Although the beach is not empty of people, at 6 kilometers, it is long enough to lend a feeling of peace and solitude. Scarce are the hawkers and trickster found on so many tourist beaches, and surprisingly, I have to chase someone down to find the cold beers that are proper to this moment. The air is warm, the sun hot, but not to excess. It is altogether a soothing way to spend an afternoon of girl watching.
As I reflect on my time in Vietnam, I find, in general, things have gone very smoothly. I have experienced none of the ripoffs and misquoted prices that I had been warned about. Perhaps I am possessing some degree of travel skill, perhaps I am lucky. I have met a few lately that are neither. Just a few days back, it was thrust upon me to usher a small herd of lost tourist to their hotels. They had been abandoned riverside in the middle of Hue at the end of their day tour, and for having been picked up that morning by van, they knew not the route back. The first four were easy, I knew this part of town. The next two didnt even know the name of their hotel and that was a much greater challenge, but together we deduced the location. Though it took two hours and cost me a few bucks, I considered it my birthday present to the world that day.
Since then I have continued on, to the extraordinary and charming town of Hoi An, where centuries old tradition meet the modern world in a fascinating spread of artisans shops, out to the remote hillside temples of My Son (the most disappointing of all Unesco Sites) and finally by long day train through the rolling hills and rice paddies to this sprawling but quiet beach town. Arriving late at night, I walked from the train station to the center, marvelling at what felt like a warm summer breeze, seemingly out of place under the sky filled with winter stars.
As I reflect on my time in Vietnam, I find, in general, things have gone very smoothly. I have experienced none of the ripoffs and misquoted prices that I had been warned about. Perhaps I am possessing some degree of travel skill, perhaps I am lucky. I have met a few lately that are neither. Just a few days back, it was thrust upon me to usher a small herd of lost tourist to their hotels. They had been abandoned riverside in the middle of Hue at the end of their day tour, and for having been picked up that morning by van, they knew not the route back. The first four were easy, I knew this part of town. The next two didnt even know the name of their hotel and that was a much greater challenge, but together we deduced the location. Though it took two hours and cost me a few bucks, I considered it my birthday present to the world that day.
Since then I have continued on, to the extraordinary and charming town of Hoi An, where centuries old tradition meet the modern world in a fascinating spread of artisans shops, out to the remote hillside temples of My Son (the most disappointing of all Unesco Sites) and finally by long day train through the rolling hills and rice paddies to this sprawling but quiet beach town. Arriving late at night, I walked from the train station to the center, marvelling at what felt like a warm summer breeze, seemingly out of place under the sky filled with winter stars.
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