Danang and Hoi An

Immediately upon leaving Phu Quoc Island our travel resolve was tested. Because all the flights to Ho Chi Minh City were booked, we had to take a bus, a ferry, 3 different minivans, and a taxi to get back. Total travel time: 12 hours. To make matters worse, we encountered our first blatant anti-American comments on the long mini-van ride and had to sit next to a couple rude, self-righteous jerks for 5 hours. It's kind of ironic, too because we have been traveling overseas for 4 months now, we are in Vietnam (a place where I might expect some anti-American sentiment), and first real rudeness we have encountered (by local or fellow traveler) was by this German couple.
Andrew and I were both pretty disheartened by the incident, but it made us take a step back and realized how lucky we have been. Despite what people tell you about sewing a Canadian flag on your backpack and everything else, we have been welcomed almost universally with curiosity and kindness- even by those who are strongly opposed to American foreign policy.

As an example, the van ride itself was saved by the everyday kindness of the Vitnamese people on board who communicated with us in varying levels of english and sign language. One man in particular bought us rambutan and custard apple at the rest stop, wanting us to try some Vietnamese fruit. Then he offered to share a taxi from the bus station; after chatting for a few minutes about Vietnamese food, good places to visit, and how to make sure you don't get robbed he insisted on paying the entire fare himself. The price of the taxi ride and the fruit was very small, but that sort of kindness is in large part what has made this trip such an incredible experience.

In any case, we made it to Ho Chi Minh City alive and the next day took an overnight train to Danang, in the central coast. It was our first experience with train travel and we were impressed by how relaxing and comfortable it was. We arrived in Danang feeling well rested and ready for a day of checking out the surrounding area. Our first stop was the Cham sculpture museum (the Champa kingdom ruled parts of Vietnam between the 2nd and 15th centuries). Even to our untrained eyes, it was pretty interesting to see similarities and differences between artifacts of the same age from neighboring China and Cambodia.After the museum, we head to China Beach where we sipped a cold beer, and looked at the waves. It's hard to imagine what a bizarre alternate reality this peaceful beach must have seemed like for a combat Marine on R&R.Today we took a day trip to the historical city of Hoi An, where Japanese, Chinese and European trade flourished from the 16th to 18th centuries. The architecture of the old homes and assembly halls is a beautiful mix of cultural influences. Impressive craftsmanship and ingenuity (like a pulley system to get goods and furniture to the second floor) has allowed them to survive for centuries on a continuously flooding riverbank.
What really made Hoi An interesting for me, though, was the living culture. The ethnic Chinese community in particular has continued to use many of the same buildings. One home has been used by seven generations of the same family-a sixth generation woman helped explain the significance of some of the architecture and decoration. Similarly, an old assembly hall was in use for a large and gregarious lunch when we came to visit. We also saw a beautiful and moving traditional dance/music performance- probably my favorite "traditional" show since getting to Asia.
That's about it for the last few days. Above and below are some pictures of livestock on motorcycles, which we mentioned in a post a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, we have not been fast enough to catch any of the motorcycles we have personally seen. But, while these are (obviously) not our pictures, I swear that they are not exaggerated for tourists in any way. Come to think of it, the least realistic thing is probably that the drivers are wearing helmets.