Blogs from Da Nang , South Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia

We took a short hour’s domestic flight from Saigon to Danang and were lucky to have the emergency seats - so plenty of leg room. Located on the western bank of the Han River, Danang is Vietnam's fourth largest and main University City. Back in the days of the Vietnam War, Danang was referred to as the ‘Saigon of the North’ notable for its booming economy, fine restaurants, busy traffic and glittering shops but a little bit different now. We were not stopping in the city but transferring to Hoi An which is located about 30 km south of the city so we met up with a new driver for this part of our journey. As soon as we left the city we could see the Marble Mountains looming in front of us, five mountainous outcrops ... read more

Greetings from Southeast Asia. After 3 flights and 27+ hours of travel time, Matt and I have arrived safely and enjoyed our first full day in Hoi An, Vietnam. (Our trip starts here because of the Light Festival that takes place tomorrow night, when the historic part of the city will shut off all electricity and only be lit by lantern lights. Iam quite excited!) Our trip, despite being very well planned out, started with a hitch. The cold symptoms I started to feel on Monday did not subside. Even with the best medicine, and lots of it, there was no getting around my congestion. Luckily Matt and I were 99% packed and my symptoms were not getting worse. With our Super Shuttle arriving perfectly on time, we were off to the airport (Tuesday night). We ... read more

We awoke early to bright sunshine so decided to get up and go for a walk. Even though it was 7.30 in the morning and we were next to the sea it was so warm and felt uncomfortable. We saw lots of the traditional fishing nets and boats children playing on the beach , some folks doing their morning exercise and then took a road inland through the town where like most towns people were out drinking coffee and chatting. Returning to the hotel we had breakfast, being a Vietnamese hotel the breakfast wasn't quite what we were used to but there was enough to eat. We left the hotel just before 9 and started the drive to Na Trang. This was probably the most scenic part of the journey there were more fields of mostly ... read more

We are in Hoi-An not DaNang but its close. We were awoken at 6 to get ready for the trip to Hoi An. We ate breakfast outside and then went to our coach. The journey is going to take us 4 hours. After leaving Hue we travel across mainly agricultural countryside and make our way up the pass over the mountain range with spectacular views over the coastline. Hui described some of the sights we saw, one was a bus which is the express bus, the drivers helper was almost hanging out of the door. Hui said the bus is jokingly known as the flying Coffin. Stopping to take pictures we crossed the main highway as we didn't go through the tunnel. so glad or we would not have seen the pretty fishing village or the ... read more