For
the past week Lyle and I have been on a cruise ship sailing down the
east coast of Vietnam. The ship had three ports of call - Halong Bay (a
UNESCO heritage site), Da Nang (a coastal city), and Phu My (a port and
little over an hour from Ho Chi Minh City better know to us as Saigon). Of these, my favourite stop was Da Nang.
At
Da Nang we took a four-hour land excursion. This was absolutely great
and well worth the time and the money. We left the port on a
comfortable bus with a guide. The guide explained the points of
interest until we reached the Cham Museum. It was here that our
adventure really began. We took a rickshaw ride for half an hour around
the centre of the city.
Each rickshaw had a
single passenger seat on the front. There was space for me to put my
white cane beside me. The men who pedalled the bikes must have had
extremely strong leg muscles, and also nerves of steel. With seemingly
casual nonchalance we weaved our way through heavy traffic of thousands
of scooters, some cars, buses, and occasional trucks. We were in a line
of some fifty or sixty rickshaws. The street intersections were most
interesting as we turned corners with little regard for any traffic
coming from every which way possible. The traffic seemed to flow seamlessly around us, although at times was very close our rickshaw. I found it exhilarating, and loved it all.
Back
at the museum our guide gave us a brief history lesson and then left us
free to roam around various statues and displays. Because of my
limited sight, I did not find this part as quite as interesting, but we
did discover clean restrooms. That is always a plus!
Back
on the bus we drove on to China Beach. This is the beach where
American GI’s would often spend their R & R time during the time of
the Vietnam war. By the way, this conflict is referred to here as the
American War. The beach was a long expanse of white powdery sand. We
could see the tall white Buddha on a mountain in the distance. That was
final stop of our tour. The bus dropped us at the Pagoda at the base
of the Buddha statue.
By
the end of the tour we felt we had had a glimpse of the various aspects
of Da Nang. Still, for me, the best of the day was our rickshaw ride.
There
are three pictures with this post. The first picture shows Lyle and I
in our rickshaws at the beginning of the ride. The second picture shows
me en route with the traffic in the street. The third picture shows
the two of us on China Beach.
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| Sue and Lyle on their rickshaws |
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| En route in the rickshaws amid traffic |
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| Sue and Lyle at China Beach |
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