxi waiting to drive us 30 km's back south to Hoi An where we caught an afternoon nap and are currently having a wonderful time. Danang has over one million people living there while Hoi An has a population of just over 100,000 and seems like a lot less near the Old Town (an ancient trading post with french colonial influences) where we are staying. It is very easy to walk around.....quieter, not much traffic and tons of character with many 200 year old homes and shops refurbished but still operational on narrow streets near a river. When the monsoon season water level peaks (several times a year), all the places near the river get flooded (furniture moved upstairs). The historical homes we visited had lines on posts measuring the maximum height of the water much like we used to track the growth of our children.
While stopping for a drink near the river we had a lengthy conversation with a man from Port Townsend, Washington, north of Seattle on the Olympic Peninsula.......the second person we had met from that small city (10,000 people) on this trip, and a place we visited in our camper van two years ago........who has been spending time here for 10 years. He hand-makes his own leather accessories in the U.S. but is now making more money by bringing back clothing items from Vietnam. He has learned how to take precise measurements so he is pre-selling suits, shirts, ties and hats in Washington. He was charging $199 for three piece quality suits plus a shirt and tie, all fitted. While we were talking he received e-mails from U.S. customers asking for additional last-minute items. We had him give us the name of his preferred tailor and went there yesterday and ordered a sports jacket and blazer to bring back home. They asked us to drop by this afternoon to approve the almost-finished product allowing for a few very minor alterations which will be completed for pick-up tomorrow. Earlier in the day Rhonda went to a cooking class (spring rolls, crispy pancake, herbed salad with beef tenderloin, and pho bo-beef noodle soup) while I took a bicycle from our hotel and toured Marble Mountain and it's caves (20 km's away but a flat route).
Tomorrow we have booked a tour of the My Son ruins, 35 km's out of town. We travel there by bus and then return by boat along the river. Another exciting day awaits.
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