We spent one day in Hue, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was the old capital of Vietnam, and the imperial palace reminded me of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It’s huge, many buildings, with a long wall around the entire complex, and badly in need of repair. The temple there was similarly impressive, but also needs much work.
Here's an elephant we passed on the road!
We left Hue and drove to Danang. Danang has an impressive Cham museum, documenting the people that controlled southern Vietnam for hundreds of years. We saw little else of the city, now an industrial center, but it still has American fuel storage tanks and war plane hangars. Before we left we stopped at China Beach, a lovely sand beach with continuous rolling waves. I feel very fortunate I never had to see it 40 years ago.
From there we went over the scenic Hai Van Pass and into Hoi An. Atop the Pass, local ethnic people were selling souvenirs. A man approached us, asked if we were Americans, then proceeded to chant O-Ba-Ma O-Ba-Ma O-Ba-Ma over and over. Clearly someone in his village has a TV, and that reinforces how closely the rest of the world follows what happens in America.
This is China Beach (mostly closed for the Winter)
From there we went over the scenic Hai Van Pass and into Hoi An. Atop the Pass, local ethnic people were selling souvenirs. A man approached us, asked if we were Americans, then proceeded to chant O-Ba-Ma O-Ba-Ma O-Ba-Ma over and over. Clearly someone in his village has a TV, and that reinforces how closely the rest of the world follows what happens in America.
This is China Beach (mostly closed for the Winter)
At the Hai Van Pass .
When this gentleman figured out we were American, he started chanting "O-Bam-A, O-Bam-A" and gave us a thumbs up.
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