Whenever I’ve been asked about Da Nang, I always tell people it is nothing more than a transfer hub. At least that’s all I’ve ever used it for. It has the closest airport and train station to charming Hoi An, which should be on everyone’s visit list when visiting Vietnam. My friend Vora had visited Hoi An before and asked that we spend a few days in Da Nang so I was forced to conjure up some activities in a town I’d always heard has nothing to do.
The Markets
The first morning we took the recommendation of our hotel concierge and visited a few of the city’s markets. We’d already heard about two, but he mentioned a third that was not far from the hotel. Because we were in the mood for different things at breakfast, we split up and visited different food stalls.
It’s always fun to try to piece together how and what to order at a place where no one speaks English. I usually walk up and down the aisles looking at what people are eating and then circle back to what looks the most appealing. This makes ordering more simple in that I can just point to what someone else is eating as my order. In my case, I ordered based on what I saw on the person’s plate. As it turns out they’d already eaten half their meal so I got twice as much as I expected.
When we finished eating, we browsed the market and stopped at a vendor selling dried fruit and nuts. They handed us samples to taste, and we walked away with several bags of sundries. These fit easily in the compartment below the motorbike seat, and we headed off to the next market. While walking through the food section there, we regretted having eaten at the first market.
The second market was much more crowded and exclusively with Vietnamese. At the last market we’d seen a couple westerners, but not one was to be found at the second. The food was different enough that we decided to sit down for a second breakfast and were aided by a Vietnamese man who explained all of the dishes to us while balancing a cigarette on his lips.
The final market was entirely a tourist market. Most of the stalls were geared toward providing clothing and souvenirs to visitors. It was interesting to watch how distinctively different each culture negotiated with the vendors. I have to suspect that the vendors understand each culture and base their original quote on where they are going to end up based on the buyer’s nationality.
Most Americans don’t like to negotiate and usually pay the quoted price. This is probably in part because the price seems low to us, and it feels cruel to even pay less. Indians, on the other hand, treat negotiations like a tug of war and will not give in until they feel like they’ve gotten a deal they can be proud to tell their friends about. Someone shared with me this difference between Western and Asian cultures: Westerners tend to tell you how much money they spent on something, Asians tend to brag how much they saved on something.
What drew the most attention at this market was a Korean woman who was screaming at one of the vendors. She was making such a spectacle that other vendors were video taping her. She was so abusive I was surprised the vendor didn’t just turn her away. We did a quick circuit of the market, and upon our exit could still hear her in the distance. Vora spotted a bucket hat on the outside of the market, and after a quiet and polite negotiation walked away with her new purchase, both she and the vendor smiling.
Bridges
The tourist market was right along the H’an river so we decided to check out the bridges that Da Nang is famous for. Each of their bridges has a unique architectural style, but the most unique is the dragon bridge. The bridge is designed to appear as if a dragon is diving above and beneath the vehicle deck. During the day all of the bridges show off their style, but the dragon bridge shows its true colors in the evening.
One of our nights in Da Nang, we headed out to see the evening show. It starts with the illuminating lights changing colors along the span before building to the moment the amassed crowds have been waiting for. Just after 9pm, the dragon breathes fire.
A series of three bursts emanate from its mouth after which it pauses long enough for you to wonder if that was it. Just as you’re about to turn and walk away, again its mouth lights up with a golden orange followed by a puff of smoke. When the flames end, you may again think to walk away, and this time you should, and with haste, because following the flames comes the water.
I’m not sure if it is simply to bring harmony or to cool off the steel, but water shoots out of the mouth and douses the unsuspecting crowd standing downwind from the dragon. Having toured the markets and bridges, we still had half a day ahead of us, and I recommended we check out a part of the city known for its murals.
Murals
It seems common practice around the world to use art to beautify an otherwise unattractive neighborhood. In this case, not only did it make the series of alleys more attractive but it brought business in terms of tourists coming to see the decorated walls.
Between murals, we got glimpses into the lives of those who lived on the alley. Sometimes it was in observing their laundry or whatever was collected in front of their homes. Other times we were particularly lucky when a door was left open and we got to see inside. Most places were dark, either to save electricity or to keep the place cool, though there was often a TV providing ghostly light and the melody of a foreign language coming from the rectangular black box.
Surf and tough
We headed home for an afternoon siesta before foraging for our dinner. One thing that surprised me about Da Nang is that the number of restaurants far exceeded the number of people there. Never did I see more than two tables occupied at any of the numerous establighments. Not only was there a large volume of restaurants, there was a large variety. I asked several people why the city was so empty, and they all said “Covid”. It seemed odd that this one city was slower to recover than any other place we’d been.
Like the Indians I mentioned earlier, Vora loves to haggle, and she’ll haggle over things I didn’t even know were negotiable, like massages. As we walked past a row of massage chairs a woman approached us with the ubiquitously uttered, “massaaaa”. In many cases we’ve found that this is the only English they know and once you stop, you’re quickly transferred to the manager who usually has an excellent command of several languages.
A bit of banter later, and we were both face down on massage tables for a 90 minute massage, total cost $9/ea. We’d never had a Vietnamese massage so we did our best to tell them what we didn’t want. Neither of us like the tough Thai massage which usually involves an otherwise tiny Thai girl using her elbows and knees to make divots in your muscles. As it turns out, Vietnamese massage is much closer to Swedish massage.
We stumbled away from our massages, but Vora was not so relaxed that she’d lost her ability to negotiate, and we headed towards one of the streetside seafood vendors. The main attractions were giant 2 and 3 pound lobsters. They were beautifully displayed surrounded by other seafood like shrimp, scallops and mussels. There were price signs above the displays, and it took us a little bit to figure out the significance of the difference in price.
We had assumed that it was the price per pound, and it didn’t make sense that it would be different based on the size of the lobster. As it turns out, it was the price for the entire collection of seafood beneath the sign. Once we determined what was included, Vora began her negotiating. By the time she was finished, we had a two pound lobster, two squid, a handful of mussels and prawns for the equivalent of $20.
Marble mountains
The next day we decided to head south to visit the marble mountains. These are three or for marble anomalies that jut above the otherwise flat landscape. On one is built a series of temples, and it is the reason most people visit the place.
As you approach the Marble mountains, you see lot after lot of marble statues at a scale that seems outright unrealistic. It’s hard to imagine anyone shopping for a 20 foot tall marble Buddha. I can’t even fathom how you would get that home or the shipping costs involved.
Once you make your way past all the souvenir shops, you begin the long climb up the mountain. The steps are steep and high, strikingly disproportionate to the short Vietnamese people. It’s as if they were built not for people but gods.
Inside the crown of the mountain is a collection of caves and temples. The variety is impressive, ranging from a Japanese garden to a Buddha being bathed by a waterfall. They are all hidden and finding them is like making your way through a maze. Once you get to the highest point, you are rewarded with a broad view of the valley all the way to the ocean, which you can hear crashing upon the shore in the distance.
After the marble mountains, we made our way back to Da Nang and headed north out of town. Perhaps because of our morning visit, I was drawn by the rugged cliffs rising from the ocean. On our way to the cliffs, we passed the largest collection of fishing boats I’ve ever seen. It was as if the entire bay was crammed full with hundreds of boats. It’s a wonder there are any fish left in the sea with a fleet that size.
Our attention quickly turned from fish to monkeys as we passed a sign warning of the primates ahead. As if on cue, they appeared almost immediately, crawling along the power lines and jumping into trees. So much of our attention was drawn above us that I almost ran over three of them in the roadway.
Having had previous experience with monkeys, I knew better than to do anything besides observe them and of course keep everything close and tight against your body. We kept vigilance as we stepped off the motorbike to look out over the cliff side at the end of the road. One peculiar thing was that despite seeing several beaches below, we never saw any reasonable way to access them. With nothing more to do than take pictures, we headed back to the hotel for another afternoon siesta.
Familiar foreign food
As happens when traveling, the urge to eat something familiar crept in. When you arrive in a foreign country, there is alway the excitement to sample all the national cuisine. After a time, however, you do tend to yearn for a bit more variety. We are spoiled in America having access to food from all over the world available almost any hour of the day.
If one can have too much lobster, I had, and I was craving lasagna. I researched a couple Italian places and found one with several excellent reviews. They proved to be accurate as the owner welcomed us when we entered. He sat down and talked with us a bit as if to determine what we would enjoy most. In the end we ordered too much, but it was hard not to given the great variety of the menu.
A little later in the evening we were surprised with live entertainment. The owner brought out a guitar and began to sing. He played a couple tunes that everyone knew and encouraged us to sing along. It was a joyful camaraderie as people from China, Russia, England, and America all sang “when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore”.
Our raucous evening was the perfect end to an eventful two days. I am much more knowledgeable about Da Nang and pleased to report that it is not just a place to pass through but a place you can spend some time. Next we head to Da Lat, a place everyone raves is the Asian Switzerland.