Sand Castles 39
Ponte Vedra Recorder · October 29, 2015
Lifestyle
A new chapter
begins in this
old house
Tera Williams
Cruise
Continued from 36
My recommendation would be to stay in Hanoi a couple of
nights and then opt for the 4 night add-on before the cruise
starts. This is a once in a lifetime trip and needs to be dealt with
accordingly. Start off with 2 nights in Hanoi. This gives you a day
to catch your breath after a very long international flight and just
relax. The next day would be a city tour after breakfast. The tour
might include a pedicab ride around the old quarter, a water
puppet show, HoChiMingh’sHouse (built on stilts), the “One
Pillar Pagoda” an historic Buddhist temple, the Military History
Museum, and the Temple of Literature, built for Confucius.
A stop for most Americans is the Hoa Lo prison (commonly
referred to as, Hanoi Hilton) gatehouse. The “gatehouse” and
small museum is all that is left of the prison where Senator John
McCain was held for almost 6 years. The next day, a trip to
Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The
waters are an emerald color and the islands that dot the bay are
limestone topped with rainforests. This is a great place for rock
climbers, scuba divers and junk (the Chinese wooden sailing
boats) tours. A full day and night should be reserved here.
The next stop is Hue. Hue is another UNESCO World Heritage
Site. It is known for its monuments and the tombs of several
emperors. One of the most popular sites is Thien Mu Pagoda
(Heavenly Lady). It is the tallest religious building in Vietnam
and is 7 octagonal stories. The next day you will be travelling to
Hoi An, a small city on the South China Sea. HoiAn has pristine
white sandy beaches. Originally it was an important trading
center during the 16th and 17th centuries between Chinese,
Japanese, Dutch and Indians. Today, there are numerous art and
craft shops and tailors who produce made-to-measure clothes in
24 hours at a fraction of western prices. There are also several
internet cafes, bars and restaurants along the waterfront.
Danang is about 25 minutes away and also has beautiful
beaches, the most famous, immortalized during the Vietnam War
for American servicemen on R&R, is “China Beach”. It will soon
be home to several 5 star resorts, but for now, the beach is still a
quiet place ideal for an afternoon swim or picnic.
After Danang, your next stop will be HoChiMinh City (Saigon,
as we knew it)– located on the Saigon River. It is considered the
most important city in Vietnam. It has wide boulevards with a
lot of historic French colonial buildings. Some of the structures
in the city, seen on any city tour are: the Reunification Palace,
City Post Office, and Notre Dame Cathedral. The tour usually
ends with a rickshaw ride to the large Chinese market. Not to be
missed are the famous CuChi tunnels. These tunnels were used
by the Vietcong as hiding areas during the Vietnam War and they
served as communication and supply routes, make shift hospitals, food and weapon caches as well as living quarters. After the
war, a few tunnels were left intact and are now a tourist attraction that visitors can view and see first-hand a part of history.
HoChiMinh city is the embarkation point for all river cruises
on the Mekong Delta. The boats on the Mekong are quite a bit
smaller than the ones on the Danube and Rhine, but they have
all the requirements of a river boat. The accommodations can
be very “comfortable” to extremely luxurious. It all depends on
your pocketbook. On our boat we even had a European chef
that gave us a variety of fresh Asian and Continental cuisine. The
scenery along the Mekong Delta, is vibrant. You will see a mix
of boats – work boats, hauling “goods” down the river, fishing
boats, and others docked (or tied up) and used as living accommodations.
All along the river are rice fields and farms with either oxen
or women plowing and working the fields. Every day your river
boat heads up river and pulls onto a sandbank after breakfast for
excursions inland. These excursions might be to see a pagoda, a
school, a snake farm or one of the many floating markets.
On the 5th day of your cruise, there is a border crossing (on
the river), which takes you into Cambodia. Members of the Cambodian military actually board the boat and check all passports.
It is all very no-nonsense and is not done quickly.
Our stop for the afternoon is Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh is the
capital and largest city in Cambodia. It is the wealthiest and most
populous city in Cambodia. It is probably best known for the
fighting that went on in 1975 between the South Vietnamese that
came across the country to escape the Viet Cong and the ruling
government, Khmer Rouge. It was a short period of only 4 years
but during that time over 1 million citizens were killed from
starvation, fighting, and labor camps.
Now there is a very important museum, Tuol Sleng Genocide
Museum at the “killing fields”. It portrays the events, much like
the Holocaust Museums that are dotted around the world. This
is a full and solemn afternoon. However, if you are not worn
out, and wish to lighten the day, there is an exceptional market
to visit. It is in the shape of a dome and was built in 1937 by the
colonial French. It is still going strong with stalls showcasing a
variety of products.
There are also newer “western-style” shopping centers but
these are not as much fun as the markets. Among the other sites
to see is the Silver Pagoda, the Royal Palace, the Independence
Monument and the National Museum.
Our final stop and debarkation city is Siem Reap. Just like on a
large cruise ship, all of your luggage is taken off the boat by the
crew and deposited in your hotel room. You are left to explore
the area for the rest of the day on your own. There are plenty of
stalls filled with arts and crafts and sm