The Vietnam War was fought when I was in high school and college. I could have been drafted, but I managed to escape that and did not serve. However, I couldn’t escape the war as seemingly every day the news focused on it. I became familiar with some of the cities in Vietnam. Saigon and Hanoi were often in the news. Da Nang was another name I heard frequently.
Da Nang was actually the entry point for most American soldiers going into Vietnam. A large air base here was the point where most entered and later left the country. Da Nang was also a designated R&R location for soldiers so many would come to Da Nang to have a good time and relax.
In the 50 years since the war, Da Nang has moved away from its military past to become a resort city of some renown. It is a popular tourist spot especially for Indians and Koreans. I recently read an article stating that Da Nang was the third best tourist destination in Asia. You can see it in the number of high rise hotels that line up along the ocean as well as the new construction that is occurring. Unfortunately, like many countries, COVID stopped some of the progress, but things are starting to gear up again.
Having spent our first full day in Hoi An, we were ready to see what Da Nang had to offer. Unfortunately those plans went quickly awry. Jacob, Andrea’s friend, woke up and was quite sick. He was definitely not up to doing anything. I felt a little queasy, but thought I was fine. Silvette and I thought we would go for a walk along the beach. However, it wasn’t long before I decided I really wasn’t well. I returned to our room, and a little while later I also became sick. So we just have to skip over that day as not much happened that is worth sharing.
Fortunately the next day both of us felt better although I still felt a little weak in the morning. To test my strength Silvette and I went for a walk along the beach. While the weather was overcast, it wasn’t rainy so it was great weather for a walk.
The city built a path along the ocean, and it was an interesting path to walk. Even though it’s one continuous beach, some of the areas have different names. They have a number of art installations along the way as well that adds to the interest of the walk.
As we walked the path we saw some round basket boats. These are unique to Vietnam and were initially made of woven bamboo. We didn’t see any in the water, just on the beach. We also noted some numbered buildings. I presumed these were lifeguard stations. However, on a day like today we would see no lifeguards. The tide seemed quite high, and the waves were pretty heavy so we stayed on the paved pathway and didn’t venture onto the beach.
We returned to our hotel, and I took a nap to recover some energy. After I woke up, we decided to go visit the Dragon Bridge. Da Nang is divided by the Hàn River, and a number of bridges cross it. The Dragon Bridge is the most famous. The dragon figure divides the two lanes of the bridge. Large yellow arcs indicate the dragon, and some sections continue under the bridge as well.
W walked over to the bridge and took photos not only of the bridge but some other sites in the area. The bridge is so long I couldn’t get all of it in my camera lens. I ended up taking a panorama with my phone. This was the first time I had ever used that feature. It worked out pretty well.
On the weekends the dragon is set up to actually breathe out fire. I guess it’s pretty spectacular. While we were here on a weekend, we just didn’t have the energy in the evenings to go check it out.
We crossed the Dragon Bridge and were definitely in the downtown area. There was a lot more traffic than we had been experiencing near our hotel. It still wasn’t as bad as the traffic in Hanoi, however. Near the river there was an area of statues as well as colorful decorations.
Next we headed to Da Nang Cathedral, the main Catholic church in the city. What makes this church unique is its color. It’s pink, quite pink. It was built during the French era so it has a French architectural style.
We arrived just as the school on campus was letting out so it was a bit busy. They had some holiday items in the courtyard including interesting Christmas trees and a large creche. Unfortunately the building was not open to go in. That was somewhat disappointing as I was curious what the interior of a pink church would be.
We walked back across the Dragon Bridge and met Andrea and Jacob for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. She had found the restaurant online. It was small and off the beaten path. The food was pretty good, but I thought it was a little bland for Mexican food.
As we walked back to our hotel, a man heard us speaking English so he started talking to us. It turns out he was Canadian, and had come to Vietnam just to have some new experiences. He told us he was paying $15 a night for his room. I thought we paid a reasonable amount for our room! Of course I don’t know what amenities he got with that.
Tonight was New Year’s Eve, and just down the road from our hotel was a big celebration. For Vietnam the big New Year’s celebration is the lunar New Year which they call Tet. However, much like Christmas, the western New Year has come into play, and so they celebrate it as well. We all went down to check it out for a while, but we didn’t stay to the end and the New Year. We couldn’t really see the main stage, but a large screen projected the events happening on the stage.
A beer company was the main sponsor, and at one point they were giving our cases of beer to people in the audience. The crowd was actually quite large as were the rows and rows of motorbikes that brought them here. The music wasn’t exactly my style, but it was fun to be in a crowd and feel the energy of a big celebration.
The next day will be New Year’s Day. The weather should improve so we will see how that day goes. There are still a number of places to see in the Da Nang area.