A cruise ship, a long distance bus, and an overnight train. All in one day. We do believe that’s a first for us, and as long as we’ve been traveling, firsts are harder and harder to come by. But here we are, ending our three-day cruise on Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, busing back to Hanoi, and then training it down to Da Nang.

On our final morning aboard the ship, we both participate in the 6:00 a.m. tai chi class on the sun deck, taught by the cruise host. It’s quite different from any tai chi we’ve done before, seemingly an adaptation especially for beginners. But at least it wakes us up.

At breakfast, we are approached by a lady from Pennsylvania. Well, she’s from Iran originally, but is now living in Pennsylvania, where she teaches economics. She comes up to us and says, “You look so healthy and full of life.” It’s the second time on this cruise that someone has struck up a conversation with us because they thought we looked intriguing. We hope that we don’t attract the attention of thieves in a similar fashion. We have a nice chat with her, which unfortunately (but inevitably) strays at last into the territory of the current government crisis in the U.S.

After breakfast, we settle our bill, which consists of two cans of water that were mistakenly served to us at our first meal when we just requested regular water. Oh well. The final activity of the cruise is a visit to a beach, attached to one of the many karsts. But it’s a highly popular beach, which means highly crowded, which is not our thing. So we opt to stay aboard and just enjoy the view of the karsts, the water, and the boats of every size and flavor.

At about noon, the ship docks, and we load off back into the hotel lobby to await our bus back to Hanoi. We have the same driver as before, and he seems to be a bit drowsy, which concerns all of us. But along the way, he makes a pit stop and gets some coffee, which is a relief to see.

The rest stop we take a break in is full of snacks and souvenirs, as you might expect. But one thing we didn’t expect was that there are several ladies crocheting artwork, which they sell framed.

When we arrive in Hanoi, our driver, aware that we want to be deposited as close to the train station as possible, drops us directly in front of it — even though our cruise host had said that he’d be unable to do so. In appreciation, we give him a generous tip. Hopefully he’ll be able to buy plenty of coffee now to get through the day.

We have a few hours to wait at the station, which is not air conditioned. There are some large fans in the waiting area, but not all of them are on. We turn one on, but after a while an attendant comes and turns it off. Guess they really want us to suffer so we’ll enjoy and appreciate the air conditioned train even more.

Dennis walks to a supermarket to search for dinner, and comes back with salads, tofu, fruit and bread. On the way he gets one more look at Train Street, which we’d already visited a couple of times. The shops and cafes are lined up right next to either side of the track, and the tourists treat the tracks like a street, milling around on it at will — until a train comes, and they move the hell out of the way and let it barrel through..

When our own turn comes to be on the inside looking out, it’s past twilight, and the colored lights on Train Street are in full fairy mode, so we get a bit of a glimpse of them from the window of our train when it roars through. But it’s a very fleeting glimpse, as our train seems to fancy itself a bullet train, and we’re still astounded by how fast it screeches through Train Street with all the shops and people practically sharing electrons with it.

We have a berth for four, with the other occupants being a Vietnamese couple. Refreshments have been left for us, including bananas, potato chips, some kind of pastry, and bottles of water. A balanced meal, no? The AC has been cranked up high enough to almost preserve pork, but with the blankets provided by the railway, and our own wraps, we manage to stay comfy and have a reasonable night’s sleep.

And at least we have it better than the train’s crew, who apparently don’t even have their own quarters — or at least not all of them. Some of them bed down in the hallway, in jack-knife chairs. Except for one woman, who simply plops down in the floor, sans pillow or blanket, outside our door. Literally right outside — Dennis has to step over her during one of his obligatory nocturnal forays to the WC.

In the morning, we make the serendipitous discovery that there is water dispenser that serves hot water. It’s not unusual for these trains to provide cold water, but hot water? Heaven be praised. That means we can make our morning tea, without which no day has a right to proceed. And Kimberly can make her oatmeal, the standard morning fare of royalty. Not anticipating such a bonanza, we had pre-brewed tea in our themoses (thermi?) which had grown cool and really concentrated, but hey, it’s better than nothing. Upon discovering the train’s fountain of bliss, Dennis tries dumping the old tea into a sink, and inadvertently dumps all the tea grounds into it as well. So he rushes off to grab some paper towels or whatever he can find to clean up the mess; but by the time he returns, it’s already been taken care of. Guess the crew operates at peak efficiency even on less than optimal sleeping conditions.

Our train, about an hour behind schedule now, starts approaching Da Nang in mid-afternoon. And keeps approaching. And keeps approaching. And keeps. Even though it’s within view, when we round certain curves, it never seems to get much closer as we putter along. But even though we’re eager to arrive, we’re not complaining, because we have the consolation prize of mountains, forests and beaches in our view. And as we finally, finally enter the outskirts of the city, we pass the most captivating sight of a temple accompanied by a tall statue of a lady Buddha. Yes, female.

This distaff devotee, standing 220 feet tall, was constructed in 2004, from a single block of marble. Wow! We can’t imagine the truck transporting it or the crane that hoisted it into place. The fishermen come and pray to her to protect them from inclement weather; and reportedly they’ve had decent success, with no major storms since she took up her post. Incidentally, the statue has 17 stories inside, and there are times when you can actually climb up inside it, a la Statue Of Liberty in the Good Ole Days. And it’s situated next to Monkey Mountain, which, as the name implies, has real live monkeys. We’re suckers for monkeys, and the Buddha statue itself sounds intriguing, so we just might have to pay them both a visit.

After the train deposits us at last at the Da Nang station, we catch a number eleven bus out front, which will take us within a block or so of our Airbnb. This is a compact bus, and we are the only passengers aboard, so it’s practically a limo. Except that we have to pay extra for our large backpacks — they’re over 10 KG each, so they essentially count as passengers. As elsewhere in Vietnam, the fares and fees are paid to an attendant in the back of the bus; except that this one has a spiffy uniform, unlike others we’ve seen who just sport civilian clothes. In the true Southeast Asian mode, there is an area near the door where passengers and staff can deposit their footwear.

Our home for the next few days is a studio apartment on the fifth floor, with AC, a fridge, a microwave, an electric kettle, a hot plate, and an assortment of dishes and utensils. There’s also a large jug of drinking water, which can be exchanged downstairs when it’s empty. They only drawback of the place is that it overlooks a rather large church, which makes us apprehensive. As a rule we try to avoid staying near houses of worship of any kind, because they tend to be quite inconsiderate with their noise — bells, chimes, chants, calls to prayer, etc. — showing no consideration for the peace and quiet of the neighborhood; and “neighborhood” can cover an extensive territory, given the heavy amplification these days. (Dennis has even penned a little poem on this topic.) On this occasion, our worst fears are not realized: the bells are not terribly loud, and toll only for a few minutes at 6:00 in the evening, and on Sunday morning.

This particular church, by the way, is a suitably significant one. Officially it’s known as Da Nang Cathedral, though it also has the nicknames Rooster Cathedral (because of its weathervane) and Pink Cathedral (because of its pink facade). Constructed in a colonial architectural style under French Colonial rule in 1923-1924, it’s the only Catholic church in Da Nang.

But as picturesque as the cathedral itself is, what we find even more fascinating (and frankly downright odd) is something on its grounds: a kitschy replica of the Lourdes Grotto in France, for the benefit of those who can’t travel that far. It’s essentially a faux mini-mountain with grotto, constructed of what looks like papier mache, though sturdier, right up against our building. On top of it is a cross and a little lower down is a figure of the Virgin Mary. It features a little stage in the grotto, and on either side of it is… um, a giraffe. Shrug.

Out our window we can see the top of the mountain and the cross, close enough to touch. If we wanted to take the risk of injury and arrest, we could climb out the window onto the mountain. And the mountain is indeed climbable, because we’ve seen a maintenance worker out there fixing lights. So we make certain to keep our windows secured when we’re out.

While the church and grotto are the only sights of note visible from our window, when we step out onto the tiny balcony we can see part of downtown. Thus, we have an excellent vantage point in the evening for the fireworks that detonate in Da Nang on certain nights. Of course, fireworks are also inconsiderate and obnoxious, especially if you’re at close range. But we’re a comfortable distance away — just the perfect distance to enjoy the coruscations of color without the assault on our eardrums and nerves.

So between the pealing of bells on one side, and the pyrotechnic panoply on the other, we have quite the regal welcome back to Da Nang.

Events occurred 7/10-12/2025