Vietnam: Chan May

 Thursday, May 25, 2023, Chan May, Vietnam (including Hoi An and Da Nang)

The ship didn’t arrive in Chan May in North Vietnam until 3:30 p.m. As usual, it took some time for the local officials to let us off the ship. Not too long. We were ready to jump ship right away, planning to scope things out on shore, maybe catch a ride into Chan May, a 25-minute ride. The ship was going to dock overnight so we could stay out late. There was nothing at the port itself except a few vendors set up in couple of small buildings. We bought some post cards from one and bought bottles of water at a coffee shop so we could use their WiFi (as weak as the ship’s unfortunately). 

Sailing into Chan May

Officials on the ship making sure we had landing cards.

We’d been told there were no taxis at the pier, and that was sort of true. However, there were cars willing to take people places. I spotted a couple from Montreal. A Vietnamese man was showing them a glossy page with sights in Hoi An, a place I really wanted to see. The ship had a tour, but it was such a long drive we’d decided not to do it. It was also extremely expensive. This man said the 4 of us could go to Hoi A for $30 per person, and he spoke fairly good English. I asked Charlie if he was game, and he was. The man advised us NOT to tell other passengers in the van what we were paying. 

The next thing we knew, the 4 of us were in a large van with 3 other passengers—two men and a woman from Hong Kong—who immediately asked us how much we were paying. We were vague. Unfortunately, the English-speaker (apparently just a salesman) was not in the van and another Vietnamese man with extremely limited English was apparently our guide. Our driver didn’t speak any English at all. After a few minutes one of the Hong Kong men asked where we were going. I told him Hoi An. I asked him where they were going. Da Nang. 

I asked the Vietnamese man if this van was going to Da Nang or Hoi An. Da Nang. We had a tour to Da Nang the next day and were not interested in going to Da Nang. Charlie told him to let us out now. We would walk back to the pier. There was a bit of back and forth, and the man made a phone call, probably to the salesman back at the pier. Meantime we were getting further and further from the pier. He hung up and told us he would take us to Hoi An. We had to go through Da Nang to get to Hoi An. The Hong Kong passengers were OK with going to Hoi An. 

We passed through the town of Chan May and there wasn’t much there. Eventually we made a pit stop in DaNang at a business selling marble items: 2-ton marble lions for either side of your driveway, for example, shipped directly to your home for free. Honestly, a bargain—they were beautiful works of art. Just not something we were in the market for. More about this later. We got out of the van to use the facilities and realized an Oceania tour bus was parked next to us. We waved to our ship mates. 

2-ton marble lions, anyone?

Or how about an 8-foot tall elephant?

Back in the DaNang traffic, it was rush hour and there were motorcycles everywhere, like most of Southeast Asia. Charlie was glowering by now, and I remembered Hoi An was pretty far away. He hates long drives. Our non-English-speaking tour guide was pointing out a special bridge. We couldn’t understand what he was talking about. More about that later.

Da Nang rush hour

Once we got to Hoi An, we parked in a lot with a lot of tour buses. Large electric golf-cart-like vehicles were coming and going from our parking lot at a cost of $1 per person. The driver, tour guide and we 7 passengers climbed into the golf cart and were driven into the old town. This is the only way to get into the old town.

By now it was getting dark. Old town Hoi An is probably nice during the day; at night it’s a fairy land of colored lanterns and lit up boats. Every place was open and it was hopping. I think there were 4 or 5 buses full of people from our ship alone. And a lot of locals. It had a festival-like atmosphere.

With our non-English speaking guide, and our non-English speaking driver as a sweeper to help keep track of us 7 passengers, we toured the town. The driver designated a spot for us to go back to if we got separated. The town is a maze of streets, especially with some of the short cuts we were taking. Retracing our steps would be impossible. We made sure we didn’t get separated. Not easy in the huge crowds of people. By now our somewhat reserved Hong Kong shipmates were becoming more animated. This was much more interesting than DaNang. 

We were taken to the usual tourist trap silk shop (complete with silk worms) and saw a lot of people from the ship there with their tour. None of us bought anything. Back out on the street, there were vendors of every kind. A nice lady street vendor sold us some of the best dessert/snack food ever. They were wheel-shaped sweet flour-and-peanut concoctions. Our guide tried to get us interested in one of the colorful lit up tour boats but none of us wanted that. There was plenty to see out on the street, and we spent another hour or so seeing it.

Outside the silk shop—yet more lanterns

Our snack/dessert-y peanut concoction

Locals on a night out

On the way back to the ship, we stopped for pho in DaNang. It was a casual restaurant and cost $9 total for the 4 of us, including fresh rolls, Our Hong Kong shipmates treated us to a kind of fried dough we were unfamiliar with. It was all delicious. 

Our humble restaurant

Our van also stopped along the promenade in DaNang for a view of the Dragon Bridge—all lit up. This was the bridge our guide was trying to point out on our way to Hoi An, but much more impressive lit up. There were hoards of people out enjoying the night.

Dragon bridge from head to toe

We got back to the ship about 10:30 p.m. Out on the dock there were a bunch of young people drinking beer provided by local vendors. Our ship’s crew! We were tempted to join them, but had to show up for our Da Nang tour at 8:00 a.m., so called it a night.

Friday, May 26, Chan May, Vietnam

This is the first place American soldiers landed during the Vietnam War. It took our tour bus about an hour to get there from the dock at Chan May.  Our guide spoke excellent English. Quite the contrast from yesterday! He told us there are 25 million motorcycles in Vietnam, which is easy to believe after visiting Da Nang.

Our first stop was a short one at the Han Market in downtown Da Nang. It’s a huge local market, open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.—long hours for the vendors. We managed to buy some dried mangos to snack on and specialty coffee for friends and family who drink the high octane stuff. Most of the vendors were women and we communicated thanks to Google Translate, and of course the currency app. We also learned the proper way to cross the street here, getting back to the tour bus. You start slowly walking into the street and hundred of motorcycles magically swarm  around you. It’s hair-raising but the only method that works since the traffic never stops.   

Han Market where we learned how to cross the busy street

One of the vendors we communicated with thanks to Google Translate

Charlie shopping for coffee at the Han Market.

Our next stop was the DaNang Museum of Cham Sculpture, a wonderful museum of incredible sculptures of the Cham people who resided in the area 600-1200 current era. They were Hindus and left stunning sculptures large and small. The museum also includes musical instruments.  Here’s a couple of favorites:

On to the same marble/granite factory we stopped at yesterday on our way to Hoi An. This time we had time to look at the fabulous wares and eventually bought a small jade dragon.

We saw the beach where soldiers recreated during the Vietnam War, and the Tho Quang fishing village. There were interesting “basket boats” that fisherman use to bring in their catches from their regular boats since the water is too shallow for that. They are huge baskets that float in the water; some have oars with oarlocks, and some just a paddle. Some even have a small motor.

Basket boats to bring the day’s catch from the boats in the harbor

Marble Mountain was next (where they get the marble for the marble factory). We walked up a long, wide staircase into a large cave. Another spectacular cave! This one had a “drier” look, probably from the marble. Visitors stayed on designated paths, but you could see crevasses and openings galore. There was light coming out of one opening at the top. Again, Charlie would have preferred less clutter but after all, it is a cave. It was busy with tourists, many of them locals, of all ages. The Viet Cong hid here during the war and there were plaques commemorating their heroes. There were many Buddhist shrines with some people praying silently to them (a common sight in Buddhist shrines). Vendors were set up outside to take advantage of this popular spot. We didn’t have time to go up a pair of high, glass fronted elevators to find out what was at the top (panoramic view of the bay?).

Stairway to the cave in marble mountain

Our last tour stop was the Lin Ung Pagoda, a lovely temple up on a hill just outside Da Nang with a very large female Buddha. When I walked into the shrine, many people were sleeping on the marble floor behind the alter. I couldn’t tell whether they were homeless or devoted worshippers tired from the journey here.

Dragon railing

The gardens were lovely

I saw people sleeping behind this shrine.

Large female Buddha. She is gigantic!

There were lots of different Buddha statues, including the laughing Buddha

Once we were back to Chan May, we shopped at the vendor booths outside the ship. I found a dress, Charlie replaced his Oceania side bag that was falling apart with a new one from North Face. It was incredibly hot this entire day, especially on concrete areas like this one. We cut short more purchases to re-board the ship.