DaNang and the Marble Mountains

If you visit Vietnam and have an open, adventurous kind of spirit, it's only so long before you give in to temptation......and no, I'm not talking about the temptation for 'massage?' I'm talking about the temptation to ride on the back of a 'motobike?' So, after the three hour train ride from Hue to Danang, I thought I would walk to find a hotel room. Turns out I should have turned left out of the train station instead of turning right. About half a kilometer down the road I realized I was going the wrong way. That's when Chiem pulled up beside me and asked me for 'motobike?' I finally caved and jumped on the back.

Chiem was great and gave me a quick tour of DaNang on our way to the hotel. He even offered to take me to another hotel (of which I'm sure he got commission) if I didn't like my hotel room. We arrived at the hotel and the room seemed nice enough to me, but not as nice as some of the others. Still, for $10/night, I couldn't complain. So, after checking into my hotel, Chiem gave me the hard sell. He wanted me to join him for a coffee at the little cafe on the street next to the hotel. It turns out Chiem does motobike tours of the Central Highlands and wanted to know if I was interested. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I listened to him. I was actually all game to do a 5 day tour with him until it came to the price. It was just going to be way too expensive and I had to tell him no. But I thought I would make it up to him by spending the day with him and having him take me around. The plan was to drive around DaNang some more and then head to China Beach for a bit, then down to Hoi An to get fitted for some suits, and then back to DaNang with a stop off at the Marble Mountains.

The trip through DaNang was nice and we stopped off at China Beach so that I could check out the sand and the waves for a quick bit. We then headed down to Hoi An where he took me to a shop where I could get a 'good price' on some suits. Right away I knew what was up. Chiem would, of course, get some commission for taking me there. The lady in the shop was nice enough, but kept trying to get me to buy more suits, shirts, and shorts from her. I told her one suit and two shirts were all I could afford and she started to back down a bit.

After the fitting, we stopped off for a Hoi An speciality meal of fish, cooked whole, with spices and wrapped in a banana leaf. The meal was delicious and Chiem told me lots about the area and about Vietnam. He truly was a pretty knowledgeable man.

Our last stop was at the Marble Mountains that are just south of DaNang. During the Vietnam War, the caves inside the mountains were used as a hospital for the VC. Pretty amazing as the mountains are just a few kilometers south of an American air base and a popular resting spot for US troops (China Beach). The mountains themselves are mostly marble (hence the name) and there are tons of marble factories below putting out all sorts of wonderful marble crafts. Up in the mountains, there are caves, pagodas, and a Buddhist monastery. I went up to explore everything and was truly amazed by the caves! It unfortunate that there wasn't more light as most of my pictures didn't turn out so well, but the memories remain.

It was truly a neat experience to climb in and around all the caves at the top of the mountain. The climb down was a lot less fun as the marble hawkers started to gather around the 'walking ATM.' Never the less, it didn't bother me too much as I realize that most of these folks are just trying to make a living. After the short ride back to DaNang, I had a quiet meal and decided that I had seen enough and it was time to move on to Hoi An.

Until next time.......

Love, peace, and soul.