Day 9 - Danang, Vietnam

We left Hue this morning and drove down the coast to Danang en route to Hoi An. The drive itself is was very scenic (it's supposed to be one of the most scenic drives in Vietnam). We drove over three mountains, by rice fields, and by beaches.

My Uncle Garey (dad's brother) is a Vietnam veteran who was stationed in Danang from May 1967 to May 1968. He was part of the 620th TAC squadron. I located the radar stations he manned on top of Monkey Mountain (in Danang). Unfortunately, the public is not allowed to drive up the mountain, as the radar stations are now currently in use by the Vietnamese military.

From the top of the mountain, my uncle could see the Tet Offensive as it was occurring below. His squadron's base camp was at the bottom of the mountain. Close by his camp was the Navy deep water peer where all of the dead from that area were shipped back to the United States. He recalled the large flat bed trucks passing by his squadron's entrance carrying the dead to the peer by the hundreds daily. These are the grim memories of war that stick with you your whole life (I can't even begin to imagine).

We traveled to the east side of Monkey Mountain and visited a new enormous pagoda that faces the ocean, Pho Da Pagoda. It features a 76 meter high lady buddah statue that looks out into the ocean. You can climb it to get great views of Danang and the coastline (Kim and I opted to take in our views from the bottom).

Next we went to the other side of Danang to Marble Mountian, passing by China Beach on the way. Marble Mountain is actually five small mountains. The main mountain is open to the public for climbing, so we climbed it.

Halfway up the mountain is a cave that was used as a Vietnamese hospital during the Vietnam war.

Kim relaxed at the halfway point while I climbed the rest of the way to the highest point of the mountain (it was quite a workout, but worth it).

By the way, if you ever need something carved out of marble, the town at the bottom of the mountain is the place to get it! Lots of marble shops and stone masons that will carve just about anything out of marble.