Vietnam: Da Nang City

After having a great day trip to the beach in Da Nang, we decided to check out of our place in Hoi An and head back to the city the next day. On the drive to the beach we had noticed a local bus going between Hoi An - Da Nang and thought we'd give it a try. We asked our hotel receptionist how much it would cost to take the local bus and after trying to insist that we take the tourist bus service, she finally replied, "I don't know because you're a tourist."

We wanted to give the local bus a try, so we walked to the bus station just outside the main part of town and waited for the next departure. Making a mental note that the highest price listed on the bus was 18,000dong, I wondered what they would try to charge us. We were on the bus for about 15 minutes when the ticket collector decided to come around. Sam handed him 40,000dong to cover both of us, but the man threw up his hands saying, "No, no, no. 30,000dong!" Sam pointed to the price list and the collector in turn pointed to our bags implying that's why we had to pay extra. Confronted with the language barrier and the fact that we were in the middle of a small village unsure of the other transportation options to the city, we just paid the 30,000dong each. Yes, that is equal to $1.50USD per person.

Bus driver decided to stop and rest for a few minutes.

The ticket collector was happy to have the extra money in his pocket and asked with a smile on his face where we'd like to be dropped off. We asked to go to the center of town and ended up along the river looking at a bridge with a dragon on it. Having looked up guesthouses beforehand, we walked around the area that seemed to have a good number of  options according to the map. Unlike the other places we've visited in Vietnam, Da Nang city isn't made for tourists. There is a spot near the beach where tourists stay, but we were in the city center. We walked around for about an hour, not finding a place we liked, so we decided to do as the Vietnamese do: stop for ca phe sua Saigon (ice coffee).

Dragon bridge (cau rong) over the River Han.

City center of Da Nang.

Over coffee, we made a game plan that involved Sam walking around to find a place to stay while I sat with our bags. My favorite kind of plan. While he was away, the waitress came to sit with me and practice her English. We had a great conversation about her hometown and university studies. An hour later, Sam returned. He had found a nice hotel for us (with an elevator!), so we collected our bags and walked through the alleys to Khach San (Hotel) Ly Ly - our home in Da Nang.

View of Da Nang from our hotel.

When it came time for dinner, we went to walk around and see what we found. What we didn't find: a restaurant with an English menu. We did find a place that was full of Vietnamese people drinking warm beer from glasses with ice cubes, sitting at small tables around a boiling pot - we wanted to eat here. Luckily a waitress spoke decent English, so we ordered the house special which turned out to be Thai style hotpot. We were seated outside and had very special treatment being the only foreigners around. Most of the interactions were more like charades than talking, but everyone laughed and we had a wonderful time.

I tend to enjoy getting away from the main tourist areas. The people don't seem to take advantage of you as much. If they know English, they want to practice with you or help you with what you're doing (ordering food, getting directions). If they don't know English, they leave you alone or genuinely appreciate that you tried to say bao nhieu (how much) when trying to buy that water, even though you got the tones totally wrong. Most of the interactions I've had in non-tourist areas are characterized not only by the language barrier, but lots of laughs and genuine interest in learning from or helping the other person. Da Nang was full of these types of interactions, so my memories are very positive from the days we spent there.