Above is the Tam Tòa church ruins, in Dong Hoi, as a Vietnam War relic. The church, built in the 17th century, was destroyed by American bombing in 1965. It is also a reminder of the conflict here between church and state because there have been ongoing disputes between the government wanting to keep the ruins as a war symbol and the Catholic church wanting to restore the church for religious purposes. For more information click here
We're looking forward to exploring the caves in Phong Nha in a few days. We have enjoyed the beauty of the canals, gardens and coast in peaceful Dong Hoi.
Pine tree topiary reminds me of Vermont.
Was it the full moon?
In our minds we thought we were going to spend an afternoon, or at least a couple of hours, enjoying large sand dunes and a beach. When we arrived, someone was waiting for us with a four-wheeler. He drove us to the top of a large dune and handed us a sled. Because of the language barrier, he communicated with us with a quick physical demo on how to use the sled and then watched me take off directly into a faceplant. After spitting many times to avoid sand entering my throat, I discovered that I could not get the sled going again so walked to the bottom of the dune and waited, while continuing to spit and brush myself off, for our friend with the four-wheeler, to drive us back to the taxi. Although we hadn't asked the taxi to wait, he somehow knew we were not going to stay. On the way back to our hotel Paul pointed out that I still had sand in my nostril.
Later, that same day, we decided to return to a restaurant discovered on our first night in Dong Hoi. We had nice memories of a kind English-speaking waiter who helped us choose fish or vegetarian within the authentic menu listing many dishes containing animal parts such as ears, stomachs, and you can imagine. Because I had ordered mackerel our first time at the restaurant, I decided to order carp. Although I had enjoyed carp in the fish loaf form of gefilte fish, I had never eaten simply grilled carp. The waiter seemed surprised because I had informed him that I did not want meat. I tried to explain that I do eat fish. He brought me a large plate with everything cut into bite-sized pieces in lots of sauce. The texture, I thought during the first bite, seems more dense than fish and has no resemblance to gefilte fish. I was hungry and open to the new experience of carp. Wait, I don't think this is fish, were my second bite thoughts. I remembered the various animal parts on the menu and spit into a napkin.
"Taste this," I said to Paul in a state of irrational emotion. He was understandably reluctant. The waiter was deeply apologetic for the Google Translate error on the menu. Carp was pork. I don't think it was pork ears. After I was able to compose myself, I admitted to learning an important lesson about traveling. The waiter assured me that the replacement grilled eggplant with peanut sauce had no meat.
The next night we went to a vegan restaurant in Phong Nha beginning our journey into the land of giant caves.
After our magnificent Phong Nha Cave journey (5 miles long, 300 feet high, 14 grottoes), Paul and I rejected several dinner restaurants taking us on a longer walk because we were meant to stumble upon a restaurant named Bella that, among other dishes served in a relaxed atmosphere by the riverfront, there was carp listed numerous times. To clarify that it wasn't pork, the menu reassured me with a translation that said fish carp braised with tomatoes, or braised with pickled vegetables, or served in a clay pot, or grilled with fresh turmeric. The grilled was delish though I had to watch carefully for little bones.
Tuesday we biked into the gentle countryside. Small villages, farms, and freely roaming farm animals abound. Minimally attended cow families walk through the streets here.
Wednesday we went for an exquisite and challenging hike that involved hanging onto a rope while we climbed along numerous gradations of waterfall. Then, as evening approached I was reminded of the forlorn-looking coughing child sitting in back of us on the six-hour train ride from Hoi An to Dong Hoi one week prior, or the ideal amount of incubation time for COVID-19. I can now stop boasting about being COVID-free. Paul got Covid a second time. After close to a week, Paul and I are perhaps ready for gentle outdoor activities in our new location.
From rock climbing to river gazing.
