Vietnam continues to surprise and inspire me. It is so unlike any of the Vietnam movies I have seen that I have almost entirely disasociated it from Hollywood's history. The people are family-oriented, friendly, christian and much like the Thai, what in my opinion is a good combination of hard working and laid back. Perhaps, that is because we've been staying in the south.
Our next stop on our adventure is Hoi An and it's neighbor town, Danang. Danang is the home of China Beach (serialized in the long running american t.v. show by the same name). It is also the old border of the North/South divide. Not terribly interested in short-term history of the last 40 years, I am more interested in the long term history of the country and region,so we skip the opportunity to tour the underground tunnel system used by the Viet Cong during the war (which includes a gratis opportunity to shoot a real vietnam war rifle at cut-outs of American Soldiers). However, we do make a point of seeing the ancient history museum of Danang, which is full of beautiful and strange sculptures dating back to a time before Budha or Christ, when the locals (mostly descended from the Indians) worshipped a host of local Gods as well as animism, a theme always somehow tied into Asia's interpretation of world religions..
We also take a quick photo-op onto the pristine shores of China beach. The blood shed here has been washed away into the sea, for this is a truly peaceful area (or it will be for the next 5 years). Soon however, the Danang locals are preparing themselves for the next US invasion, by building supersized Luxury hotels all up and down the beaches of Danang. Foreign interest in Vietnam as the new Thailand has been so strong, that the Vietnamese government has even been able to bride the local families to move their ancestral tombs to less --attractive real estate inland. Historically, the Vietnamese have always buried their dead outside of town and near to the Sea in what in my opinion are some of the most beautiful shrines I've ever seen (covered in colored tiles and often with caligraphy covering them). It is also our good fortune that the Vietnamese consider today a very fortunate day and so, everywhere we drive in Danang, one sees weddings at local restaurants, wedding halls, anywhere one can put flowers, balloons and neon signs...even drive-ins.
Danang is not half as beautiful as Hoi An, but it has something I have never seen before:Magic Mountain. Magic Mountain is a holy mountain just behind China beach. If you climb the outside of it, you may explore a handful of lovely temples and pagodas celebrating Budha but was is magical about it is that it is filled with a series of underground tunnels (some of which were indeed used as a hospital and safehaven by the Southern Vietnamese in the war). Those tunnels lead into an inspiring vast open cave,so large it has a -- foot budha carved on a stalagtite just above the ceiling with natural sunlight cutting through the cave to spotlight it, as well as an entire temple complex carved out of the earth inside the cave mostly for Budha and sub-budhian deities but also including a smaller temple for pre-budha animism and local deities (which is pretty exotic). It is breathtaking, awe inspiring, magical and mysterious all in one breath and one of the coolest things i've seen in my life. I can not recommend it enough.
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