Yes, the climate is changing everywhere and this is true in Vietnam. We traveled through a late season monsoon that gave us an appreciation for Vietnamese rain ponchos and warm pho! Flying north from Saigon, we landed at Da Nang airport - the same airport most US troops saw when they arrived in country to fight the war. This area is considered the best area to live in Vietnam because of the beaches, temperate climate and beautiful countryside. Da Nang is the 4th largest city, giving you access to anything you need.
We were told that the US base, now the international airport, was ground zero for agent orange drum storage, loaded to planes for spraying the jungles between 1962 and 1971. As a result, this area has been one of the most highly contaminated locations on earth with over 3 million people born with birth defects from the toxin. Between 2012 and 2016 the Vietnamese and US governments worked to clean up the airport area, about $43 million at that point.
 |
| in front of largest bridge in Vietnam, AND largest dragon bridge anywhere. On weekends, it shoots fire and lights up! |
 |
| mobile tourism office |
 |
| China Beach - a mess with the flooding from monsoon |
From Da Nang, you have access to wide beaches with swimmers and fishermen, the Marble Mountains and the associated galleries of marble statues, furniture and anything else you can create from marble, the UNESCO town of Hoi An known for their silk lanterns and artisans.
 |
| beach lined with highrises, and more coming |
 |
| fishing in the Ha River that empties into South China Sea at Da Nang |
 |
| pretty creative. Boat is woven bamboo and covered in tar or varnish for waterproofing |
.
 |
| temple lions ready to go home with you at one of the marble factories |
 |
| lots of workers, chisels, and DUST |
 |
| artisan working on modern sculpture |
 |
| this should give me plenty of good luck!! |
 |
| Turk mimics Mao. Who is who?! |
 |
| Vietnamese bowling balls...with no finger holes! |
 |
| typical propaganda (motivation?) billboard |
 |
| fishing as a team-pulling in the nets that have been trapping fish all day |
 |
| artist varnishing duck eggs for lacquerware art |
We visited some studios/factories where artists worked on time consuming lacquerware, silk thread 'paintings', and the sewing of clothes. The sites we visited employed disabled people, some (many?) who suffered the impact of agent orange through one or two generations of exposure.
 |
| artist embroidering picture using silk threads |
On the highway, we passed very tall and narrow homes. Property is taxed on the width of the home which leads to some very interesting and tall structures. We also found large cell towers erupting from the roof of several homes. Homeowners earn monthly fees for housing a cell tower from their home. As the areas become more populated, there isnt affordable land to build a tower, so the home owner and the national phone company both win...if you dont mind a cell tower going through your roof!
 |
| homes are TALL and narrow - taxed on width! |
 |
| long load pulled by motor scooter - of course! |
.
 |
| colorful crops - the Turk was very excited to see these farms |
 |
| fish farm |
Anyone who has been around me for a while knows I have a keen interest in all things cemetery. Not in a gruesome way, but in a fascination of how people honor and remember their dead. Asian cultures embrace their dead and address death in a more open way than we do in the states.
I found the graves dotting the farmlands to be fascinating. The family buries their dead on their own farmland and as they get the funds, they build a tombstone for the one person, or for the whole family to join when its their time.
.
 |
| gravesite in the middle of the farmland |
 |
| farmland is becoming a suburb, crowding out the graves |
The even more interesting custom that is followed in North Vietnam is when the deceased is finally buried. The dead person is first buried in a simple wooden coffin, simply covered in dirt with no marker for about 3 years. After that time, or longer if the family does not have the money, the bones are dug up and cleaned by bone cleaning specialists who place the cleaned bones into small ceramic coffins. The coffin is then buried in the final resting location, on the family's farmland.
We had an opportunity to watch this process take place while on our way to Halong Bay.
 |
| bodies waiting for when they are ready for bone cleaning and burying. flowers are artificial |
 |
| ceramic coffin awaiting the bone cleaning ceremony |
 |
| building the crypt for the ceramic coffin at a family's gravesite |
 |
| burial people placing ceramic coffin into the gravesite |
 |
| family member honoring her ancestors |
 |
| fancy gravesite |
 |
| government is requiring more grouping of graves in central locations these days |
