I am the kind of traveller who doesn’t really get ready until the last minute. But this time, I’m off for several weeks and I’m worried I will forget something.
I don’t usually wear sunglasses, but everyone’s been telling me that I wanted to protect my eyes against dusty winds.
Off to Rajasthan in a week, here is my brand new pair of sunglasses, a large cotton scarf to protect head and arms from the sun (I loathe hats) and of course, my beloved iPhone, with a guide book and a couple of murder mysteries, to read on the road.

China Beach (Danang) was merely the backdrop for a hit TV show. Nowadays, hawkers sell seashells and stalls grill up local delicacies for a new invading force apart from the pass: foreign tourists. This is healthy tidings for China Beach. After decades of confusing infamy, it’s finally gaining acclaim for what it has always been, even when nobody noticed: A beach, one of the finest in Asia. Restitution for the white sands blanketing a breathtaking bay outside Danang, in central Vietnam, started a few years ago, when renegade surfers held a competition in the choppy waves of China Beach. In a few months, the world’s media will return in force for an even larger international surfing extravaganza.

When they do, all will be in for a pleasant shock. Instead of the beach dives or the overpriced clunky concrete villas common to Vietnam, visitors will be able to lounge by a large pool, downing tasty Hue Beers (made in an odd, export-only venture with some Texans) or crisp martinis at the Furama Resort Danang. The $35 million seaside resort opened this summer, giving Vietnam much more than a significant investment in a skyrocketing tourism industry that attracted 1.6 million visitors last year. It’s the country’s first authentic luxury resort. More poignantly, the Furama’s opening signals a new stage in the ongoing healing process for a war-torn nation that has remained rather xenophobic after a century of foreign rule, and nearly as much colonial rebellion.

That troublesome history nearly repeated itself and almost doomed the resort. The American firm that proposed the resort in 1993 pulled out after infighting destroyed its partnership with the area government. An adjoining project went bankrupt. And Australian supervisors practically came to blows with local workers used to the lackadaisical communist construction work ethic. “But it’s done and it’s a big success,” says Paul Stoll, general manager of the resort, which is just the first beachhead in a China Beach development plan that will eventually include several other hotels and a golf course. “Everybody is looking at this area. China Beach is now on the map.”

Detractors will gleefully pull out maps to note that this isn’t really China Beach at all. And they are right. China Beach, the one that became famed to wounded and weary American soldiers, is actually down the sand from the resort site. It’s easy enough to spot.

Still, the very fact that an imperialistic name like China Beach was tagged on the project says a great deal about local sentiment. “For years, we didn’t use the name, but now we see the benefit for marketing,” says Luong Minh Sam, Director of the Tourism Department of Danang. He describes plans for adding retirement villas for rich Japanese and Taiwanese, plus hotels and golf courses, and a series of canals to take tourists to nearby villages. “We are calling the whole beach as China Beach, since tourists know this name.”

War tourism is big business for Danang, he acknowledges. “This area is where so many strategic battles were fought, and not just for the Americans, but also the French before them. But American tourism is really our aim. We really want to promote to the US market. In the past, it was difficult, but now, we have a big plus in China Beach.” The area is rich in military memories. China Beach’s hospital is now a seafood processing plant, but the former guesthouses have fittingly become an army hotel. Duffers will soon be driving golf carts around the old marine aircraft base, and a Novotel is set to rise upon the site of the first US consulate.

“China Beach does have that old vibe,” says Fred Burke, an American lawyer in Ho Chi Minh, who also chairs its American Chamber of Commerce. Launched in 1993 with eight members, it now has 280; likewise a sister chamber in Hanoi. In April, the two groups met together for the first time at the China Beach resort. “It was a big blowout,” Burke says. “Talk about memories.”

Of course, some are better than others. Earlier this summer, a fracas erupted amongst some US soldiers involved in the search for MIA remains. “It was quite a scene,” says one ex-pat resident of the area, adding, with perhaps a touch of nostalgia: “just like in the old days.”

Supported by Vietnam Holiday Now
Tel: 84-43-6339577
Fax: 84-43-6339335
Email: info@vietnamholidaynow.com
Site: http://vietnamholidaynow.com/english/vietnam/tour/Vietnam-beach-vacation/239.html

As early as setting foot on Banaue, I got bus tickets for departure to Manila in three days.  This was the earliest advice Alex Ordillo had given me. I did not know the man, yet in due time he became our (me and my companions) guide for the visit. A little pushy to say the least to get our business, but he was amiable enough to accommodate our meager travel budget. Instead of getting one jeepney for our sidetrip, he was smart enough to recommend us to use two tricycles (my sole body needed my own trike) thus a better deal for us.

During the trip, he asked that we go to his ancestral area at Hiwang. And lo and behold, it was worth the visit afterall. I would have wanted to say what it was, but it is better that readers get to witness it for themselves. Just brace yourselves.

Alex seems to be popular among the locals afterall he was once an elected town councilor, and now is the Parent Teacher Association Prexy, and Chairman of the Tricycle Drivers Cooperative. This guy would not hesitate to sing a native ditty as he gave out details of the life and culture of the Ifugaonons.  And during the three day stay when we always had rains every afteronoon to spoil our visit, Alex would even give us a little lecture about the weather. Afterall, he was once a weatherman trainee at PAGASA.

For those going to Banaue, and interested in Alex’s service, call 0906317-3627/0916994-2390/0919229-6161.