At 8:20 this morning, we left Hue and headed south along Highway 1, enroute to the seaside city of Da Nang. We followed closely to the shore of the South China Sea, passing many of the always present rice fields and places the Vietnamese call "lagoons". We would call them marshes. They are areas of brackish water that extend between shore and the open ocean. There is a huge industry revolving around these lagoons. The Vietnamese use them to raise several types of seafood, in farm type arrangements. They raise shrimp, clams, oysters, and other fish. A lot of the shrimp that is raised is largely exported throughout the world. Vietnamese Shrimp are largely available in the US and are of good quality. Heading further south on the highway, we got to the point where the road through the Hai Van Pass deviates from the current route of Highway 1. Several tunnels have been constructed that are shorter and less severe than the road through the pass, that is very old. However, the road through the Pass is much more scenic for tourists. It is very winding and has some steep climbs. We stopped at the highest point on this road for a break. This point has many shops, bathroom facilities, and places to get snacks. After about a half hour stop we got back on the road to continue south into Da Nang. It is the shorter part of the road and is pretty much all downhill. As we approached the city, we could see the full panorama of what is known as the Horseshoe Bay, on which Da Nang is situated. We linked up again with Highway 1 and were soon inside the city limits and driving along the ocean again. We stopped in the beach area for pictures of the site where the US Marines first came ashore in 1965. Their landing was unopposed. We then stopped for Lunch at the Apsara Restaurant, in one of Da Nang's many beach neighborhoods. Our next stop was to view the well known Marble Mountain. Marble has been mined for this mountain for hundreds of years. The government has recently stopped the mining of marble there, for fear that the mountain will disappear. At the foot of the mountain, we visited a workshop where artisans and craftsmen fashion the raw marble into a stunning array of objects that are sold in Vietnam and exported all over the world. From there, it was on to our hotel for the next 3 nights, the Centara Sandy Beach Resort. We all have ocean front bungalows that are just yards from the beach. The beach for the China Beach R&R Center, that was so widely used by American Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen during the war is about a mile and a half north of the beach we are on. Da Nang is very much of a resort area now. Hotels are everywhere, including world wide Hotel chains. Dinner was at the Hotel.

View of the Hai Van Pass road from the highpoint.

An old French Colonial Guard Post and Bunker at the high point of the Pass.

View of the beach where the US Marines first came ashore in 1965.

Another view of the Marines first landing beach.

Picture at the workshop for carving marble at the foot of Marble Mountain.

View of Sandy Beach from the patio of my Beach Front Bungalow at our Hotel in Da Nang.

A picture I got this morning of a bullet hole that has been preserved at our Hotel in Hue. I described the major battle that took place there during the Tet Offensive of early 1968, in an earlier Post.