After a few days in Hanoi, it was time to travel south to Da Nang, a coastal town perhaps most famous for being the spot that most American soldiers chose to spend their R&R (rest and recuperation) leave during the Vietnamese War.
We took the overnight train down to one of Asia's favourite beach resorts. At around 30 degrees celsius, we knew we'd have to enjoy every second of our ten day break before returning to the minus temperatures of Beijing. First thing we had to do though once we arrived was try the local beer, which is traditionally drank with ice. Nice and refreshing to begin with, but soon you enough you find yourself supping on a rather watered down beverage, just meant we had to guzzle it down and order the next one!
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| A Bit of a Kink: Sipping an ice filled beer, lazying on a sunny afternoon |
On our second night in Da Nang, it was time to act like the Brits abroad we were and sniff out the local Irish bar (we found one called Murphy's Steakhouse) for a steak and a Guinness. Actually, I opted for the Irish Stew and a glass of San Miguel, minus the ice. As nice as the food was, we were left a little frustrated as each of our meals came out one at a time at ten minute intervals. Chris and I were fed first and our empty plates had been collected long before Jess's had even been brought out. Jess did eventually get to eat but it left a sour taste in our mouth, so as we were leaving, Chris told the manager, an English fella, about our disappointing meal and very kindly, he offered to buy us all a drink at the bar. He took care of us, buying us a second and even offered us plenty of free beers over the course of our stay. Needless to say, we spent many of our evenings there enjoying the free beer (and occasional full price one), pool table and chat with the bar staff.
It was on our second day at the beach that Chris and I ended up doing something rather stupid, we decided to walk the mile from the hotel to the beach with no sun cream on, having planned to apply it once we'd picked our spot for the day, on the beach. It turned out to a be a spectacularly foolish move that ended up burning Chris's forehead and my feet. In fact, my feet were so badly burned that I was unable to walk the following day so spent the whole day laid on my bed watching Dexter Season 2 on DVD. Ordinarily I'd have considered it a wasted day, but Dexter is a pretty damn good show, check it out if you haven't already... The rest did me good though and I was able to head to Murphy's Steakhouse with Chris and Jess for a couple of beers after we had sampled some of the local cuisine further down the strip.
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| She's a Lady: Lady Buddha statue on monkey mountain |
It was on the Tuesday that the three of us took a taxi up Monkey Mountain to check out the Lady Buddha statue, a landmark that had fascinated us from regular spot down on the beach adjacent to the mountain. Later that day, we met up with Chris and Jess's mate from home, Daniel Jones (cool name) and his girlfriend Becca, who were travelling Asia. To mark their arrival, we all headed to a late night bar called Bamboo 2, I don't remember much of the night other other than it began with a few rounds of shots...
We went to nearby historic town Hoi An on the Thursday. It was to be yet another highlight of our time in Vietnam. We saw a famous bridge, which had been built by the Japanese over a thousand years earlier, ate some local delicacies and drank the town dry following a pub crawl down the bar street.
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| Get Over It: This bridge was built by the Japanese over a thousand years ago |
On the Saturday, I headed out on my own leaving the guys to top up their tans on the beach. I walked three miles toward another famous spot in Da Nang - Marble Mountain, a collection of mountains that are home to a number of Temples and Pagodas, some of which can be found inside them. Once inside the caves, you can't help but feel tranquillity calmly wash over you, I can't ever remember feeling that way before. All the caves are impressive particularly the ones packed to the rafters with Buddhist effigies. My personal favourite was the Trang Nghiem Temple, which is found deep inside one of the mountains but its the gaps in the top of the cave that makes it extra special, as beams of sunlight force its way through and bathing the temple in its rays. I found myself standing in that cave for about half an hour just simply soaking up every ounce of peacefulness, two days later I would be returning to the stresses of a busy live in Beijing.
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| Ray of Light: the Trang Nghiem Temple, hidden in a cave close to Da Nang |
Vietnam is an extremely beautiful country and has so much to offer, culturally it has places like Marble Mountain, Hoi An and Ha Long Bay that are all a must see, if its beaches you're after then Da Nang is as good a place as any to sun yourself whilst snacking on cheap local food and with coconuts and beers aplenty, you'll be able to maintain a certain level of refreshment. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to visit Vietnam, not just because I got to travel around a country that I'd never imagined I'd ever get to see but because I got to do with two of my closest friends, Chris and Jess.
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| Life's a Beach: Chris, Me and Jess pose in front of the sea in Da Nang, Vietnam |
Very nice Dan x
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