旅遊越南 - 中部峴港市和會安市 / Travel to Vietnam - Da Nang and Hoi An

On Jan 23, 2011, K and I took the late flight out of Hanoi and arrived Da Nang late in the evening. You will recall that Da Nang was a major American airport base during the Vietnam War.

According to Wikipedia:

".... During the Vietnam War, the city was home to a major air base that wasused by both the South Vietnamese and United States air forces. The base was considered one of the world's busiest airports during the war, reaching an average of 2,595 air traffic operations daily, more than any airport in the world at that time. The final U.S. ground combat operations in Vietnam ceased on 13 August 1972, when a residual force of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade stood down in Đà Nang. B Battery 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment fired the final U.S. artillery round and the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment finished their final patrols. This residual force was known as Operation Gimlet ...."

Wow!! What a difference btwn Hanoi which is the crowded but down-to-earth capital city in the north and this crowded but very westernized city in the south !!! There are casinos with bright flashing lights and expensive looking spa and resort hotels along the way!!! I guess open economy has that kind of "side effects" even on a communist country !!! Anyway, we didn't stay at Da Nang but took a bus to our hotel in Hoi An, an old historical coastal town that is 27 km away.

Unlike Da Nang, this old town called Hoi An is like China back in the 1920 to 1930's. The presence of Chinese influence, language and symbols are everywhere. There are so many historical old buildings that I thought I was going back to pre-world war II Hong Kong. We will be staying in Hoi An for three days, two nights before moving on.

According to Wikipedia:

“.... Hoi An is a city on the coast of the South China Sea in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is located in Quang Nam province and is home to approximately 120,000 inhabitants. The city possessed the largest harbour in Southeast Asia in the 1st century and was known as Lâm Ap Pho (Champa City). Between the seventh and 10th centuries, the Cham (people of Champa) controlled the strategic spice trae and with this came tremendous wealth. The boats still used today in Hoi An probably have the same hull shape as those used by the Champas for ocean voyages. The former harbour town of the Cham at the estuary of the Thu Bon River was an important Vietnamese trading centre in the 16th and 17th centuries, where Chinese from various provinces as well as Japanese, Dutch and Indians settled. During this period of the China trade, the town was called Hai Pho (Seaside Town) in Vietnamese. ...”

Haricot
Hoi An, Southern Vietnam
2011-01-25 15h07 local time

Updated 2011-02-14:
* Wikipedia: 峴港（Đà Nẵng／沱灢），位於越南中部，古都順化的附近，區屬中南沿海地區。此地瀕臨南中國海、下轄五區兩島；距離北方的河內764公里、南方的胡志明市964公里。
* Wikipedia: 會安（Hội An）是位於越南中部濱臨南中國海的一座小市鎮。它隸屬於廣南省，居民有88,000 多人。這座城市在公元第1世紀時即擁有東南亞最大的港口，以Lâm Ấp Phố（占城）知名。