Da Nang

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Da Nang was “interesting”. I took the bus from Hue for $5 and then nearly missed my stop – which was some random place on the edge of town. I then found a travel agent who drove me to my hotel – FAR on the other side of town near the beach (about 15 minutes from the centre of town).



From the minute I hopped off the bus – it just didn’t feel right. Da Nang was the only place in Vietnam I didn’t feel safe travelling alone. I settled myself into the hotel and was going to walk into town – but again didn’t feel safe so I caught a cab into the local shopping centre. From there I walked to the central market and didn’t see a fellow Caucasian anywhere. The Vietnamese people at the market quiet happily yelled out to their friends to point, stare and laugh as I walked by, occasionally touching my clothes / hair and it was rather uncomfortable, but I still enjoyed seeing the markets and the food preparation at the foot stalls.



I also saw an accident between a scooter and a motor bike – they both smashed into each other, one guy fell off on the ground, the other picked up his scooter, they had words and both drove off. So different to who things go down in Australia. I was still unwell so I found a bar, drank way too many fresh juices (on of my fav parts of Vietnamese food – everything is sooo fresh) and sat a read my book as I was tired of walking around (getting poked by random people) not feeling safe. I eventually called a cab to take me back to my hotel who recommended me an Aussie bar down the street doing lamb roast for dinner. Not very Vietnamese but consider I have been sick for over 5 days and want comfort food.



Turns out to be run by Aussie x-pats who had all their male chauvinistic friends over for beers and a chat about how much they could degrade the Vietnamese women they were dating and generally whinge about everything to do with Vietnamese culture and their people in a 30 minute period. The lamb was tough, listening to these stupid men talk was giving me a headache and I couldn't get out of there quickly enough! On the plus side - the hotel I stayed at was by far the newest and most fancy I stayed at in Vietnam. 😊 Wouldn’t go back to Danang but it was an interesting experience all the same.

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