After a few days in Ho Chi Minh City, we decided to move forward to Da Nang.

This city, located on the coast in central Vietnam, is nowadays very famous for its port, commerce and education. In the past, during the Vietnam War, it was well-known because it was the main airbase for both South Vietnam and the US.

It is located along the North-South Railway line, therefore you can easily reach any destination along it, between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. We took the train around 7 pm in Ho Chi Minh and arrived in Da Nang the day after around noon. 

If you have a 30-day visa, you have enough time to comfortably travel the country by train.

Very often, if you leave in the afternoon, you travel during the night and you reach your destination the day after. It is a sleeping train, so it is convenient because you travel while you sleep and, in the meantime, you save the cost of 1 hotel night 🙂

We decided on Da Nang because it is becoming one of the top Digital Nomads’ cities in South East Asia. Let’s say that it isn’t the most exciting and active city in the world and that it is more suitable for people looking for a peaceful stay. It is perfect if you need to stay focused on your job, without distractions.

It is much quieter and there is a lot less traffic compared to Ho Chi Minh City. People are very friendly, open to foreigners, they smile a lot. But there is still this little problem with English. It is difficult to communicate and it is sometimes frustrating because you are never sure that your message went through.

Except that, is Da Nang worth a visit? Let’s find out what it has to offer…

 

Reasons why you should visit Da Nang

 

The beach

After Battambang (Cambodia), Da Nang was the hottest city we have visited. More than 35 degrees, and 90% humidity in the air. It is a relief to know that there is a beach where you can refresh yourself and enjoy a bit of holiday feeling.

It is a “free” beach, called My Khe, but I must say that it is not the best beach ever. There are only a couple of bars and tents renting sunbeds. If you rent a scooter or a car, you can reach some further beaches. We didn’t go there as we were coming from a 2-week beach holiday.

 

The Dragon Bridge

One of the bridges in Da Nang is called the Dragon Bridge. It is 666 meters long and, not surprisingly, it looks actually like a dragon…

It connects the two sides of Da Nang.

One evening we were walking along the river, and we saw many people gathered around the bridge.

We were wondering why, and shortly found out that every weekend at 9 pm, there is a fire show happening: the dragon breaths fire (and afterwards water). It is impressing and fascinating, not very usual and it is worth a visit. For 3 times, the dragon spits fire, and for 2 times, it spits water… gently soaking the audience standing close by.

We were impressed about how many people were recording this show, not enjoying the reality, not here and now. You can see it in the picture, too.

 

The market

It is called Han Markt and it is not different from other Asian markets. There, you will find hundreds of items: food, drinks, cosmetics, clothes, shoes, accessories, and so on.

Colourful, crowded and located on 2 floors, it is a bit too touristic if you are looking for authentic and local products.

If you take out your bargain skills, you can anyway take home some good deals!

 

Ice rink

Would you expect to find an ice rink in Vietnam? I wouldn’t… that’s why I was so surprised to find one inside the Vincom mall!

We happened to be there on a free-ticket-day, so we went ice-skating while outside it was 40 degrees! And, the other funny thing, is that there was nobody there, and we had all the ice rink for us. What a wonderful feeling!

 

The karaoke booth

If you are shy but you still want to experience a Karaoke in Asia, well… this is the solution for you!

We found this karaoke booth in the same mall where we found the ice rink.

You sit in a kind of phone box, by yourself. You select your favourite song and you can sing it without worries. It can be fun 🙂

In Asia, in the evening, many bars and restaurants, but also private people, put out the karaoke equipment on the road and people start to sing (sometimes out of tune) local songs. This creates a surreal atmosphere, it feels like you are in an old movie, or something similar. I really liked that feeling, it made me smile a lot of times.

 

The gas station

This picture is self-explanatory: it is a portable gas pump (for motorbikes). In addition to the usual commercial and global gas stations, there are also this small private pumps that you can use in case of emergency.

This one was located along a huge roundabout, under the sun, and the owner was sitting a bit further, in the shadow.

It is crazy if you think that we (western countries) take so many precautions when we are close to a gas station, and there are no accidents. And in those countries, without any precautions, nothing happens, too… There must be something wrong somewhere!

 

The barber shop

This one was funny to see! This huge tree is growing directly into a barbershop. And the poor barber has to work outside because he doesn’t have enough space inside…

Nature beats humans.

 

Holes on the street

In Da Nang people are very caring. If there are holes on the street, they cover them up so that other people don’t fall in. How they do it? That’s another story…

The solution: two lying chairs, directly on the hole. You need creativity for that… take it or leave it 🙂

 

Playing on the road

Every now and then, there are groups of gentlemen crouched on the street. They are playing a game, we still don’t know how it is called. But it seems a very entertaining one because the audience, only masculine, is very big and enthusiastic.

 

All in all Da Nang is a cute city, easy to live and relatively cheap. We initially booked our hotel for 3 nights, but in the end, we stayed 15 nights!

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