Southeast Asia 2022

Yesterday we caught a flight from Haiphong (near Ha Long Bay) to Da Nang. Da Nang is a city located on the east coastline and has miles of beautiful sandy beaches with a Miami like city vibe.

We arrived late but opted to walk just under an hour from the airport to our hotel, giving us time to take in a bit of the city. Not knowing much about central Vietnamese food, a self proclaimed traditional Da Nang restaurant caught our eye just before crossing the famous Dragon Bridge, so we ate there and the food was delicious. The following morning we woke up to glorious sunshine, so after grabbing some breakfast at a beach bar, we relaxed on My Khe beach for a few hours. My Khe beach was a gorgeous beach; white soft sand, palm trees and clear blue waters, like a warm bath.

In the afternoon, a thunderstorm interrupted us so we thought we'd check out a 3D art Museum that was really impressive! The museum had many different halls and rooms all filled with different themed 3D art. It was so clever how the 2D artwork came to life in a photograph and we had really good fun taking pictures in all the different scenes.

This evening we rode to a night market to sample more Vietnamese cuisine. There was a pancake dish called Banh Xeo, however looking like such tourists we had to be shown how to eat the food with rice paper after clearly having no clue… we didn’t even ask, locals could just tell so stepped in to help.

As we're now back on a scooter we explored the downtown city area near the river and visited the popular Love Bridge and Dragon Bridge. We also witnessed the spectacle of the dragon breathing fire on the bridge. Da Nang is a busy city; the roads are crazy compared to the UK and traffic lights still have little importance. Everyone just rides where they want and junctions consist of a crossover mess of vehicles everywhere. Despite this, it's calmer than the constant madness of Hanoi.Читать далее

This morning we explored Ponagar Cham Towers in Nha Trang, a very old trio of Hindu temples. Not too much to see but pretty amazing considering they were built over 1300 years ago. Lastly we stopped off at a central shopping mall to top up on toiletries. Certain toiletries such as moisturisers and face cream are proving difficult to find as nearly all of them have skin whitening agents. This is certainly one thing we noticed whilst travelling in SE Asia; people go to extreme measures to ensure their skin colour is as light as possible. For example, using skin whitening or brightening products, 100+ spf sun cream, as well as covering up from head to toe whilst riding motorbikes or when walking the streets. It's strange that in the UK and other western countries, people strive for that ‘sun kissed,’ tanned look, whilst in Asia, locals will do whatever they can to have whiter skin. Based on what we've read, their perception of skin colour is linked to social class, where dark skin has long been associated with working on fields and rural poverty, whilst paler skin indicates a wealthier, more comfortable lifestyle indoors. Also, interestingly we found genuine motorcycle helmets being sold right beside children’s toys. Not only that but the helmets cost less than a bottle of non-whitening body lotion we eventually managed to find.

A short stop but Nha Trang was worth seeing if only for a couple of days. We now head to Dalat, a mountainous region 1500m above sea level making it cooler than any place we’ve been so far. In fact, we are currently on our first sleeper bus travelling though the central Vietnamese mountain range. We each have our own compartment with a curtain for privacy and a bed where you can lie flat quite comfortably. One hour down, three to go!Читать далее

The sleeper bus from Nha Trang to Da Lat was actually a success. Given the route was through twisting mountainous roads we didn’t expect much comfort although were pleasantly surprised. We didn’t sleep as it was mid afternoon but we were able to lay back and relax during the four hour journey.

Da Lat is a high altitude city up in the mountains, the largest of Vietnam's central highland regions and as expected was much cooler than other Asian places visited so far. We arrived late afternoon and went straight to check-in, although for the first time so far we were actually disappointed at the £6 room. The room wasn’t clean, had a damp smell and mould on the walls. Thinking it would be fine as we were only there for 3 nights we ignored the issues and left to explore Da Lat by foot. Whilst walking around we decided to change hotels so after explaining this to the manager, he understood although offered no solutions to move to another room which says it all really! A bit of mooching around the town and we found another guesthouse. Basic, but the room was a good size and clean.

With that off our minds, we walked the market and enjoyed some street-side BBQ skewers for dinner. Da Lat is really busy in and around the central area just beside the lake. Whilst walking around, Jess was asked for another photo to which of course she happily obliged. We weren’t quite so sure why this time as there were a few other blonde tourists around. With Da Lat being 1500m above sea level, there is a noticeable difference in temperature of 22°C during the afternoon, dropping to 15°C at night. Such a contrast to the hotter, humid climate we've been exposed to for the past six weeks and for the first time on our travels, we've opted to wear jumpers! Rooms here don't even have air con.Читать далее