A Scene from Long Beach Cafe in DaNang (Vietnam)

A few blocks from the famed China Beach, at an underdeveloped area of DaNang in Central Vietnam, I found Long Beach Cafe, one of the few decent restaurants in the vicinity. With very few people (locals and tourists) around, you have the surroundings mostly to yourself - and you'd find yourself monopolizing empty streets.

I stayed at Mango Hotel which is just 7 kilometers from Marble Mountain. Despite the relative nearness, DIY-transport is almost difficult to arrange. You have to book a taxi or approach a motorcycle biker if you want to get away to roam DaNang.

Long Beach Cafe looked modern, it even had a miniature waterfall, a garden, a raised platform, airconditioned main bar and very accommodating staff. I ordered "Com Ga" - fried chicken with rice - worth 80,000 dong (PhP124.50/$3). I loved being one of the small number of tourists in that area. There was always the sensation of eavesdropping on the locals who eagerly wait for throngs of tourists that would probably come in the next 3 or 4 years.

The photo above: a wall beside a stair leading to the main restaurant. There were "boxes" with colorful pots on display. The luminescent color is accentuated by the gray tiles. "Look at me," said the plants. I gazed for a second, capturing the moment for posterity, then walked away.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Vietnamese Addiction of Pinoy Teleseryes in Hoi An (Vietnam)

I had to find an internet cafe to print my web check-in boarding pass.

Though there were several in this ancient city of Hoi An (A UNESCO World Heritage site), most of their printers weren't working. Finally, I found Thang Long Restaurant by the riverside and they offered printing/internet service. On a dead hour, sometime in mid afternoon, there was hardly anyone dining. Most of their half-a-dozen waiting staff were transfixed to a teleserye playing on a hanging television.

I'd sneak a peek and I thought, "Boy! These guys are addicted to teleseryes! And at 3 PM yet. Wicked." I'd mind my own business again and check on my USB stick. Intermittently I would raise my head towards the television. "Hmmm. So they have a Dennis Trillo lookalike in Vietnam," I'd tell myself. Our Dennis is better looking - and definitely a better actor. This one looked bland and too short for Pinoy standard. ;)

But while I was winding down my online activities, I suddenly noticed other familiar faces (Bianca King, et.al.) Reality hit me! This was a Philippine soap, one of those forgettable GMA teleseryes. So forgettable that it's been shown, dubbed in Vietnamese and lapped up by common Viet folks! They were glued to the screen I decided not to get my snack there! Or run the risk of getting ignored altogether. Thanks for the patronage, guys.

Hoi An, aka Faifoo, sits on the South Central Coast of Vietnam's Quang Nam Province. It is home to 120,000 people, once the epicenter of the spice-trading Chams. This well preserved ancient city is 598 kilometers (372 miles) from Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon and 812 kilometers (505 miles) from the capital Hanoi.

Now let's kick the Chinese intruders and land grabbers out of our democratic existence, yeah? But wait, Vietnam is a socialist republic run by communists, isn't it?

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Cua Dai Beach - Sheer Isolation Away From Hoi An (Vietnam)

Hoi An, An Hoi, Cao Dai, Cua Dai. Chiang Mai. Chiang Rai, Chiang Saen. Don Det. Don Kho, Don Khong. Having fun yet?

Like many places in Asia, particularly Thailand and Laos, terminologies and nomenclature in Vietnam are essentially word plays, and sometimes easily interchangeable. But in the ancient royal city of Hoi An in central Vietnam, one could visit an island called An Hoi, just across the river bank, navigable on foot through a bridge. But that's not what I'm writing about here.

SHEER ISOLATION

Four kilometers northeast of Hoi An, situated in the Cam An area, is Cua Dai Beach which boasts of a surreal combination of raw beauty - golden sand as fine as powder, clean waters, spotless beach, wind swept pines, relatively inexpensive resorts, and the feeling of sheer isolation.

No one was there when I visited. You'd probably find visiting this beach essential after trying to exhaust your coupon system in Hoi An; an exasperating ticket system that, for 120,000 dong ($6) allows you to visit only 5 local attractions (one museum, one old house, one assembly hall, the handicraft shop or a traditional theater, and either the Japanese Covered Bridge or the Quan Cong Temple). They require these tickets for entry. After racking my brains deciding on which places to see and which to get rid of, I ended up buying 2 of those darn tickets. That way, I didn't have to decide which places to scrap off the list. How's that for being thorough?

Cua Dai, which literally means "big sea mouth", is easy to remember if you've visited that weird religious congregation near Saigon south of the country, the Cao Dai church. The 3-kilometer beach has moderate slopes and equally moderate waves, a curiosity considering the strong winds that rush to the shore in these part of town. I hired a motorbike taxi to take me there. "You could walk northward to get to Da Nang," informed my mild-mannered driver. If that was a suggestion, I'd say "no thanks".

Am not walking 30 kilometers from here.

This is the Eye in the Sky!  

China Beach in Da Nang, Vietnam

At a secluded spot in China Beach, in central Vietnam's eastern seacoast of Da Nang, the country's third largest city, I found these huge circular bowl-shaped fishing boats one lazy Sunday morning before flying back to Kuala Lumpur.

I was standing there looking at the rush of the waves when a friendly local gentleman in his mid-30's came to chat. He nonchalantly told me how these seas and the nearby islands are being owned by China. As much as I try to avoid discussing "politics" and territorial issues, I could not ignore the issue completely because it is close to home. Like the Philippines, Vietnam is scratching its head uncomfortably because China is muscling its way to "gain" sovereignty to what clearly isn't theirs. I joked that they should change the name of "China Beach" before China starts having their ridiculous ideas that the beach is China's by virtue of its name, the way they spuriously believe that all of South China Sea is theirs (and they even have magical maps and historical anecdotes to prove these). What can small, powerless countries do to avoid these territorial intrusions and fight against bullies? You can't help but wonder.

This is the Eye in the Sky!
  

Saigon 101

GOOD MORNING, SAIGON!

I get restless the night before every travel, which is not a good thing. On my 4th backpacking trip this year and nothing’s changed so far. No matter how hard I try, I just toss and turn and wind up with barely an hour of sleep. It’s the adrenaline pumping overtime. But the rush really starts the moment my feet touches the tarmac. To say the least, I hate the immigration formalities. Though I have never had any problems before, there have been horror stories, and I always come ready not to be flustered. As expected, the proceedings were uneventful. Not even a single question, and darn, I was ready to shove my return ticket to the immigration officer. (That’s the most common that they ask anywhere, I guess.) Haha!

Tan Son Nhat International Airport is a medium sized airport, and most arrivals, I was told, are bussed to the main terminal, except for some flag carrier (Vietnam Airlines) arrivals. I came prepared and didn’t have to change my dollar to the irrepresibly named Vietnamese Dong (PhP 1= VnD 356 or $1 = VnD 16,000). It's supposed to be Nu Dong, I was told. Unlike the Indonesian Rupiah, the dong is exchanged at that stable rate. (Indonesian exchange is exasperatingly AND notoriously subjective. If there’s a slightly imagined fold at the tip of your dollar, then your rate is decidedly marked down, no matter how new and crisp your full dollar bill is.)


Communist countries like China and Cuba do not sell their currencies abroad – I guess this is ideologically based. Vietnam, being a socialist republic is the same, so, unless it is black market, you cannot find dong in legitimate establishments (banks, etc.). It’s a good thing that I stocked on small dollar bills (which isn’t easy – took me a month to get enough small bills) as the dollar is widely accepted. Problem is, if you purchase with a US$100, THEN be prepared to receive a box-load of dongs for your change. I was a millionaire when I changed my $70!!! (VnD 1.25M)

Reunification Hall

I arrived before noon so I had enough time to “experiment”. Skipped the mad rush of taxi touts outside and looked for the green bus no. 512 outside. To my pleasant surprise, there were 2 empty 512’s waiting outside. I stepped in, asked the lady assistant “how much” and she enunciated rather emphatically, “Three fou-zund dong!” Of course, I wasn’t too sure where that would take me, although my readings assured this would take me to the backpacker’s area in Pham Ngu Lao St. Though I had 3 hotel names in mind, but with no hotel reservations, I decided to wing it. I had daylight and I had time to choose – IF I do find the street! The ride was long, a good hour, as traffic was moderately heavy. There is an ocean of motorcycles like you’ve never experienced in Manila: noisy and chaotic.

I read the street signs until I saw Pham Ngu Lao. I didn’t know where – or how to go about alighting from the bus. I signaled to the assistant, and she just nodded, BUT the bus went on for a good 20 minutes. It turned along De Tham Street and made a stop, so, with my 12 kg bag ( I know, I know – am supposed to travel light!) and took a walk to the street parallel to Pham Ngu Lao- Bui Vien Street! It has been my experience that backpacker areas are ironically pricier - like KL’ Bukit Bintang. I meandered along Bui Vien, trying to look like I wasn’t lost until I found a place I sensed was alright. Phan Lan Guesthouse 70, which would then become my refuge for the next 2 weeks of constant transfer. My room was way up 6th floor, newly renovated, with a fresh coat of paint – split-type aircon, ref, cable TV, newly tiled and spanking clean bathroom. I had a window too though the view wasn’t spectacular. Tall but thin buildings jut out for a cityscape. This is typically Vietnamese, I noticed much later. From afar, they looked like pencil towers.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Saigon River

Delicious rice cakes by the roadside near Ben Thanh. (I tried the brown stuff -right side- at 5,000 dong, PhP 7 - sweet & tasty.)

Notre Dame again