Da Nang

What a great city Da Nang is. The beach that lines Da Nang is so clean and although I’m sure it can get busy, it wasn’t for us. We arrived late and opted to walk from the airport to our hotel taking just under an hour so we could take in bit of of the city. Not knowing central Vietnamese food, a self proclaimed traditional Da Nang restaurant caught our eye just before crossing the famous dragon bridge (that shoots fire every weekend evening) so we ate there and the food was delicious. The next morning we tried the beach before the clouds arrived around lunch time. This was welcome given the high temperatures with extreme UV that day! We stopped off at the 3D art museum that afternoon. It the evening we decided to return to a night market we’d seen whilst walking to our hotel on the first night. After renting a scooter (for the next 6 days straight) we arrived at the market to try some more street food. Looking like such tourists we were even shown how to eat the food with rice paper after clearly having no clue… we didn’t even ask, they could just tell.

This morning we rode to Marble Mountains to explore the various caves - some of which were particularly impressive. Afterwards we rode the Hai Van Pass (those who’ve watch the Top Gear Vietnam special will know) and thankfully the rain held off albeit a little cloudy. Clarkson named this route “a deserted ribbon of perfection—one of the best coast roads in the world” and I can see why. Although a short route, the views were something else.

This evening we took a sunset stroll along the beach and had a surprisingly good stone baked pizza from a mobile van. Remembering we are in central Vietnam in a city known for its great seafood, we decided to try some fresh seafood for dinner and enjoyed scallops, king prawns and crab.Read more