Travelling with a camera from Halong Bay to Danang. The hotel in Halong helped me organise a 1.75 hour 70 kms taxi to Cat Bi airport, Haiphong for £25. A great drive to see more local life. VietJet flew down to Danang for US$40 including hold baggage and a meal, just over an hour flight. Jumped in a cab at the airport and a short trip across the Dragon Bridge into town to Happy Day Hotel on the Han River. A river view room, £23 per night for 2 including breakfast. The staff are really helpful and interested in your trip.
Danang or Da Nanag is the most important port in Vietnam and largest city in Central Vietnam. It also played a major part in the war. The first American combat troops to arrive in Vietnam, came ashore on the beach here. They were given the task of protecting the nearby US air base. 2000 of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade took a day to bring their men and kit ashore in March 1965. The concrete war hangers can still be see on the city’s airport site.
I chose Danang as a base to discover the area in the time I had rather than move every day. The city has few conventional sight seeing spots and is very sprawling but worth a stop. There was very little in the DK Vietnam guide book so best to do a bit of research before you visit. The best way to get around is either walk, taxi or jump on the back of a moped.
Musts for me if you visit are:
- a walk along the Han River where you will see some iconic bridges. The Dragon Bridge which has beautiful changing colours at night, (Vietnamese: Cầu Rồng), is 666m long, 37.5m wide and cost US$88 million to build. The bridge was opened to traffic on 29 March 2013, the 38th anniversary of the liberation of Da Nang City in the Vietnam War. Watch out at 9pm on Saturday and Sundays when he breathes fire.
- look out for the locals playing Xiangqi (a form of chess) along the riverfront. It gets very animated!
- Han Market in Tran Phu Street to see the local way of life. You can find everything here from food, clothing, homeware etc. Take some time to watch the ladies making the most beautiful flower arrangements.
- Danang Cathedral (Giáo xứ Chính Toà Đà Nẵng) Tran Phu Street – the only church in the city. The courtyard is also a cool oasis to sit which you will be glad of.
- Take a stroll down My Khe Beach which has a lovely view of the mountains, the Lady Buddha in the distance and there are several places to eat.
- Pop into the temples you pass as you are wandering the city.
- Take a trip down the river on an evening for a few £s and you can see the city lights in their glory.
Other places to visit that I didn’t get time for:
- See the Lady Buddha which is located at Linh Ung Pagoda on Son Tra Peninsula in Da Nang. This is the tallest Buddha statue in Vietnam.
- The Cham Sculpture Musuem.
After day 9 of noodle soup for breakfast, I would kill for a weetabix!!
More on Central Vietnam in the next blog.
I am loving reading these Anne xx