Visiting Vietnam
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Vietnamese like to sit on low chairs
Foot Massage shops are everywhere and also heavily visited
Vietnam is a very inexpensive country and thus a popular destination for low cost backpackers and digital nomads. It is long and narrow with a lot of beachfront along the South China Sea. When broken up into thirds, the north includes Hanoi and Halong Bay, which we previously visited. The south has Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and the Mekong Delta, both interesting possibilities for later. And the central region of Da Nang and Hoi An is where we’re heading.
Traveling throughout Asia, I got lax applying online for eVisas, as needed, a few days before entering a country. Turns out, Vietnam’s Visa requirements is a throwback to earlier times with a form glued into your passport involving lengthy processing periods. Oops! I only discovered this at the airport when I was denied my boarding pass by the doleful ticketing agent for lack of a valid Visa while Gitty was good to go. Germans are among only thirteen countries who can enter Vietnam visa-free. I told her to fly to Ut, her sister-in-law, and I would join her as soon as possible although the processing time for a Vietnamese Visa could take up to 5 business days.
Large neighborhood supermarket
We learned several important lessons here. We hadn’t expected to be separated in transit and so each of us now needs to carry the barest minimum cables necessary to charge our electronics so we can remain in contact. We also needed to factor in Visa requirements as part of our future planning process. I was potentially looking at four more days in an expensive hotel in Singapore. Four more days of rescheduling my flight due to the uncertainty of when (and if) the Visa approval would come. If I made one simple mistake on the form, Vietnamese immigration would deny my application and I would have to start again from scratch.
The narrow width of the houses is not necessary a handicap for creativity….
… or comfort: here are two lots combined, which gives space for a swimming pool
Fortunately for me, I could throw some money at the problem. A company I found online while at the airport promised an expedited e-visa service with a “super rush” option promising approval within 15 minutes. Luckily for me, we arrived early at Singapore’s Changi airport because Gitty wanted to do some shopping. I reached out to them via WhatsApp and everything seemed legit so I put the process in motion. The ticketing agent did not expect to see me again so soon, but with less than half an hour before the counter closed, I showed up at her station with my pre-approved Visa in hand and got a boarding pass for our flight. Gitty and I arrived in Da Nang together (yay!) having navigated this minor hiccup. Four days later, I received confirmation that my Visa was approved, so at least I filled out the form properly. Good to know.
View of the beach from the suburbs to the city of Da Nang
Ut’s house is modern and spacious. First floor: kitchen, restroom, dining and living area; next two floors have each two bedrooms with bath room, then the next floor is another living room and on top is a roof terrace covered with solar panels
Staying with Ut, we were mere steps from a sandy beach, but we were still stuck in the burbs without a cocktail bar in sight and at least a 20-minute drive from the hustle and bustle of downtown Da Nang. Ut owns a lovely multi-story house in a neighborhood more akin to Vietnam’s past where she commutes between Vietnam and Germany. She believes that in twenty years, her neighborhood beach strip will succumb to the high-rises and hotels of urban sprawl, but by then her kids will have to deal with it. The ever-mercilessness process of progress.
Sister-in-laws
We ate a few times locally at a Phở restaurant in her neighborhood that Ut visits regularly.
Our neighborhood restaurant (for breakfast, lunch and dinner) with the two choices: Pho or Bun Cha (Delicious soup with a large thin slice of beef or a soup with pork meat balls) (US$1.17 or $1.36)
We also enjoyed playing pool at a billiards parlor down the road from her place.
Mostly, we took Grab (the Asian equivalent of Uber) downtown to try out several finer restaurants and explore the various bars of Da Nang’s famous beaches.
Outside of Hue are many imperial cemeteries of the various Kings over the centuries – we visited one
We arranged a day trip to Hue, an historic city surrounded by a number of tombs from previous Nguyen Dynasty emperors. A two hour drive away from Da Nang, each of the tombs had their own unique architectures and as a whole is recognized as a Unesco World Heritage site.
Mausoleum built for Khải Định, the twelfth Emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty
Imperial Palace
After stopping for lunch and a bowl of Xue’s famous Bún bò Huế soup, a Vietnamese gem not yet mainstream in the States, we visited the Purple Forbidden City, somewhat modeled after the Forbidden City in Beijing but on a much smaller scale.
The sprawling wall-enclosed complex with ornate gates and an imperial Palace was another World Heritage Site worth visiting.
Imperial City gate
Several temples and tea houses and beautiful gardens filled the expanse along with koi ponds and a lake for boating. The Imperial City also included a throne room, long covered walkways, and cultivated gardens. It was the principal domicile of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors and served as the royal residence and administrative center of Da Nang for centuries. Ut marveled at how it changed since her youth. For one thing, cordoned off areas and entrance fees were non-existent back then. Of course, an influx of disrespectful international tourists also didn’t exist at that time.
One of Da Nang’s downtown attractions not to be missed was the Fire and Water display at the Dragon Bridge. We found a spot along the river sitting on two plastic stools and sipping some refreshing coconut drinks we purchased from a vendor. The Dragon Bridge was built around 2013 with the snaking form of a dragon flowing through the center span with a spine of glowing lights.
The head of the dragon spews jets of fire at the sky in puffs of black smoke and sprays jets of water at tourists gathered at the foot of the bridge like human sacrifices.
Gitty and I visited the Ba Na Hills (named for the Banana plantations dotting the hills). We took the longest non-stop single-track cable car in the world over towering trees, a flowing river and cascading waterfalls. We broke through a layer of low hanging clouds and into the shining sun before arriving at the top where the French colonists built a small town in 1919. A Vietnamese group expanded the area into a larger attraction that draws huge crowds from all over Asia. After a weekend of grey clouds and light rain, we spent a beautiful, sunny day outdoors wandering many interesting sights.
Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills
One would be remiss to visit central Vietnam and not stop at the Unesco World Heritage city of Hoi An, a site known for its well-preserved Ancient Town.
“You don’t have to pay to take a photo of me, but do you like to buy some fruit?”
City on the river
We arrived around lunch and found a nice restaurant on a canal where we sampled local recipes. What made this area special was the architecture, a wooden Japanese bridge with a pagoda, and an open market and ferry quay. The domiciles are decoratively tiled with wooden components carved using traditional motifs. We wandered among these old houses now converted into shops, restaurants, and family shrines. Eventually, and with the heat of the day draining us, we grabbed transport back home.
Vietnam would commemorate 50 years of independence a few days after we departed. Before the big celebrations throughout the country, each of the local villages had their own smaller events and Ut was invited along with her western guests to a neighborhood party. We didn’t know what to make of the invitation, but on Saturday night, we dressed nicely and walked the few short blocks to the festivity. Other neighborhoods commemorated with their own block parties, the streets around us booming with music.
A stage was set up at the end of a street with a woman singing in Vietnamese as we arrived. The neighborhood residents sat on folding chairs watching the performance. Three empty seats awaited our arrival near the front. We were being given the red carpet treatment. After a few performances, the local political appointee spoke about Vietnamese things we didn’t understand.
After generous applause, everyone rose and cleared space for large, round tables laden with bread, rice, shrimp, pork, and chicken, spring rolls with dipping sauces and other local specialties all protected in saran wrap waiting off to the side. Men and women carried the tables into the street and set chairs around them for a communal dinner celebration.
There was plenty of beer to go around as well. We couldn’t drink half our glass before someone filled it up again for another round of toasts. Sometime during the evening, the karaoke singing commenced.
Regulars who attended this celebration annually sang their favorite songs to the cheers of the audience.
People danced various ballroom dances like waltzes, foxtrots and tango to the music. One particular couple danced with the knowledge of experience. We were invited to dance as well, although after one particular song, a Vietnamese gentleman approached me with the advice to count one, two, three, one, two, three as I tripped over my own two feet a lot. I’m not sure if he wanted to improve my dance step or show off his English, but either way it was good advice.
We tried to sneak out after a few hours, but our hosts were not having that. Before we left, I was dragged on stage and had to belt out a song. Not having something prepared, I chose My Way by Sinatra. I should have chosen ABBA’s Dancing Queen as that would have brought my own crowd of dancers to the fore. My voice echoed down the street, the only English bouncing off the walls of the neighborhoods, fortunately in key. I received my fair share of back slapping before we were able to extricate ourselves and depart.
We left Vietnam feeling good about spending time with Ut, but also excited to be heading to our next destination and further adventures.
