Travelingman Richard and my lady Judy: December 2024

Vietnam Trip December 21, 2024 to December 31, 2024

(Sorry if I do not put accent marks on Vietnamese words and do not ask the names of the food we ate.)

December 21 Day 1

Whew! What a day. Molly got me to the airport at around 10:15am which was plenty of time for my 12;50 flight. When I went to Asiana to check in I found out that the flight to Seoul was going to leave 2 hours later meaning I would miss my flight to Da Nang. I was to meet Daniel and family in Seoul and fly together to Da Nang. So finally I got a flight to Da Nang on Monday the 23 with Viet Nam airlines to arrive in Da Nang in the afternoon. I have emailed and called Daniel and hope he gets the message. Now the bad news. They told me my visa for Viet Nam is over on the 31st instead of Jan 4. So in Seoul I will have to get a new flight. Asiana airlines got me a flight to DaNang on Monday.

December 22 Day 2

Stayed in the airport in Seoul until my flight to DaNang. The local “container”hotel here at the airport was full so I decided to wait in the airport like lots of other folks. I went on-line and got a new flight to Seattle.

Vietnam Trip December 21, 2024 to December 31, 2024

6 am in the arrival deck

Sunrise in Seoul

December 23 Day 3

Got on the Viet Nam airlines flight at 10 am for the 5 hour flight to Da Nang. Daniel and Minh Thanh met me at the airport and took me by Grab to Mandila Beach Hotel .

I got room 1209 with an ocean view.

The view.

After lunch, we went to the Cham peoples sandstone carvings museum, some of which, were made over 1500 years ago. They were very amazing. The Cham people lived in the DaNang area and were greatly influenced by Buddistm and Hindu religions.

Me with Shiva

We then took a Grab for dinner where the restaurant was down a long alley. To my surprise the place was hopping and the food was very good.

After dinner we went back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

December 24 Day 4 Merry Christmas eve.

We met for breakfast at the biggest morning buffet I ever saw. Yummy! We headed out by Grab to a preserve to see some red legged monkeys. When we got there the road was closed for safety because of heavy winds and rain. On the way down we saw monkeys but no red legs. Ate lunch at a cafe Minh Thanh picked out. And the food was good. After lunch we went to marble mountain which are limestone/marble mountains with many caves with shrines inside. Also, there were pagodas and lots of people and wind and rain. There were, we were told 166 steps to the top lookout and it seemed each was 1 foot high.

Another Shiva

Minh Thanh, Daniel, Thanh Tu at the start of the 166 steps to the top of marble mountain

One of the many caves

Top of the mountain

Me at the top and more limestone mountains in background.

One of the many shrines

Bee eater

We had dinner at the hotel and I had a Vietnam hamburger which seemed to be better than anything I have had in the US. Went to bed tired.

December 25 Day 5 Merry Christmas everyone

After breakfast we went to the Hoi An silk factory which is just north of DaNang. We got to see the life cycle of the silkworm from egg to moth. As the silkworm larva grow they feed them larger pieces of mulberry leaves.

Two trays with two stage of larva development.

When ready the larva spin a cocoon. The factory has larva that make white and yellow cocoons. Only the white ones are dyed. When the cocoons are ready to be spun into yarn, they take about 10% of them and let the new pupae turn into moths. When the moths hatch they do not fly but mate and lay lots of eggs and the cycle start over. The 90% with the pupa in the cocoon are put into hot water.

Making yarn from the cocoons.

A person will pick a thread from the cocoon as it remains in the water and runs it through a system which then spins many fibers into a thread which is wound onto a spool. Very clever. We got to see several looms to make fabric. One loom looks like the Inkle loom which I have to make straps.

This loom will make up to one foot wide cloth.

We went to lunch at a restaurant by the river and had seafood. Then off we went to the coconut ride tour. Not quite what we expected. Some of us thought the ride would be a nice quiet ride on a round boat in the river. From the pictures you can see it was a zoo-like atmosphere but still fun because it was so different for a 45 minute trip. Definite tourist trap.

Water coconut.

Then we went to Hoi An old town which was an ancient trading center. There were old houses which were owned by Chinese build in the 1500’s and had living quarters and trading rooms. This is a very touristy area with shops, boat rides, shrines, etc. By the way, it was raining all the time we were there and the rain did not deter the tourists who came from all over the world.

Japanese Bridge

One of the old houses.

Shrine to a Chinese soldier who fought for Vietnamese

In old town we went to a musical show with various acts. Very loud and hot in the building so we left early.

We went to dinner a the Morning Glory restaurant and had some more good Vietnamese food. I almost fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.

Dec 26 Day 6

We had an easy morning as MT was trying to make arrangements with her relatives. Her cousin came and we went out to lunch together. I had spring rolls but not as good as what Minh Thanh makes. After lunch we went to visit her and aunt and another cousin. I managed to coerce the kids to play the piano for them. Thanh-Tu played a very beautiful piece which I really liked. Thanh-Nha was not so eager to play but did so playing some Christmas. Later she sat at the piano and played some piano tunes she was just making up. They were very nice. We went to dinner with Minh-Thanh’s aunt, two cousins and their husbands and an unmarried cousin. The dinner was family style with 5 different dishes plus rice.

December 27 Day 7

After breakfast we got a Grab with the same driver we had yesterday. Then off we went from DaNang to Hue. This what the traffic is like.

Hue is a two hour and one-half hour drive north. On the way we went through the mountains which were very interesting. The road was winding and the vegetation was dense. I took a small part of a motion sickness medicine to avoid getting sick. The driver did a good job and the drive was slow because of big trucks.

DaNang in the distance.

In Hue we went to the Imperial Hotel which has been in existence for many years.

Waiting for our rooms.

I got room 1112 which has a view of the ancient citadel across the Perfume River.

View out my window. The Citadel just across the river.

After checking in we went to a small restaurant for lunch called “Cafe on Thu Wheels)

Then off we went to the ancient Imperial City. It was built from1802 to 1833 and was the seat of the Nguyen dynasty (same last name of Minh-Thanh and a very ancient relative of some kind). It is huge walled city with a moat around it. Parts of it were destroyed in various wars including WWII by the Japanese and later by the Americans. Lots of ancient furniture, writings, living quarters, old photos of emperors, etc. Fun and beautiful place even in the rain.

View of residence

One of many dragons on the stairs. Inlaid glass and ceramics.

Part of the moat system around the Citadel.

One of the many water features.

One of the many rooms.

Some of the fancy decorations.

Throne for audience with the emperor.

One of Daniel’s students Bao who works in the lab has a family here and they own a hotel. Bao is home because his father had a heart surgery and he was here to help take care of him. The hotel is called The White Lotus and is about a block away from where we are staying. He invited us to dinner in their restaurant and his mother joined us. They served us a very wonderful variety of good food. They gave us a tour of their hotel which is very well done with antiques and other fancy items.

Bao is third from left and his mom is on the right.

December 28 Day 8

We ate breakfast in the restaurant. Big Buffet. We were all tired from yesterday, Daniel and I feeling like a cold, so we relaxed this morning and rested. For lunch we went to Madame Thu #2 restaurant. I stayed at the hotel the rest of the day while the family went to visit one of the old emperor's tomb.

December 29 Day 9

We flew from Hue to Hanoi this morning on Vietnam Air which was about an hour flight.

At the Hue airport

Neat looking bridge on the way to down town Hanoi

We got a Grab from the airport to take us to our house that Minh-Thanh had rented. Well, it turns out that the address was wrong. So here we are trying to figure out what to do.

I call this the "Waiting to find out " park.

Flower in the park.

Minh-Thanh called the person we were renting fromand got it straightened out. Took another Grab to the right place which was down a small passage way off the main street. It has a kitchenette down stairs with a small sitting area. There are three bedrooms, each on its it's own floor.

Thanh-Nha at the alley way leading to our rented house.

We did not do much the rest of the day since me, Daniel and Thanh-Nha were under the weather. I went to

bed and slept until morning.

December 30 Day 10 Happy Birthday to me and Thanh-Nha (Sweet Sixteen)

After breakfast we went to a water puppet show which is very well known and very popular. It was an hour long show with short stories. All the puppets came out of the water or from behind a curtain. It was very fun to watch.

Daniel and I stayed at the house while Minh-Thanh, Thanh-Tu and Thanh-Nha went to The Temple of Literature which was a school from over a thousand years ago. For dinner we went to a fancy restaurant for our birthday dinner. It was very good. Got back to the house and went to bed early. Lots planned for tomorrow.

December 31 Day 11 Happy New Year’s Eve

Since some of us were still a little under the weather from our colds, we did not do much in the morning very

early. We went to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. There are 54 ethnic groups here in Vietnam with variations in traditions and language groups. 86% are Viet. They showed clothing, tools, toys and weapons from some of the major

groups. Lots of looms, crossbows, spears, pottery and baskets.