January 19th - A short visit to Hell

It is drizzling hard when we get up this morning. Time to put the legs back on  the zip offs. The breakfast buffet offers just about everything except spring rolls. We can't remember the last time that we had a meal without them. Do wants us ready to board the bus at 9.30 for the short ride to the station where we are due to board the 10.30 to Da Nang. This is the same service that we arrived on, just 24 hours later. Our cases are being transported by bus today as the journey is only a couple of hours. We occupy the waiting room en masse and D goes to explore. By now it is 10.00 and the 9.30 departure is still at the platform.

When the train arrives it is three quarters of an hour late and, to use the vernacular, it is pishing down. We are occupying most of a day coach for this trip, which appears to be new, with a/c , reclining seats, television screens and best of all a hot water dispenser. We have packed a teabag in the hope that this will be so. We dip out a bit on the seats, finishing up with a rear facing pair with a view restricted by a window pillar. The window glass is a bit grubby and streaked with rain so photography is going to be challenging.

Almost as soon as the train gets under way a trolley arrives dispensing beef(?) and sticky rice in foil containers. It is too soon after breakfast for us and we pass. Those of the group who do partake don't look to be enjoying it. To start with there isn't much to look at and we wonder why we didn't just take the bus for this leg. All comes clear as we see a lagoon appear through the gloom with cabins on stilts and various bits of stick that are used to aid fishing. It is difficult to avoid overhead wires in the photos. Shortly the train begins to climb up towards the Hai Van Pass. The information board at the end of the coach is clearly faulty as it shows a speed of 61 kph at all times. There are lots of tight curves, a couple of tunnels and at times the track runs along a ledge cut into the cliff face. At least our seats are on the sea facing side of the train. There doesn't look to be much of a view on the other side. 

At the top of the pass we move through a longish tunnel and pause in a loop to avoid a northbound freight. The descent is taken very steadily as the view takes in some empty sandy beaches around Da Nang Bay. Across the water we can see the tall buildings of the city itself. The coach is ready to meet us at the station in Da Nang and we are soon in transit to see China Beach which is a tad underwhelming. Our route to the next stop takes us past acres of land formerly occupied by the US military and not yet developed as it is contaminated with Agent Orange.

We have a brief visit to a Marble Emporium before stopping at Marble Mountain to visit some caves. These have been turned into some kind of rather tacky 'Heaven and Hell' theme park. We are told that ascending to Heaven will take too long so we opt to visit Hell down a series of uneven, dimly lit stone stairs. There are a series of slightly disturbing tableaux depicting scenes of torture and depravity. The light wasn't good enough for pictures. Sorry to disappoint you all.

Our final destination today is Hoi An, a town that was a bustling international port two centuries ago but the estuary silted up and the place became a backwater. Mercifully untouched by the endless conflicts of the 20th century,  the original buildings survive to benefit big time from Vietnam's tourism boom. The coach deposits us at the Little Hoi Ann Central hotel which is quite clearly not central, but still only walking distance from the town. The rooms are spacious and stylish and there is a handy price list for those who feel the need to remove any of the fixtures and fittings from the room.

Our priority is to sort out getting our laundry done and find somebody to restitch the zip into R's handbag.  From our balcony we spy a massage parlour that also advertised taxis and laundry at $1 per kilo. That will do nicely. Within a hundred metres we find a tailor who quotes slightly less then a pound to fix the bag. In between the two is a shop that sells cold beers and Schweppes tonic for not a lot. We are all sorted.

Our evening meal is at a waterfront restaurant across the town. We walk through streets decked out with brightly coloured lanterns, for which Hoi An is renowned. We enjoy the meal which for once does not overface us.  There are dozens of boats out on the river and scores of candles floating in cardboard lotus flowers, all a bit like Varanasi. After supper we are let off the leash and take the chance to visit the colourful Night Market on an island accessed by bridge from the Old Town. There are a whole load of lantern shops and we pause to browse. R is hankering after taking home some of these.