My wife and I will also be arriving the 11th early afternoon and would love to join your group for dinner that evening. Please leave a note at the hotel front desk with the time you'd like to meet for dinner. Suggest we meet in hotel lobby. We do not have any ideas for restaurant but am sure hotel concierge will be helpful. George & Jeanne Rasmussen
Enjoy China Beach. Contrary to the TV show’s description, China Beach was always an R&R center. Very warm water, and a good place to ‘burn’ steaks and play volleyball. I still have pictures taken there with friends that I still know. We used a coffin as a ‘cooler’ for our beer and food. That always drew a crowd when we stopped to get ice. (;-). Perhaps they will also show you ‘monkey mountain’. I’ve logged several hundred landings at Danang, and on our ‘off’ days, China Beach was our distination of choice. Enjoy the trip. You will not need warm clothes for the South.
Sealord,
China Beach did not have the same memories for my husband. It looked so cifferent from what he remembered (he did mention Monkey Mountain) that he could not connect. I am still not sure if that was good or bad. Fortunately, our TD was very sensitive to guests who had been in Vietnam under less pleasant circumstances. While we liked the trip very much, it did not elicit the catharsis I had hoped for.
I think the ‘beach’ covers a pretty large area. So memories could certainly differ. From 1970 thru 1973 (the closing ceremonies) the area of the beach closest to the Danang air base was an R&R center. That does not mean that we did not take a few rockets occassionaly. The beach was patroled by Hueys (helicopter gun ships), but we were told that they were there looking for sharks not VC. We always had a good time there, but the water was almost too warm to swim. Sorry about the lack of catharsis. I don’t need a catharsis, so I will not be doing this trip. The cease fire was January 28, 1973. I was last in Saigon in late 1974 ... a “Deer Hunter” experience ... later my squadron helped with the evacuation. I actually ran a refugee camp in Guam, and one of my guests was Nguyen Cao Ky. Google it if it does not ring a bell.
If the group isn't already getting too large, we'd love to join you as well. If there's room, please leave a note at the desk for us. We look forward to meeting you all and enjoying a spectacular trip through Southeast Asia!
My husband and I will be doing this trip in March, 2019. When you return, would you please post some info about the trip, such as your favorites and things you did that you think others might like. Reviews of the hotels and sights, etc. I have not been able to find any of that on here. Thank you. Hope you have a great trip!
Comments
China Beach did not have the same memories for my husband. It looked so cifferent from what he remembered (he did mention Monkey Mountain) that he could not connect. I am still not sure if that was good or bad. Fortunately, our TD was very sensitive to guests who had been in Vietnam under less pleasant circumstances. While we liked the trip very much, it did not elicit the catharsis I had hoped for.
Tim and Bonnie Glazewski
Fairfax, Virginia
We would love to have you join us for dinner. That will make 8 of us which is great. We'll choose a place to go when we all arrive.
Looking forward to meeting everybody!
Alan & Ellen Toban
Daryl & Anita Mittelman