Which I say because we’re a little disappointed to leave. Not only is it our last stop in Vietnam, and we genuinely loved it here. The food, the friendly people, the price, the landscape. But I also don’t think we did this city the justice it deserves.
For a number of reasons.
Probably mostly because it’s the end of our trip and we’re a little fatigued. We’ve done food tours, temple tours, water parks, museums. We’ve seen the current blockbuster movies we’re interested in. We’ve shopped at lots of markets and rubbed elbows with lots of other tourists at the big must-dos. And we’ve been going pretty hard at all those things! (Because even seeing a movie requires arranging transportation and navigating ticket sales in a different language and determining what the snacks actually are in their packaging and if they’re worth the price and finding seats without offending the system of which you’re not really sure you’re getting right. And then you get to see the movie, but you still have to figure out if you’re supposed to throw away your own trash and get home afterwards.)
Also, it’s July in Vietnam. Which means hot. And humid. (It’s been steadily above 90 degrees here, and it doesn’t cool off at night much either!) And that means we tire pretty quickly when out and about. Air conditioned breaks for coffees and meals and teas and attractions are key. But July also means school holiday here. So there are lots of other travelers, foreigners and Vietnamese, doing the same things we’re aiming to do also. How much do we love crowds? You know.
But Da Nang is awesome! Not only a city in its own right with museums and novelties and a big white marble Lady Buddha standing over the city (like an Asian Rio). A river for kayaking and cruising with dramatic architectural bridges. But also close to mountains with amusement parks and hot springs and trails (and monkeys).
Of which we did actually very little. I know, I know. But. So many people! So much sun! But we did our own thing. Maggie went fabric shopping. Bill got new glasses. Tessa got her nails done again. We drank a lot of coffee. (Once with a lot of dogs.) We dodged scooters while popping into French bakeries and played Hearts over vegan pho and banh mi. We bought bao from a cart on the street and watched someone set fire to their garden (purposefully) from our apartment windows.
And of course, for most people, including us, the main attraction: the ocean. A beautiful, long, patrolled, clean, hopping, sweeping beach. We rented shaded loungers for less than $2 for the whole day. Drank coconut water straight out of the husk. Built sandcastles with a donated kit. Jumped in gentle waves. Caught a few fish with our bare hands (they were quite wee). Watched parasailers and banana boaters go all out (and calculated both the price per minute and the motion sickness probability of each, then rejected the experiences for ourselves). And rosied ourselves up quite a bit, despite the sunscreen.
We always like to leave something undone. So we have a reason to come back. And Da Nang (and Vietnam in general) certainly fits that description! We are sad to leave this country, actually. There is so much here. And we feel that fabulous adventures would await us anew. So tạm biệt, for now, Vietnam. See you next time!
Magrilless 