Cold War Burning

Another good day near the South China beaches of Cau Dai.

This is my third Sunday in Vietnam. The Indochine Hotel gave me good directions and times for Masses to the nearby Catholic Church. They called a taxi for me. I had a choice of a 5:30 or 9:00 a.m., then a noon and last Mass at 4:00 p.m. I decided to get a good start and hit the early Mass. I noticed something different today in Church, all the men were on the right side, with the fans and somewhat cool air, and all the ladies were on the left side of church swatting their paper hand-fans. Another change, the congregation sang, so it was not near as pleasant a tune to the ear, as I listened to down in Saigon and Nha Trang. The interior looks of the Churches I have seen here are the same as Catholic Churches back home, stations of the cross posted along the sides of the church, and an altar very basic to ours. What organization can you think of in the world that is so common wherever you travel? The below photo is the view from my hotel window looking east towards the South China Sea.

The Indochine Hotel provides a free shuttle downtown, and downtown Hoi An is made for tourist shoppers with many unique gifts and quite old structures to tour. The hotel also provides free pedal bikes, so I might try a ride over to the beaches tonight, once it cools down. On my trip downtown, I visited the Yaly shops, and found better stitching art prices than Dalat. Nguyen Duy Hieu Street is loaded with shops, and some really interesting souvenirs, but folks, my suitcase is already jam packed. I visited a number of sites, the Trieu Chau Assembly Hall, the Museum of History & Culture, the Phuc Kien Chinese Hall, and a Cantonese Assembly Hall. A few sights asked for an entrance fee, the Quang Thang and the Tan Ky Old House. This first photo is a building in downtown Hoi An, and looked really old, so I took a picture. The old building is today used for a restaurant. The second photo is one of the tourist sites, but I forget which one, oops.

Something else finally caught up with me today, a good case of traveler’s …, yeah you guessed it. I had two earlier bouts, but one Cipro pill did the trick along with my steady daily diet of Imodium. This third bout seems to be hanging in there, more determined, for lack of a better explanation, but by the grace of God, I made it back here to the hotel. I stopped at a restaurant on the way, and the ladies were very understanding when asking to use their toilet. I offered to pay to use the tiny and very unique toilet, but they just smiled. I’m playing a wait-and-see game right now. I only wanted to see the Cau Dai beaches tonight, hopefully, I can. The below photo is a picture outside my hotel, where I stayed for the remainder of the day.

Tomorrow, I head to the Furama Resort on China Beach in Danang. I visited Danang on a number of occasions during the war, and I remember where the MACV advisory buildings were located. I can bet all has changed, hopefully for the better. Back in the war, we went on scrounging missions to Danang, trading enemy captured items, such as weapons and such to U.S. Marines, and other Americans stationed there. These folks had strings to a supply chain we did not have down in little out-of-the-way Quang Ngai. Boy, the supply folks would trade for almost anything to get their hands on something once belonging to the enemy. Example. I traded a chi-com pistol for a brand new 5 K generator. We were always trading minor stuff for food and special ammunition the Vietnamese had a difficult time getting through their own supply channel.

I have an old Hays, Kansas, SJMA, classmate by the name of, Danny Baca, who was privileged to have spent a year with Uncle Sam and the U.S. Marine jarheads in and around Danang. Danny, I hope to get some good pictures for you.

Okay, I’ll check out for now. Wish me luck in my battle against the bug. Someone tell Nancy I will survive with this latest system bout.

Over and out.