Dragon Bridge

Possibly the most famous landmark in all of Da Nang is the Dragon Bridge, which spans the Han River from east to west. The Dragon Bridge is, as its name suggests, designed to look like a dragon, and breathes fire from its mouth every weekend at 9:00pm.

Just across the Dragon Bridge is Vietnam's answer to Singapore's Merlion, a dragon-carp that spits a stream of water.

It was a hot and very sunny day when we explored Da Nang on foot. We crossed the Han River Bridge, walked through the eastern side of town, and then crossed back on the Dragon Bridge. This gave us a great tour of the town, and we got to have some beautiful views of the Han River.

I can't get over how different Da Nang is from Hanoi. It's like a totally different country. Hanoi feels so very Vietnamese. Cold (even when it's hot outside), dark, rainy, grimy, historic, ancient, and very Communist. Da Nang is so modern, international, relaxed, colorful, bright, and laid-back. It's got a huge expat population, and it really does feel like an entirely different country. I had only visited Hanoi before, so I  thought that it really encapsulated Vietnam. I guess I was wrong! I will know more once I get to Saigon (HCMC), Vietnam's biggest city, but it really seems so far that Hanoi is the anomaly.

Da Nang even has its own version of the Lovelock Bridge, like that bridge in Paris. Couples will buy a lock to attach to the bridge to symbolize their eternal love.

I really do feel that Da Nang wouldn't be a bad place at all to be an expat. At the very least, I can definitely see myself visiting on a visa-run every year or so. What a beautiful city!

 

Couples secure their lock on the bridge and throw away the key, symbolizing that their love will last forever.

 

After crossing the bridge we visited a very small Buddhist temple. Unlike in Hanoi where most temples are Taoist, here in the central region, they are almost exclusively Buddhist. 

This temple was under refurbishment, but it was still a really atmospheric spot to visit.

This was a long, tiring day! We also visited a bunch of museums. By the afternoon, I was exhausted (and a bit sunburnt). The most interesting museum, though, was the Museum of Cham Sculpture. Champa was a Khmer kingdom that ruled southern Vietnam for hundreds of years. The art at this museum is distinctly Khmer, nearly identical to that at Cambodia's Angkor Wat.

The Pink Cathedral

Da Nang Cathedral, one of the most iconic landmarks in Da Nang, is nicknamed the "Rooster Church" because of the French-style rooster weather vane on the top of  the steeple, and because of  its stunning and unique color. Da Nang Cathedral is entirely pink!

 

 The cathedral is located just near the riverside, surrounded by lots of amazing restaurants and cafes. It's one of  the most beautiful and scenic spots in the city. Pinky and I have really been enjoying visiting all of Vietnam's beautiful churches and cathedrals. Vietnam has one of  Asia's largest Christian populations; some 10% of the population are practicing Catholics.

Da Nang Cathedral was built by the French, and is amazingly well-preserved. Although it's quite old, it's in better condition than Hanoi Cathedral, which, made of stone, is aging because of the city's pollution.

We knew that the cathedral was pink, so when we saw this beautiful pink church on our first day, we thought that was it! It turns out that Da Nang has two pink churches! This one is a parish church, not the cathedral, but it's still really beautiful. Who would have guessed that pink would be such a popular color for a church? But then again, Da Nang is a very colorful city - much brighter and far more colorful than Hanoi.

Moving On to Da Nang

We left Hue in the afternoon. We checked out from the home stay, got a coffee at a cafe outside of the bus booking office, and waited for our bus to arrive. I wasn't quite ready to leave Hue yet, but I was really interested in Da Nang, Vietnam's fourth-largest city and major port.

It's only three hours from Hue to Da Nang, so we settled in for the relatively short bus ride and enjoyed the scenery as we rode along.

We rode along the coast the entire way! From time to time, we could see the ocean off in the distance. At one point, we rode through a super long tunnel cutting through the mountains. And then, we were  at the bay and heading to Da Nang city!
 

Da Nang is on the coast. It has a few really famous beaches. It also has a big river, the Han River, that cuts through the city. Da Nang also has several mountains. It's one of the few cities that I know that has beaches, river, and mountains! Each part of the city feels totally different, though. The beaches are very laid-back and touristy. The river area is more built-up, livable, and more of a business center.

Da Nang feels a lot more livable than Hanoi! The sidewalks are wide and easy to walk, the traffic is so much better, and everyone seems to be much nicer and more relaxed than in the north.

It's a big, modern, and developed city with lots of cinemas, shopping malls, cafes, and restaurants. It feels a lot like one of Thailand's big coastal cities - something like Pattaya or Hua Hin.

We will be staying in Da Nang for about a week before moving on. Honestly, I wouldn't mind staying here a while longer! It might even be a good visa-run destination for me in the future!

Pinky's sister is coming soon, and we will take a break from our work and enjoy a real vacation - staying in real hotels, eating more meals, and doing all of the touristy things that we can! I can't wait! 

We stayed in the city for the first few days, then moved to the northern coast for two days. This isn't the big touristy beach though. It's pretty, but the beach isn't so nice. We got some nice photos, but didn't go in the sea. I think we'll try to get to the nice beaches in the east, or just wait until we move further south to our next destination.

The Back Streets of Hue

It's time to leave Hue. That means that it's also time for a photo dump where I upload some photos from my two weeks in the city that didn't really fit in with any other post.

We spent some time across the Perfume River in the town, where we visited several small museums. One interesting museum was free! It was all about traditional silk embroidery.

It's amazing what people can embroider! There were even several photo-realistic portraits.

We even got to see how the craftsmen created their art.

We spent most of our time on the other side of the Perfume River, though, in the Imperial City. This was cool, because we were so close to the historical sites!

Standing guard outside of the Imperial City are the Nine Holy Cannons (which remind me of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from Monty Python). The cannons flank the citadel.

One day we wandered through a local market, where we bartered for a coffee phin (traditional Vietnamese drip filter).

We saw a lot of temples, including some local ones that don't show up on the tourist itineraries.

We visited the Hue Museum of Antiquities in the Imperial City. It was located inside an ancient palace, and the collection was really great.

Besides imperial antiques, the museum also had a great selection of war-era tanks and planes (most American).

The museum contained a great selection of artifacts from the emperors themselves, as well as an interesting exhibit about the Cham Kingdom, part of the Khmer Empire that had colonized southern Vietnam thousands of years ago. The art and sculptures there are very much like at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

And now, it's time to say "goodbye" to  Hue. We have really loved it here! It's so quiet, peaceful, and green - completely different from Hanoi. Next, we will head three hours south to Da Nang, Vietnam's fourth-largest city and major coastal town.

Homestay

For the two weeks that we were in Hue, we stayed at a wonderful home stay just outside the Imperial City.

It's in a converted house, kind of like a farmhouse. Every morning our host serves us breakfast, and there are plenty of comfy areas to sit and relax or read.

Our favorite part is the pets! The host has two puppies: Coca and Pepsi!

Lunchtime With Mr. Lac

One day near the end of our two weeks in Hue, we were wandering around looking for something to eat, and we decided to stop in at a tiny little restaurant on the street just outside of the Imperial City.

The owner was named Mr. Lac, and he was a super friendly and energetic guy! He never spoke a word of English to us, but he definitely could understand a bit. He communicated to us through exaggerated pantomimes and writing words out on a piece of paper. He also runs a tiny tour company where he takes visitors around the city on his motorbike.

Mr. Lac prepared two dishes for us. The first was banh nam, which is a rice cake with shrimp and pork wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed.

The second was banh khoai, which is a sort of fried pancake topped with veggies and meat and dipped in a peanut-sesame sauce.

This was such a delicious meal! We have really been enjoying local Hue food. As a matter of fact, the legend goes that the Nguyen Dynasty moved the imperial capital to Hue because of the region's great produce and delicious food. There are  many royal dishes that you can only find in Hue!

We love eating local food! There's a whole wide world of flavor out there, and the best part is, it's all fresh, delicious, and cheap!