Dinner in Da Nang

Today we said good bye to Ho Chi Minh City and hello to Da Nang. It was a relatively uneventful morning consisting of breakfast at the hotel as usual, packing everything into my suitcase, and taking the trip to the airport. This game me some chance to reflect on our time here in Ho Chi Minh. I have realized that Vietnam has not been everything I have expected, which is not a bad thing. For example, I expected a lot more anti-American attitudes over here, and while this is certainly true at the Cu Chi Tunnels and the War Remnant museum, the people here have been some of the nicest I’ve met. They are so open, and helpful, which was something I was not expecting at all.

Also It has been a lot more hot and humid than I expected. While I knew that we were entering a tropical monsoon climate, I didn’t realize how warm it would be in January. Today we were at 30 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) with who knows how much humidity. I can’t recall the last time I had to wear short sleeves and shorts in January. One final thing that I can’t emphasize enough is the traffic. I had been prepared for bad traffic and difficult street crossings, but it has been even worse than I could have expected. Literally there seem to be no traffic laws besides the fact that everyone must wear a helmet while on a motorbike. Also, I hardly see any police vehicles. While there have been police or security officers on the sidewalks and in front of various shops, but I have only seen 1 or 2 police cars/motorcycles. It’s just so surprising to see the chaos that is the daily commute here.

We arrived at the airport for our flight to Da Nang just in time, after check in and security, we were able to get to the gate just as boarding had begun. Now this is the part that confuses me, we boarded an Airbus A330 plane which was about the size of a Boeing 777. Now if you know anything about planes this plane should have a huge range, (we flew a 777 from Houston to Tokyo) however the flight to Da Nang was only 300 miles that lasted about 1 hour. While the flight was almost full, it would be more economical to fly two 737 type planes than one 777. I finally came to the conclusion that either the airline did not have enough 737 type planes to fly this route, or not enough gates at the airport for two planes on the same route. It was just puzzling, because it seemed like complete overkill to fly this plane on a 1 hour flight.

The other excitement about the flight to Da Nang involved my passport. For some reason, after I sat down on the plane I decided it would be a good idea to put my passport into the seatback pocket. This seemed like a good idea until I got to baggage claim and realized that I didn’t have my passport, I started to move back toward the gate area but quickly thought through the fact that I didn’t know any Vietnamese and I’m sure the security guards would not take to kindly to me heading back that way. Thankfully I talked to our guide, and she was able to talk to an airline representative who recovered my passport from the plane. Thankfully everything worked out in the end, and I learned a valuable lesson about where to keep my passport. The main discussion among the group was, did I actually lose my passport? I argue that I didn’t lose my passport, because I knew exactly where it was, I just couldn’t access it, whereas losing something implies that you don’t know where it is.

Da Nang is quite a different atmosphere compared to Ho Chi Minh City. The streets are certainly less crowded, and the city definitely feels smaller and more spread out. Things seem to move at a little slower pace here, which I enjoyed, and I’m also enjoying the slightly cooler weather (about 75 degrees Fahrenheit).

While we haven’t toured much of Da Nang yet we did visit China beach, which many of the American soldiers enjoyed during the war. While I didn’t actually go down into the water, I enjoyed the views from the beach as well as the large mass of pigeons floating around.

After visiting the beach we watched the movie “Daughter from Da Nang” which told the story of a mother who sent her daughter away in the USA’s operation orphan lift near the end of the Vietnam War. It was crazy to see huge military planes jam packed full of cribs for the approximately 2,000 Vietnamese children evacuated from the country. The Vietnamese parents were told that they would be reunited with their children in the future, but this was not the case. However, the Vietnamese woman in this film, Mrs. Kim, was so determined to find her daughter that eventually they were reunited. I don’t want to ruin the movie for you so you should definitely check it out at some point.

We were then given the privilege of joining Mrs. Kim at her house for a traditional Vietnamese family meal. The meal was delicious, and it was amazing to get a chance to see a Vietnamese family house and lifestyle first hand. One of the things that I found interesting was the closeness of the Vietnamese neighborhood. Mrs. Kim told us that everyone knows each other and they frequently share meals, and spend time together. That is something that American neighborhoods have lost throughout the years. Mr. Kim is a member of the communist party which is an honor in Vietnam. I asked about how one became a member and it’s apparently a complicated process where you must be invited to join, and then go through strict screening processes and knowledge tests over a year long time period before finally being admitted as a member. While this is a long difficult process, it is many people’s dreams, because in order to get anywhere in the Vietnamese business or political structure it is imperative that you be a part of the communist party.

While today was a slower day, I felt extremely blessed with our experiences. Visiting Mrs. Kim is certainly one of the highlights of the trip for me, and not only because she made such delicious food. It is a true experience when you immerse yourself to a level where you see how people are living on a day to day basis, and not just what tourists get to see. It has helped connect me more personally with the Vietnamese people. Tomorrow we will be exploring Da Nang some more and then traveling on to Hoi An where hopefully more adventures await.