July 25, 2003

Danang
Vietnam

Dear Family and Friends,

The flight from Nha Trang to Danang was uneventful. At the Danang airport the drivers persuade me to hire a taxi for the trip to Hoi An.

My very first stop is a music shop where I buy six CDs for sixty-five cents each. I hope they play.

We visit the local Caodai Temple, attractive, yet a distant second in size and beauty to the one I saw in Tay Ninh outside of Ho Chi Minh City. Dressed in long white robes, the priests welcome me, ask that I attend their prayer service, and encourage me to take pictures.

The next stop is the Champa Museum. The guidebook says, "The best sight in Danang. Founded in 1915, the open-air collection of Cham sculptures is the finest in the world. Many of the sandstone sculptures are breathtaking."