8 january: danang and hoi an

finished up our stay in dalat this morning and headed to the airport for our two-legged journey to hoi an (connecting back through saigon). nothing of major interest to report on, except for the fact that our 1 hour flight from saigon to danang was operated on a gigantic, internationally configured, double aisle plane. picture flying from dc to philadelphia on a 747 (or SF to LA for those readers on the west coast). very weird.

we were met at the airport by yean ("it's like 'ian' in usa, but vietnamese style"), our first female tour guide and proceeded onto a short tour through the city of danang. this was a good thing, because frankly danang kind of sucks. it's major claim to fame is that a) it's the 4th largest city in vietnam and b) it served as a major military base for the us in the vietnam war. the best feature of the city is china beach, the place american servicemen went to hang out during their off time - it was nice but basically just a beach on the edge of an otherwise ugly town. we also stopped briefly at the cham musesum, which holds artifacts from cham society (one of vietnam's 54 ethnic minorities) dating from the 7th-10th centuries. can we admit that we were fighting to stay awake?

let's just plant the seed that, as of the first day, kim is very skeptical of our tour guide; andrew is less so but of course supportive ("i'll hate her if you hate her"). can't put our finger on it, but something's off. lets see if anything further develops.

we started the drive from danang to hoi an, which takes about 45 minutes in total. interesting side note: the beachfront area between danag and hoi an is on the brink of MASSIVE development. there are probably 15 major resorts in various stages of completion, so we imagine danag is about to become a destination of choice for foreign travelers. supposedly you can invest in amazing beachfront villas at these 5 star resorts for about 300k, which unless they are wiped out by natural disaster would almost certainly appreciate quickly once this area is upscale and hopping. you heard it here first.

we drove from there to "marble mountain" which is, indeed, a marble mountain. there is a constant hum of drills from the hundreds of little shops around it that are carving huge sculptures at the base of the mountain. so if you're in the market for a life size buddha, or virgin mary replica, you can pick one up here at wholesale prices. there's more to the site than the marble, which we learned as we climbed up and around and saw beautiful pagodas, caves and - interestingly - the massive underground cave that was supposedly the headquarters of the viet cong in danang during the war. pretty cool.

from there it was a 30 minute drive to the town of hoi an where, before we checked into our hotel, our tour guide pointed out a few hot spots for getting custom clothes made (get excited). then we checked into our hotel - the Hoi An Riverside Resort and Spa - which is definitely the nicest yet. the grounds are absolutely gorgeous and lush, tons of greenery, and all the rooms are little villas with dark wood accents. interestingly, for the second time in a row, it appears we got upgraded for no reason... but we'll take it. our room now also has an amazing river view. picture: our balcony has two chairs which overlook a sleepy little river. the river has no current and is perfectly still so it looks like glass, with green grass shoots and beautiful flowers on the other side. every so often, someone will paddle by on a raft wearing one of the straw rice paddy hats. and at this time of year, the weather is between 65 and 75 degrees around the clock. admittedly, this is the good life.

but lets not get too comfortable - its time for getting some clothes made! after checking in we truck out to town and find a tailor that looks reputable. for anyone that hasn't done it, this is a completely overwhelming experience. you walk into a huge shop that is lined with reams and reams of different fabrics. you sit down and unless you've brought some pictures of clothes you want to copy, they start handing you scrapbooks full of pictures from magazines that you can flip through and find something you want. once you pick your style, they walk you over to the wall of appropriate fabric (wool for jackets, silk for dresses) and you choose one you like. prices are then determined by how nice of a fabric you pick out, they take your measurements and you're done, until you come back the next day for the first of however many fittings it takes to get it right.

that first night, andrew decided he'd rather stick with off the shelf, non-custom clothes bought in the united states versus going through all this drama - so he very patiently sat and read a book while kim had the time of her life. she ultimately picked some fabric for a few things, and we'll see tomorrow how they turn out.

then not much else except we went to dinner at one of the more picturesque places we've ever been. on recommendation, this place "mango rooms" had upstairs seating where sat on a balcony and faced the river and enjoyed the sights and sounds of hoi an. we almost felt like we were actually in the disneyworld version of vietnam: 70 degrees, overlooking a peaceful little river with tattered but colorful fishing boats, a mix of travelers and locals strolling by, stores and restaurants across the river providing some ambient noise, red lanterns dangling from ceilings and candlelight reflecting in the water. love this town.

next up: cooking class in hoi an