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Published: February 22nd 2023
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I had waved goodbye to the Philippines, and was on a mission to experience all of what lower-budget Asia had to offer. Mirroring my stay in the Philippines, this was also my second ever stay in Vietnam, but this time around, all of it incorporated previously-unfamiliar cities and areas starting with the coastal resort town of Nha Trang. The town itself is something of a visitor's paradise, as the ever-popular beachfront and development flanking it is perhaps the town's main draw card. A cracking beachfront hotel made it a highly promising start to the Vietnamese episode, and the town is easily explored on foot, with enough in the way of features to make a short stay entirely worthwhile. The market area might appear somewhat rundown, but in reality, this is a town which has attracted the attention of visitors from much further afield, as well as being esteemed by domestic tourists. A snorkeling / beach hopping tour did not actually reveal the greatest of Vietnam's beach culture by any means, but provided a warmer for the magnificent day out which followed hot on its heels. A day out at Vinpearl land, a theme park just across the bay reachable by speedboat,
or cable car, if it were made operational again, is an absolutely superb hotch-potch of attractions, styles, thrills, collaging, gardens, and more besides - you name it, chances are it's there in some shape or form. As the view from the theme park's gigantic ferris wheel reveals, the beaches adjoining it make the coastline look like an absolute treat, putting the 'pearl' into the theme park's very name. A short flight from Nha Trang, plus a short taxi ride brought me to the cultural capital city of Hoi An, and despite the tourist layer, this compact yet delightful city is indeed a mighty fine piece of Vietnamese history, as well-preserved as it needs to be, brimming over with the kinds of cultural tweaks which satisfy the visitor's hunger for rewarding travel experiences. One interesting system which has been implemented into the mix is a ticketing system for a wide variety of attractions city-wide which allows the buyer to choose the more attractive ones from the entire list, and visit them at their own leisure, as each stub is removed for each attraction visited. Roughly speaking, there are two attractions in the outlying area which constitute great day trips, the more
'local' of the two being An Bang beach, a short ride away, but a fine place for the sun-worshipping beach-goer. Further afield, an organized tour can take you on a visit to a Unesco world heritage site, which is the My Son sanctuary, and is best described as a collection of ruins in one neatly-digestable area, where a cultural dance show takes place daily for your entertainment. Around 30 miles north of Hoi An, and the picture couldn't in many ways be more different, as the more businesslike city of Da Nang comes across as bigger, bolder, less culturally-skewed, but somehow possessing features which make for a remarkably big contrast, despite its proximity. A visit to the Art in Paradise trick art museum reveals a few photogenic images where art is made to look like it belongs on any surface in a standard room, hence the deceptive effects when you can barely feel the shape of the room you are located in when viewing this collection of images. Da Nang is indeed a city of bridges, and the bridges which cross the river all differ in shape and style, none more impressive than the dragon bridge which breathes fire and
water in a specific timeslot one evening of the week, to an impressive visual outcome. If you are seeking an escape route from Da Nang, then there are a couple of options (Hoi An excluding) which might be of interest. The theme park known as Ba Na Hills is reachable (again!) by an impressively long cable car which leads to the theme park proper, the entrance to which is yet another highly impressive bridge 'held' in place by two gigantic hands poking out of the ground. One theme of this amusement park is French buildings, which abound in an area which might make you forgiven for thinking that you've planted yourself in some chateau-strewn area of France, bizarrely enough. A short ride south of Da Nang will bring you to a cave complex known as Marble Mountain, the sights and experience of which add up to a truly Asian state of affairs, where a spiritual depth shines through the dimly-lit interior. A couple of hours further north, and the city of Hue was to be the final node on the Vietnamese itinerary, and has etched its name onto the Vietnamese tourist trail thanks to its collection of traditional-looking tourist sights scattered in the vicinity of the Perfume river. Evening time atmosphere here also adds an extra dimension to a city which by day has areas of hustle and bustle, along with tranquil spots where you can find your inner peace without too much implied effort. Booking yourself on a city tour is a hugely recommended strategy, as it not only includes sights within the city, such as the Perfume Pagoda, but also visits to outlying areas which make it appear as if private transportation or dependence on public transport would not have enabled it to take place more cheaply or conveniently than on this organized tour. Two weeks in Vietnam had rocketed by, and this turned out to be the only nation of all those visited on the world tour which had incorporated visits to two separate theme parks, both of which were bona fide blockbusters of a day out for all their fun-filled features. Along with some rather special hotels at knockdown rates and a food culture which hotly appeals, especially at the top end of the scale, another vital piece of the world tour jigsaw had been slotted into position, and suggested that the months of planning to make it all come about had paid enough dividends already to make it worth the implied effort.
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