We flew into Da Nang Airport, which for anyone our age is redolent of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, Da Nang having been both the site of a massive US Air Force base and the place (at Red Beach) where on March 8th 1965 the first American combat troops waded ashore. (www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-marines-land-at-da-nang).
It's a long stretch of unpolluted golden sand:
All along it are bars and restaurants that have clearly seen 'better' days (and not-such-good-days, depending on how you look at it) and now look a little tired compared to the glitzy new developments springing up all around.
Plenty of evidence too of the ubiquitous fishing industry, though in the 1960s the American servicemen would have been looking at wooden corracles, not the fibreglass of today.
You only have to come here to see Modern Vietnam is very much a 'work-in-progress' ....and to hope that it doesn't all go horribly wrong as these people have suffered enough in modern times.
The walk back to the hotel, along the main road, was very interesting.
Steve had noticed a little park on the opposite side of the road to the sea, with interestingly -shaped trees and hedges.
As we got nearer we saw what looked like a large church on a very big site behind a gate and wall, and all along the wall were plaques with names on.
We haven't been able to discover exactly what the plaques are: it's been suggested to us they are either the names of the church's congregation or perhaps the names of the dead of the parish, which we think is more likely. Strange that the hotel staff we asked about it didn't know .....
Whatever, the garden houses 3 Catholic shrines, a mass of fresh flowers and numerous worshippers, both old and young, male and female, openly praying. Very interesting in a Communist country, albeit one that was French for 150 years.
It proved to be a fascinating walk as we passed peasants working in their allotments ......
........a happy group of coolie-hatted women who smiled and waved at us as they planted trees and shrubs alongside a new development ....
...a hospital ...
The city's origins date back to the ancient Champa Kingdom, established in 192 AD. By the early 14th century the area was settled as a small village in the wilds of central Vietnam but it wasn’t until the 17th century that the area was settled as a port, which traded with various European and Asian merchants. This small, backwater port was annexed by the French Empire under Napoleon III in 1858.
In 1954 the French forces withdrew from all of South East Asia and an independent Vietnam was proclaimed. With the division of Vietnam into the North and South, it became part of the Republic of South Vietnam.
Not least because of its massive American base, Da Nang was the scene of fierce fighting throughout the Vietnam War, notably during the 1968 Tet Offensive. From a population of 50,000 in the 1950s, by the height of the American occupation it had become so important that the journalist John Pilger memorably described the sprawling base as 'a small American city' with a population that peaked at one million. Americans aside, thousands of refugees flocked to Da Nang. Most were villagers cleared from 'free-fire zones' but also people in search of work: labourers, cooks, laundry staff, pimps, prostitutes and drug-pushers all inhabiting a shanty town called Dogpatch on the base perimeter.
When the North Vietnamese army finally arrived to 'liberate' the city on March 29th 1975 it had been all but deserted by South Vietnamese forces, panic-stricken soldiers battling for space on any plane or boat leaving the city, having abandoned planes and tanks to the enemy.
Just a short stroll along the beach from our resort is China Beach. Thousands of American servicemen were helicoptered here for what the guide books today euphemistically call 'R and R'. Today it's a beautiful and relatively unspoilt place. It's really difficult to get your head around what it must have been like then.
When the North Vietnamese army finally arrived to 'liberate' the city on March 29th 1975 it had been all but deserted by South Vietnamese forces, panic-stricken soldiers battling for space on any plane or boat leaving the city, having abandoned planes and tanks to the enemy.
Just a short stroll along the beach from our resort is China Beach. Thousands of American servicemen were helicoptered here for what the guide books today euphemistically call 'R and R'. Today it's a beautiful and relatively unspoilt place. It's really difficult to get your head around what it must have been like then.
It's a long stretch of unpolluted golden sand:
All along it are bars and restaurants that have clearly seen 'better' days (and not-such-good-days, depending on how you look at it) and now look a little tired compared to the glitzy new developments springing up all around.
Plenty of evidence too of the ubiquitous fishing industry, though in the 1960s the American servicemen would have been looking at wooden corracles, not the fibreglass of today.
You only have to come here to see Modern Vietnam is very much a 'work-in-progress' ....and to hope that it doesn't all go horribly wrong as these people have suffered enough in modern times.
The walk back to the hotel, along the main road, was very interesting.
Steve had noticed a little park on the opposite side of the road to the sea, with interestingly -shaped trees and hedges.
As we got nearer we saw what looked like a large church on a very big site behind a gate and wall, and all along the wall were plaques with names on.
We haven't been able to discover exactly what the plaques are: it's been suggested to us they are either the names of the church's congregation or perhaps the names of the dead of the parish, which we think is more likely. Strange that the hotel staff we asked about it didn't know .....
Whatever, the garden houses 3 Catholic shrines, a mass of fresh flowers and numerous worshippers, both old and young, male and female, openly praying. Very interesting in a Communist country, albeit one that was French for 150 years.
It proved to be a fascinating walk as we passed peasants working in their allotments ......
........a happy group of coolie-hatted women who smiled and waved at us as they planted trees and shrubs alongside a new development ....
...a hospital ...
.....and numerous new hotels and homes.
We had been told that houses were built long and thin because of the soaring land prices once individuals were allowed by the government a few years ago to own and build houses. Many people had taken on loans they can no longer finance as land prices have now tumbled. Negative Equity, Vietnamese style!!
This scene just opposite the entrance to the hotel would give the impression of a bustling street,
BUT a view of the road as a whole tells a very different story:
Just a little further along, another amazing juxtaposition.
These American hangars, presumably used for helicopters, have been deliberately preserved as a permanent reminder of the war:
and almost opposite them is a Chinese-built and financed casino catering only for non-Vietnamese.
We had been told that houses were built long and thin because of the soaring land prices once individuals were allowed by the government a few years ago to own and build houses. Many people had taken on loans they can no longer finance as land prices have now tumbled. Negative Equity, Vietnamese style!!
This scene just opposite the entrance to the hotel would give the impression of a bustling street,
BUT a view of the road as a whole tells a very different story:
Just a little further along, another amazing juxtaposition.
These American hangars, presumably used for helicopters, have been deliberately preserved as a permanent reminder of the war:
and almost opposite them is a Chinese-built and financed casino catering only for non-Vietnamese.
Looks interesting. A trip in one of those boats when you are feeling better?
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