Da Nang
Since we were rapidly fleeing Cambodia because the heat and humidity were too much to bear, we decided to skip the similar climate of southern Vietnam, start in the middle of the country, and finish in the north. Our Vietnam travel plans were thrown together at the last minute (again, because of our sudden intolerance of the weather), so we paid a travel agent in Siem Reap to handle our Vietnamese visa, then flew from Siem Reap to Da Nang, a mid-sized city home to Vietnam’s third largest international airport (after Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi). Our arrival was one of the smoothest and most painless airport experiences I’ve ever had: no crowds or lines (partially because we arrived late at night), a clean and modern terminal, and a friendly, English-speaking associate to sell us SIM cards.
The muggy weather in Cambodia followed by a sudden change to a much cooler climate was clearly not appreciated by my body, as I woke up with a cold the following morning. Lucky for me, we were staying in a hotel in a quiet, sparsely populated neighborhood that was almost reminiscent of a beach town, except without the people.
In fact, Da Nang as a whole baffled me with its apparent lack of residents. After multiple drives and walks through town, we had seen many multi-lane roads and barely any traffic. At first, I thought it was because we had arrived very late at night, but then I noticed the same absence of vehicles during a daytime taxi ride. In fact, I noticed this same phenomenon in multiple places throughout Vietnam, a country that’s infamous for traffic so chaotic and dense that Westerners have to relearn how to cross a street. While we did eventually see some classic Vietnamese traffic, we saw just as much non-traffic. My best explanation is that the Vietnam War – called the “American War” in Vietnam – gave the country a clean slate for construction, as the old roads and towns and bridges were destroyed. Given this clean slate, they rebuilt things with future expansion in mind and the vehicular population simply hasn’t caught up yet. Is this actually true? I’m not sure, but it sounds reasonable to me.
Given my illness and the rainy weather, we mostly took it easy in Da Nang for a day and a half: massages, some laptop work, trips to Vietnamese cafes, and the first of many breakfasts (throughout the country) of eggs, French bread, and strong coffee. After a couple nights, we left for the next destination, making sure to include a quick visit to the massive Lady Buddha statue, one of the big tourist sites in the area.
Hoi An
After a 20-minute van ride, we arrived in Hoi An, a very popular tourist destination on the coast. Besides the waterfront location, the city is famous for its Old Town, a historic part of the city with architecture that incorporates Vietnamese, European, and Chinese influences. The old buildings have been converted into restaurants and shops, mostly selling clothes. In fact, one of the must-do activities in Hoi An is to go to a tailor – by some estimates, there are upwards of 500 of them – and have clothes custom made. I sprung for a pair of “jeans” – the material is stretchier than denim – and a pair of shorts. Though I’m sure I could have shopped around or haggled more, I was happy to pay $40 for two perfectly-tailored pieces of clothing. Ayu and our new travel friend Kimberly got similarly excellent prices on several pretty dresses.
The rain was sporadic over the next few days, which thwarted our attempts at any real excursions, so we filled the time with shopping trips to old town, delicious food, a tea tasting, and a one-hour boat ride along the river.
When the rain finally stopped and the sun came out, we went on a gentle afternoon bicycle tour (with Heaven & Earth Tours) through the countryside, admiring local villages and homes, villagers showing us their crafts, traditional bridges, waterways, and the gorgeous green rice paddies Vietnam is known for. We capped off the day with an amazing dinner at Morning Glory, probably my favorite restaurant in Vietnam.
The next day we rented bikes from our hotel and set out on our own, riding through more rice paddies and villages before grabbing a late lunch, then riding to the coast for a well-deserved beer on the beach. We spent the evening, as usual, in Old Town, enjoying dinner, live music at a quiet garden bar, and the narrow lanes and strings of lanterns that make the quarter so atmospheric.
Hue
After our unexpectedly long six-day stay in Hoi An, we took the bus to Hue, the old capital of Vietnam and a city with a lot of historical significance. However, my first impression wasn’t so great, as the bus ride there was awful. Instead of seats, we were each given inflexible, plastic half-coffins to slip into. Needless to say, sleeper buses in Vietnam aren’t built for someone who is 6’2″, so I spent most of my time readjusting my legs to find that perfect, least-terrible position. Once I had mostly accomplished that, the bus’s air conditioning started to drip disgusting, black water on a select group of individuals on the left side of the bus, myself included. At our half-way rest stop, the bus attendant switched me to a seat in the very back of the bus, which turned into a sauna when the aircon was turned off, so I was wet with sweat too. It was a shitty four-hour trip.
For our first full day in Hue, we booked a daylong sightseeing tour, which included several ridiculously expansive and ornate mausoleums, the ancient city, a “dragon boat” ride on the river, and displays of martial arts, incense-making, and conical-hat-making. By mid-afternoon, the heat and humidity had drained all of our energy, so we called it a day and bailed on the last hour of the tour.
The weather hadn’t changed much by the next day (our last in Hue), so we all scattered and had personal days; I worked on photos on my laptop, had more delicious coffee and veggie food at some local spots, and got massages with the girls in the evening.
The following day was our 16-hour train ride to Hanoi, so after a leisurely lunch and some window shopping, we took a cab to the station to catch our mid-afternoon train. The three of us booked beds in a sleeper cabin and the fourth bed remained unoccupied until a train employee hopped up there in the final part of the journey to catch a few hours of sleep. It was a pretty standard sleeper car experience, with the occasional noisy stop as passengers shuffled on and off the train and food vendors shouted on the platform. The food sold onboard the train wasn’t vegetarian at all – which we had been warned about in advance – so we were very thankful we had brought with us some takeaway from our favorite Hue restaurant. Most of the time on the train was spent sleeping or reading, but we did make sure to savor the incredible view; from our western-facing side of the train, we had a picture-perfect orange sunset over the lush rice paddies of the countryside.