Da Nang, Vietnam

We booked a night in Da Nang for three reasons: travel was easier to Quy Nhon from here, we wanted to visit the Golden Bridge and we found a nice cheap hotel. The hotel is newly renovated but had old reviews on it’s TripAdvisor from when it wasn’t so nice. We decided to give it a go and we are so glad we did; it was lovely and at £7.50 a night we couldn’t complain. The staff were so helpful and welcoming. As well as this, the rooms were new and clean. 

Unfortunately, we arrived in the rain so we spent the afternoon doing laundry and relaxing. We heard good reviews about a burger place nearby. As Chris loves a burger, we went there for food in the evening. Chris opted for a huge double burger and I went for my usual cheeseburger. The food was great and fairly reasonable. Nearby was a night market that had a few food stalls. We didn’t stay for long as we had an early start the next day and we were already very full from the burgers.

One of the reasons we came here was to see the Golden Bridge; it has become popular lately and you can see lots of posts and photos about it on facebook. The bridge itself is up in the mountains within a Sunworld park called Ba Na Hills. The entry price for the park is pretty steep at 700,000 VND (£23 ish) and it is located around an hour from Da Nang. We knew that taxis were pretty expensive there so we opted for a tour that included the entrance, transport and lunch. We had been warned the day before about the weather and visibility but decided to go ahead regardless. It was a rainy day and as we went up in the cablecar we could barely see the line ahead. As we got to the top we couldn’t see much, particularly sad as we could barely see the bridge. Not quite what you want but it was cool to walk on the bridge and to see the hands up close. 

On this level of the mountain, there were gardens and pagodas to see. After this, we caught another cable car up to the top where there is a French Village, amusement park and games. Before we went exploring we had a buffet style lunch. There was so much choice of mains and dessert (my fave). There were signs up that said you could be fined if you did not eat everything on your plate and waste food. Luckily, we did not get fined (Chris the human dustbin). We headed to the amusement centre to play some arcade games; a big plus is most of them were included in the price. As it was such a rainy day, this was a good place to be as it was dry and fun. As well as games, there were performances and rides. It was a disappointing day with regards to the weather but we had fun despite this.

At this point, we had extended our stay at the hotel to three nights and were told that for our last night we would be upgraded. We packed our stuff and headed to our new room which was so lovely. The usual nice decor as well as a city view and more room. 

We wanted to visit the beach but the weather was not great. Instead, we headed to the local market where we did some shopping. We had both been eyeing up different clothes/bags and comparing prices and this market was pretty cheap. Chris bought himself a (knock-off) nike t-shirt and a patterned shirt and I got myself a woven bag. The market was not quite built for westerners as the isles were so narrow and the saleswomen/salesmen were pretty full on but we got what we wanted. After this, we had some lunch and luckily it had cleared up a bit so we headed towards the beach and went for a walk. We stopped on the way for some ice cream and a coconut but it was a little too cool for a swim.

During the day, I had wanted to go to a creperie which had amazing reviews. Unfortunately,when we turned up it was closed until 6pm so we decided to come back later. We found a pizza place a few streets from the creperie, shared pizza and chips and went to get a crepe for dessert. It was so good that I had to have 2!

On the weekends they have a fire and water show on the Dragon Bridge. We were excited to see this and got there early to ensure a good view from a cafe. In true rainy season style, 5 minutes before the start of the show it started chucking it down and we all ran for shelter. Luckily, this only lasted around 5 minutes and we were able to watch the show in the light drizzle.

I am really glad we stopped in Da Nang; the hotel was so lovely and we had some delicious food, although it was a shame about the weather.