RITZ-CARLTON LUMINARA: Day 11

We are docked at Tien Sa Port, Vietnam, 7.5 miles from Danang, the third largest city in the country.  What most remember of this area is China Beach.

• Why?  There was a TV series that ran for four season from 1988 to 1991, set in an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War  in the late 1960s at My Khe Beach, Danang.

• 
  China Beach, had a Rotten Tomatoes score of 94.
• Show was actually filmed in California.
• American soldiers use this R&R spot, and provided the nickname, China Beach.
• No official length, but a series of beaches over a 21-mile stretch of the coastline beginning in Danang, going south.
• I was here in 2010.  A quote from my posting.

I am now at the Furama Resort in Da Nang. I walked out to the beach, looked one way, and couldn't see the end of the beach. Then I looked at the other end and couldn't see the end of the beach.  China Beach is 20 miles long and mostly about 100 yards wide. Some of you might have watched China Beach, the TV series, 1988-1991. This was named as the #5 best beach in Asia, so I've got to visit the other four, for China Beach is amazing.

• 
  A decade ago I asked, WHICH IS THE BEST BEACH IN THE WORLD?  

Vietnam) China Beach (picture 100 yards of beach extending for 19 miles, a distance from Waikiki to Pearl Harbor and back to Waikiki) along a five-star mega resort, with five more being built, including a J.W. Marriott and a Hyatt, plus a casino and two golf courses.  Another way to look at the length of China Beach is from Waikiki to Wahiawa.  This is the type of attraction Hawaii will need to compete against into the future.

On board the Ritz-Carlton Luminara, we woke up late to have lunch at Mistral.  Had a Bloody Mary and Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon with lunch, of Mistral Caesar Salad, Flank Steak and Scorched White Asparagus.

In The Living Room, had a tasting of Scotches.  Begun with a few we regularly drink.  #s 3 and 4 were Glenfiddich, and I did not know that there are two versions, mellow and more substantive.

Went on to two peaty whiskies from Islay.  To my surprise, the Talisker was peatier than the Ardberg.

Added Monkey Shoulders and Dewars White Label.

Added one more, Bowmore.

Combine the remainder into one glass with a cubed ice.

Then Claudia, noting that we ate a piece of treated ginger, indicated there was a famous drink featuring Ardberg Whiskey called Penicillin,

Dinner was in Azur.  Started with a wedge salad.  I'm half finished,

My meal was a combination of Butter Miso Soup, Seared Foie Gras, Creamed Corn and Charred Brocollini, with glass of Dewars White Label and Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon.

For dessert, Chocolate Souffle and Luminara cake, with a Port wine.

Stopped by The Living Room for some popular jazz music with the Luminara Band.

Walked only 1248 steps.

We will be at sea tomorrow, followed by Halong Bay, with our final destination, Hong Kong, in three days.  A few more in that city, then Seoul, a short stop in Tokyo and back to Honolulu on January 24.

I end today with the little known Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese leader who beat the French, then the USA.

• Few know that he actually admired the United States and lived in Boston and New York City,
• He was born in 1880, was well-educated, came from a prosperous middle-class family, had a heck of a life and passed away at the age of 79.
• At the age of 21, traveled the world for eight years as a dishwasher and cook on ships, in France and the U.S
• It is known that he worked at the Parker House Hotel in Boston, whose guests over the years included Charles Dickens and John Wilkes Booth.
• 
  He saw the USA as a revolutionary underdog with a history of resistance to Great Britain.  He wanted to do the same for his country.  With other fellow Vietnamese nationalists, they actually petioned Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to help get their freedom from France.
• Became a communist in the 1920s, and helped launch their revolution back home in Japanese occupied French Indonesia in the forties.  He is third from the left in the following photo with an OSS team in 1945.

• 
  It took him a decade to force out the French in 1954, than another two decades to get rid of the USA in 1975.  This is a photo of him in 1959.
• However, he passed away in 1969 and never saw the victory.  
• At the end of the Vietnam Wars, the re-capture of Saigon led to a renaming in his honor as Ho Chi Minh City.
• His statue in Ho Chi Minh City.

-

WHICH IS THE BEST BEACH IN THE WORLD?

Let us start with the best beaches in the USA, according to Dr. Beach:

• 2015:  Waimanalo Bay (above), Hawaii
• 2014:  Duke Kahanamoku Beach (below), Waikiki, Hawaii

• 2013:  Main Beach, Southhampton, New York
• 2012:  Hamoa Beach, Maui, Hawaii
• 2011:  Siesta Beach, Sarasota, Florida
•         :
• 1991:  Kapalua Bay Beach (below), Maui, Hawaii

During the 25-year period of best beaches, Hawaii earned 15 #1's, while Florida gained 7.  Once a beach made #1, it was retired.  However, Dr. Beach says that next year he will throw all the former #1's into the pot for year #26, which means that one of the first three #1's should prevail:  Kapalua, Bahia Honda SRA (above left, Florida) and Hapuna (below, Big Island, Hawaii).

Dr. Beach is Professor Stephen Parker Leatherman of Florida International University.  It is said that the visitor count jumps by up to 20% when a beach attains #1.  When Siesta Beach in 2011 won, the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau reported that Dr. Beach's site was downloaded 425 million times that year.

The selections are made after a comprehensive analysis of 50 criteria.  You wonder when he will open up this competition to the world.

Which is a good way of indicating that Trip Advisor also has best beach lists, of the USA and World.  The ratings are determined by compiling reviews from their millions of respondents.  This past year, Siesta Beach (left) of Florida was #1, with #2 St. Pete Beach (Florida), #3 Kaanapali Beach (Lahaina, Hawaii), #4 Waianapanapa State Park (Hana, Hawaii) and #5 Pensacola Beach (Florida).  Kailua Beach Park, Hanauma Bay, Poipu Beach Park and Hanalei Beach are also on the list of 25.

#1 in the world is Baia do Sancho Fernando de Noronha (above, Brazil) and #2 is Grace Bay Providenciales (below, Turks and Caicos):

Conde Nast (Hawaii has three beaches in the top ten, Florida...zero) picks El Nido Palawan in the Philippines as #1 (just below), but #2 (second photo), Blinky Beach Lorde Howe Island (Australia) certainly caught my attention:

U.S. News and World Report provides best beach locations, with Cayman Island as #1 and Kauai at #2.  National Geographic selected Seychelles (north of Madagascar and east of Somalia in the Indian Ocean) as #1, but only provided a photo for #2, Maldives (south of India in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea--a third of a million population, but go now, for sea level rise threatens to inundate its 26 atolls).

I have my favorite, from my posting of 28August2012:

(Vietnam) China Beach (picture 100 yards of beach extending for 19 miles, a distance from Waikiki to Pearl Harbor and back to Waikiki) along a five-star mega resort, with five more being built, including a J.W. Marriott and a Hyatt, plus a casino and two golf courses.  Another way to look at the length of China Beach is from Waikiki to Wahiawa.  This is the type of attraction Hawaii will need to compete against into the future.

Read more about my stay here in 2010.

Finally, I went there once and actually saw a green sand beach at Papakolea close to South Point.  This photo is courtesy of Big Island Hikes, for it was half a century ago when I made my visit:

Sand is normally silicate or carbonate, but this beach also has olivine, a green magnesium iron silicate.  Interestingly enough, you probably never saw olivine, but it is the most abundant mineral in the mantle of the Earth at shallower depths, and arrived here in a volcanic eruption.  Should you travel from Kona, drive towards South Point and signs will tell you how to get to Papakolea Green Sand Beach.    Here is a map on how to get there.  

I noticed disclaimers at some web sites, so, while they all say that the 5.3 mile roundtrip hike is non-threatening,  I overreact to these warnings, plus, there are no facilities here. 

Heck, if you go to Papakolea, you might as well also drop by two black sand beaches, the sand coming from volcanic basalt.  Going towards Hilo from South Point, pass Naalehu, then Pahala, a couple miles further north will be Punaluu, which has a large black sand beach:

There is also a black sand beach at Kahena, Pahoa, but the latest volcanic eruption has cut off the scenic route there.  You can approach from the Pahoa side further towards Hilo from Volcanoes National Park.

I never did quite say which is the best beach in the world.  You can decide, for you have your personal criteria for bestness.

-

THE MOST AMAZING BEACH IN THE WORLD

I am now at the Furama Resort in Da Nang. I walked out to the beach, looked one way, and couldn't see the end of the beach. Then I looked at the other end and couldn't see the end of the beach. China Beach is 20 miles long and mostly about 100 yards wide. Some of you might have watched China Beach, the TV series, 1988-1991. This was named as the #5 best beach in Asia, so I've got to visit the other four, for China Beach is amazing.

Actually, the Viet Nam tourist site provided the following:

Vietnam's first and only 5-star luxury resort on the world famous "China Beach". 4 years awarded "Vietnam's Top Hotel" Trophy 2000-2003 by Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, 4 years "Vietnam's Best Resort - The Guide Awards" by Vietnam Economic Times 2000-2003, "Best Dream Hotel in Asia" by Esquire Magazine Hong Kong, asiahotels.com Winner 2002, "Asia's Best Resort" by Epicurean USA, "Trophy 2000-2003" by Trade Leaders' Club Spain, "BID" International Quality Century Award, Spain.

Now, this is more like it, although this posting seems dated. Going to the internet, a room with breakfast can be had for $173. There are 200 rooms and dinner at Indochine was outstanding, as our table of six ate ten lobsters, if not more, and I couldn't (allergy) even have one. Those are Maureen and Stan (fiscal manager for Roy's Restaurant) Paperny, Barb and Mark (attorney and power broker from Missouri) Kuhlmann and Curtis Lee (former VP of Servco)

Here we have Mark, Shep Goldstein (Boston), Stan and Dave Marder (Woodland Hills, California):

You can soon purchase an apartment for $180,000 and move in to Hyatt Regency Residences located across the street. A Hyatt hotel is coming. In fact, six mega resorts, including a J.W. Marriott with golf course, have been announced. Gregg Norman is designing a second golf course, with the surrounding Ocean Villas starting from $320,000. American company Silver Shores has announced a casino, with the hotel to be managed by Crowne Plaza.

Da Nang, located in central Vietnam, with a population of 1 million, has an international airport and world class port. Sai Gon is almost 400 miles south. You remember, of course, Da Nang Harbor from the Viet Nam War, home for 20% of American servicemen.

-

Check the right for the Dow Jones Industrials and price of oil.

-