Travel Diary

Our first day in Da Nang. It was a “free day,” so no tours planned. Nothing planned at all until dinner. People can just do what they want. I opted to sleep in a bit, and then met up with Terry to walk up to the main road and then east to the ocean. From the we grabbed photos of the famous beach and headed north, finally meeting Lesly and Elaine who were riding rented bikes. They headed south and we decided to head west a bit.

The area of the city was interesting. Not too touristy, but still expats all around. Shops were not as high level, so likely serving both locals and outsiders too. We stopped in at a place to get some cooler air and coffee. I got both an espresso and a nut toffee coffee. Good stuff and well priced. Then we walked onward. Notably, one placed was called “Coffee Reading Room,” yet did not serve coffee or any drinks, and was not a reading room either. It was a place of Korean Travel Agency. Very odd naming. They did try to have some signage alerting people of this, though I’m sure they get quite a few people every day popping in for some coffee. Seems like there will come a time when they finally get fed up and just take “Coffee” out of their name.

We also stepped into a small convenience store for some snacks. I was dying for more Skittles. Honestly, they just taste better in Vietnam. Maybe more sugar? It was cool to see liquor prices too, like what was acceptable pricing for expats to stomach. Afterwards, we walked along the main street and saw this massive building. I thought it was for a large business but it was called “Lapin,” or French for rabbit. It was a bakery and just a huge one. We ventured inside.

This place was full of a variety of baked good: croissants, cakes, pies, donuts, and all sorts of sweets. I was tempted to just buy $100 of this stuff then and there. Ironically, I bought nothing. I think I just figured I would return later and indulge, but oddly, never did.

We walked east again and then to the ocean, but went south this time. It was very long walk. I sent up the drone a few times for views of the ocean and buildings. The ocean was cool, but not anything uniquely special. Like if you’ve never been to the ocean, then it would be awesome. If you’ve been to many, then yeah, same ol’ song and dance.

We found the girls relaxing on the beach. The others wanted to rent some beach chairs for a while. I decided to walk west and take photos. I took some of the smaller streets, often popping into convenience stores and looked for Skittles. I found some after three attempts. In time, the streets got smaller until I was finally walking down tiny alleys where people lived. Many were in their hards, enjoying dinner and beer. It was cool to just take in how people lived, even in a somewhat touristy city like this one. Finally, I was back at our flat and could take off my backpack.

Since everyone had been out, I tried the shower. Was it finally hot? Nope. So I concluded that the hot water of a building was likely shared amongst multiple units. There was no way the others had used up the hot water since they were gone so long. Oh well. Was worth a try. The others returned and in time, we grabbed a Grab and headed to dinner.

Dinner was at a terrific place along the Han River. The dining area was out on a terrace with a great view. Plus, the weather was perfect for eating outside. We had a cool table, although not directly at the restaurant edge. The food choices were tough as everything looked great. All that was chosen was exceptionally delicious. One pretty much cannot go wrong there. It was a very memorable meal.

Afterwards, the others decided to catch a Grab back, but I decided to walk. There were many great views along the waterfront of the Han River and I figured I could take a number of shots. It was highly worth it as I stopped a great deal of times to get “just one more shot” of a particular building or site. The long became rather long that way, but I was in no great hurry. It finally ended at “Dragon Bridge,” which was great to see up close, but no fire was being emanated as that only occurred on weekends. Pity. Would have made a great photo and video. I then went east and back to the flat.