As I walked over a bridge in Da Nang, I noticed that every store had carved signs in the same color, making me think the town has its own zoning rules to preserve its charm. Stu collects historic ship models, and for his birthday I had bought him one that came with a stamp “Made in Vietnam.” I never expected to see it for sale in Vietnam, because I rarely find what is exported.
But to my amazement, on the main shopping street was a store exclusively selling ship models. Did Stu go gaga! We wandered through the store excitedly and found one that we had shipped home. I’m embarrassed to tell you with the shipping, it was $500 less than what I paid in the States. It was a “WOW” shopping moment.
As we continued on there were silk stores everywhere and many pearl stores. Sadly, our bus was leaving at noon and of course time passes too quickly when I’m having fun. As I finished up at a pearl store Stu decided to find the guide and say we’d be a few minutes late to our meeting place by the bridge. So off I went to meet him, only to find he wasn’t there. As people from our bus gathered, I asked if anyone saw him. “No, no, no.”
After 20 minutes and after the bus left, I felt fearful and stressed. Should I call the police? Did he get hurt? Did he get sick? Here I was feeling helpless and alone. I decided to stay put and hope he would appear. It was 20 minutes of angst, but there he finally was, angry as to where I was! Well, we decided that going forward we would make a rule never to separate. We’ll see how long that lasts . . . but at least I was relieved that he was okay and we each agreed not to be angry with the other.
As always, the best medicine was to go for lunch, have a drink and relax. I had hired a taxi driver to take us back to the ship at 3 p.m. so we had some time to ourselves and found a charming café on the main street that offered hamburgers and Vietnamese cuisine.
As we entered, an American couple was leaving and suggested we choose the Vietnamese menu featured on the table. Their enthusiasm gave us the courage to be adventuresome, and they were right. The friendly staff, one of whom spoke English, fell in love with my hat and asked to try it on. Their giggles made me laugh and by the time we finished the once-empty place was filled with patrons.
We had two hours to spare, so I got my chance to go to a custom tailor. In the afternoon, with the streets almost empty, I figured that the silk place I had opted not to visit earlier would be a good place to go. So back we went and we were the only people in the air-conditioned showroom. It meant Stu could take a break from the oppressive heat and relax while I shopped. I did order some things that are to be shipped home. I’ll let you know if it was worth the gamble of not trying on the clothes before I took them as I did in Hong Kong. The thing that sold me was their professional staff and great prices as compared to Hong Kong.
We slowly walked back to the bridge where I was to meet the taxi driver. I had given him $10 to make sure he showed up. So when we got to the meeting sight 15 minutes early, Stu asked, “What is the driver’s name and where is your receipt?" I had to admit I had neither, but I did have faith. Stu didn’t, and as the minutes ticked away I looked for his van and Stu looked for another driver. But sure enough, as the clock hit 3 p.m., there was my man walking over the bridge to meet me. My second big relief of the day!
But the story doesn’t end there. Fortunately, when Stu got “lost” another guide wrote the name of the port where our ship was docked. The driver was going to take me to the closer dock in Da Nang and we had to renegotiate the $15 fee. Truthfully, by that time I’d pay him anything just to get back. But he first asked for $75 and we told him another driver was charging $20, so with very little haggling he accepted the fee. Little did we know the ship was 45 minutes out of town. When we got to the terminal the guard wouldn’t let us take the car in and so we exhaustedly walked half a mile, between gigantic trucks and sky-high containers being readied for shipping. It was a harrowing experience. But we made it back and that’s what the adventure of travel is about – the expected and the unexpected.
On to our next port, Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City.
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