Our journey, which took us South via bus from Hue, gave us a chance to see more of the Vietnamese countryside. On the left side of the bus one could occasionally see the sea (including some nice sandy beaches) and on the other side - towards Laos - were mountains, some of which we also had to cross.
We saw quite a lot of agriculture (mainly rice fields). Along the main street in all the villages were many rather basic shops and street vendors. Including lots of little street kitchens with a few mini plastic chairs around them for any guests that might show up:
No matter how poor a village is there seems to be an abundance of flags everywhere, mainly alongside the road and on official buildings. No surprise, red is the colour of choice, most often with the yellow star on it (i.e. the Vietnamese flag), but many also carried the Communist hammer & sickle symbol on it.
Plus there is a huge number of government propaganda posters everywhere, which seem so, well, old-fashioned to the Western eye these days. But at least they are pretty colourful. Many have somehow managed to incorporate the image of "Uncle Ho (Chi Minh)" on them.
Apart from what's going on on the side of the road, one is well advised to also spend attention on what's happening on the road. That way one is less surprised if the bus brakes abruptly or if it all of a sudden veers to the side to overtake some of the rather old-fashioned traffic objects.
As mentioned before on this blog, the street-traffic in Vietnam is a source of constant astonishment to us. And so we have started our own little games to shorten the journeys...
My favourite game is who can spot motorbikes that carry more than 3 people. We have already seen about 10 bikes with 4 people on it, but we are still looking for one with 5 on it. Though, I feel, it's just a question of time...
Lucy has invented a game which she calls "sweet & sour": If she sees that someone looks at her, she waves back. Does that person then smile, he/she is considered a "sweet" person; if he/she doesn't, it's a "sour" person. One is best advised to play this game while in a moving vehicle; it is not such a good idea to play it while stationary, especially if the people in question are street vendors (as they most likely interpret a wave at them as a serious purchase intention.)
Plus I am always on the look-out to see if there are any remains from the Vietnam War to spot - so far this tended to be mainly old bunkers (like the one below on the Hai Van pass, just North of Danang):
It was here in Danang where the first US Marines landed on China Beach in 1965. Today there is another battle taking place there: All the major US hotel chains are fighting it out who gets the best plot of land to build their hotel resort there on this nice beach. (If the computer drawings on the building fences are anything to go by, then this area will look quite spectacular in a few years time.)
In Danang, which is the 4th largest city in Vietnam, we stopped for lunch and visited a museum about the Cham culture. Another hour after Danang and we arrived at our hotel in Hoi An.
And the good news on another incredible hot and humid day - it had a big pool:
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