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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| April 11 - 12, 2004 |
Da Nang, Viet Nam – Two-day Exchange with the Youth of Viet Nam |
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| Disembarking from Peace Boat, embarking on two days of learning in Viet Nam |
Wearing traditional Vietnamese reed hats, the Da Nang Youth Group welcomed Peace Boat into port by performing an eye-catching dance on the side of the wharf. The 160 members of the Youth Exchange tour disembarked to be greeted by the beaming smiles of the Vietnamese students they would be partnered with for the next two days. Before boarding the buses that would take everyone to the festival in Da Nang, the dancing students presented conical hats to the participants. |
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| Symbols of harder times in the past |
On the trip through the dusty, rapidly developing and bike-crowded streets of the city, Vietnamese students and Peace Boat participants made friends while learning how to sing 'Ho Chi Minh' in Vietnamese. The falling and rising tones of the language, combined with a tune unknown to mostly Japanese Peace Boat participants, made for some original versions of the national song of Viet Nam. |
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| Visiting the history of Viet Nam, plagued by war for 1000 years |
A brief stop at the Ho Chi Minh war museum exposed participants to a Vietnamese perspective of "the Viet Nam War," or as locals call it, "the American War." Seeing the former house of nationalist Ho Chi Minh, artefacts from the Viet Cong army, and captured U.S. military hardware including a helicopter, tanks, missiles and boats was the first close-up look at conflict for many participants. Yet the strongest impression was made by the feelings expressed by the young students, stressing their desire to ensure that the future is based on better relations between people rather than dwelling on the past. |
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| Learning to write the characters for 'peace' in Japanese |
Following the history stop, a short visit was made to the Viet Nam-Japan Cultural Centre, which is currently under construction. Language lessons, calligraphy, and mingling with the seemingly endless stream of local kids aching to practice their English further facilitated the welcome to Viet Nam. |
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| Peace Boat participants teaching their Vietnamese friends the traditional Japanese 'Nanchu Soran' fishing dance |
Despite the heat and humidity of Da Nang in the rainy season, the more than 300 strong contingent turned the Da Nang Youth Union facility into a cultural festival, that ran long into the night. |
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| Singers belting away a last song while Viet Nam's longest mambo-line rambles on below |
Activities ranged from traditional school sports and games, to soccer, calligraphy and dancing that alternately electrified and exhausted participants. At the side, participants clambered among rolls of silk, selecting colours for custom-order "Ao Dai," the flowing traditional Vietnamese dress. The festival peaked with a grand-finale of dance, song, and record-setting mambo-lines that had hundreds of onlookers crowding the street outside.
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| The bonfire performance and music of the night gives way to a serene sunrise and the activities of early morning fishermen |
Far from finished though, the group moved to nearby China Beach, the site of the US forces' landing in 1965, to watch the spectacular Vietnamese fire dance. Over a hundred dancers dressed in red passed flaming torches along a snaking line, lighting up the dark with a burning, mythical story of creation and Vietnam. The torches were tossed into the fire to finish the legendary tale, and the Peace Boat audience joined the dancers in circling the flames to end the night's festivities. New friends chatted under the stars, sitting on the sand or paddling in the sea, before sleeping the night in tents on the beach. |
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| Visiting local markets, practicing newly learned phrases, more successful at drawing chuckles than comprehension |
The next morning was spent with participants and their partners touring the city, getting lost among the colourful and lively markets, drinking the famously rich Vietnamese coffee, sampling aromatic food stalls, or just walking the streets and taking in the sights and sounds of Da Nang. |
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| Departure |
The action packed, twenty-nine hours were almost finished, and for the Peace Boat members it was time to return to the ship. After emotional farewells, Peace Boat pulled away from the port in a rainbow of multi-coloured streamers and waving hands. |
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