After a couple of nights in Da Nang, our host and his high-school friend drove us north 5 hours to their hometown of Dong Hoi. Our first stop was Hué, a former capital of Vietnam and a residence of the last imperial emperors. We had a nice walking tour of the palace and grounds before heading north again to the 17th parallel which became the dividing line between north and south Vietnam after the French were expelled in 1954.
We stopped there to look at the site, the war memorial, and the walking bridge across the river that was the border—the DMZ, established by the Geneva Accords. It divided the country for two decades. It was somber to think about the devastation and loss of life caused by the war. Estimates are 2-3 million Vietnamese lives lost and 60 thousand American lives lost. It seemed very surreal to stand on the spot fifty years later with normalized relations between the two countries, and ponder what the feelings might be in different parts of both countries and different generations.
From there we continued and hour north to our friend’s parents home, a hundred yards from the beach of the South China Sea. Dong Hoi is very modern. It looked surprisingly like the building going on in Northwest Arkansas. Apparently the government and private investors are promoting it as a tourist destination, and also a nice location for the urban population of Hanoi to get away to the beach for rest and relaxing a reasonable distance away. It boasts white sand beaches and fresh seafood aplenty.
Dr. Le showed us the city and some of his favorite spots. The following day, his dad drove us an hour away to a beautiful, green river with high limestone mountains all round. It was the world-famous UNESCO caves of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. There were boat tours to a large cave that can be explored and experienced by boat, and also by walking. It was a peaceful, refreshing adventure, as well as, extraordinarily beautiful. In the afternoon we climbed 1000 steps to an amazing view of the river and mountains around Dong Hoi as they encompassed a large lake and bordered the sea shore—breath taking.
Day three we said good bye to Dr. Le’s parents who had extended the most gracious hospitality, and drove to the airport directly behind their home for our flight to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. There we were to meet our medical mission team from the USA the next day.
It was a beautiful, smooth two-hour flight south. We collected our baggage, called a Grab (Asian Uber), and arrived at our hotel in time to take a walk in the neighborhood before dinner. After a relaxing, delicious dinner, we summoned another Grab, and rode downtown to one of the first sky scrappers in Vietnam. The Saigon Skydeck is a 360º observation deck on the 48th floor, and we thought it would be something beautiful to do, to get to know the city better, before turning in for the night. It exceeded our expectations.
Tomorrow, we meet the team! :):):)