November 28th, 2024
Thursday morning we had a bus to catch to Danang. The bus company had called yesterday and asked if a 9:30 departure would be okay (a half hour later than we booked) and they’d offer hotel pick up and drop off to compensate. Sold!
We exercised, showered and went down for breakfast around 9, checked out at 9:30 and our ride picked us up about 15 minutes late due to an accident on his way to get us. It was a large SUV this time, with a young couple from Belgium in the back row and after we were picked up, another single guy was added to the front seat to fill vehicle.
The drive was just over two hours with one bathroom stop. We went through three tunnels, the last of which was just over 7 km / 4 mi long.
BTW like pretty much everywhere in the world, Vietnam is getting ready for Christmas too. There are many places, like malls, fully decked out, and many restaurants are playing English Christmas carols; sometimes the same ones over and over again so we are not escaping the commercial lead up to the big day. We will not be going home this year; we’ll be somewhere on the south coast of Australia camping for the big day.
Tidbit: Da Nang means opening of a large river.
The weather was partly sunny and about 25C / 80F so quite pleasant. We were dropped at the wrong Grand Lotus Hotel despite giving the correct address to the company but the bellhop there took our bags over for us (two blocks) and we tried to check in. As our room was not ready despite being approved for an early check in, we asked about tickets to go to Ba Na Hills Resort – home of the “Golden Bridge” this afternoon as it looked like the best weather day of the three we will be here. The hostess said she could buy us tickets, but we’d have to pay cash for them (but could use credit to pay for the room [?]) so after the fourth ATM machine, we managed to get some cash. Many of the banks here do not seem to work with foreign cards for some reason.
Anyway, when we returned, our room was still not ready so we bought the tickets, arranged and paid for a car and driver to get us there and back, and went to check out the beach which is just a block away. The tickets cost us about $39 USD each and included a buffet dinner at 6 pm. The park closes at 10.
We sat and had a beer at the beach which was a bit windy and had a red flag up – there was no one in the water.
When we returned, our room was ready. The Golden Lotus hotel booking we’d made included breakfast and “afternoon tea” at two pm so after getting to the room, we changed and went to try that out.
View from our room between the buildings:
Our room was a very nice king room with a fridge, private bathroom, kettle, Wi-Fi, robes & slippers, a broken view of the ocean a block away between two tall buildings and for this we paid $145 USD for three nights.
“Tea” was up on the rooftop by the pool and it wasn’t much but at least now we know. It was two small muffins, two cream filled cakes, another sweet and two small ham croissants as well as iced or hot tea.
Rooftop pool:
We ate quickly as we’d arranged the car for 2:30 and Helen, the hostess took us to the car.
Bà Nà Hills or Sun World Ba Na Hills is a hill station and resort and one of seven properties developed by Sun Group, one of Vietnam’s largest real estate developers. The station was founded in 1919 by the French as a summer resort, and after many years of disuse, was purchased and expanded by Sun Group int 2009 into an amusement park/resort. Being located nearly 1,500 metres above sea level, it has a view of the Pacific Ocean (here in Vietnam they don’t like to see the “South China Sea”) and the surrounding mountains. Due to the elevation of the resort, the temperature is cooler than the environment near the coast.
The Ba Na Cable Car, which opened in 2013, holds the world record for “longest non-stop single track cable car”, at 5,801 metres (19,032 ft) in length. The site includes the French Village, Fantasy Park and more. Its latest tourist attraction is the Golden Bridge (the bridge being held up by two hands).
The drive to the park took about 45 minutes and you could see it was not going to be clear up there. The driver walked us to where you catch an electric cart which takes you to the ticket counters. As we already had tickets on our phones, we tried to find the cable car. This was our first encounter with the terrible signage and what we felt was a lack of information. There no maps or information about what was on offer given out and the one paper map we did find onboard the cable car, was in Korean!
Anyway we found the cable car entry point after asking a few people and took the escalators up to the boarding area. We had a car to ourselves and up up up we went into the fog.
As you can see the further up we went the more fog we encountered. We arrived up top and immediately were at a viewing platform which is closed! Not that you can see the bridge anyway but why was it closed? This turned out to be just the first of many closures (not sure if they were all due to the weather). The place was definitely not empty but there were not many people at all. There seemed to be a lot of groups who were leaving as we got off the cable car as the line to return was huge so by the time we were there, the day ticket people were beginning to depart.
We made our way to the bridge and visibility was quite limited unfortunately; we never saw the bridge in its entirety nor could you even see both hands at once – sad for us.
We managed to take selfies at each hand and it was a good thing we didn’t wait, as the fog got thicker as the late afternoon progressed.
This is what we were SUPPOSED to see:
Around the end of the bridge you see this:
We walked to see the Le Jardin d’Amour (the love garden)
the Buddha and the walkway leading up to it:
We tried to get to the Luna Castle but it turns out the road we thought was the way from the Korean map we had, was closed so after going back to the cable car station and asking, we learned we had to take another cable car to get higher up the mountain and walk to it. So we did that in thick fog. It was rather cool and damp feeling the entire time and as we’ve mentioned before, we didn’t bring warm clothes to this country so we were cold!
We saw the “Louvre” and the buildings around it but when finally approaching the castle, the fog was so thick we gave up.
We found Fantasy Park and it was an indoor amusement park
We walked over to the French Village and getting up close to buildings you could make them out. We saw medieval style buildings and a replica of Notre Dame complete with the rose window.
Then we made our way through even thicker fog and we passed so many closed shops, markets, restaurants to the end of the place where the Beer Garden was located. We were there around 5 so we weren’t sure they’d let us in but the place was hopping and it was warm inside!
The evening ticket we’d purchased included a buffet for 6pm. This place had three levels and we were directed to the lower one. It turns out the ticket included two litres (yes, two litres) of beer EACH! As it was a bit early to eat, we got a beer each and found a table to eat.
The beer was a craft brew made by the resort and we were surprised how nice and light of a lager it was. We figured there wasn’t too much alcoholic content in it as so many Asians were drinking it too!
There was a live band on the floor above us and lots of decent music.
Turns out we were only two of three Westerners in the place (on this level anyway). On getting our next beer, Doug invited the only other one over and we spent the rest of of our time chatting with Kirin. He is 22 years and is an Irishman living outside London. He’d just finished school a few months ago and had been working and touring in eastern Australia before coming here.
We checked out the buffet and had some food but most of it was meat which we are trying to avoid and the stuff that wasn’t was not very good at all or it was cold. The best part was the fresh mini pretzels but they ran out of those pretty quick.
Around 6:45 a few dancers came into our floor and entertained us.
After three beers for Doug and two for Fran, we’d had enough and gave our remaining tickets to Kirin who indulged. About 7:30 we contacted our driver and told him we would be making our way down soon. At this time, the buffet was practically empty and there was only one remaining cable car running which we had to wait 15 minutes for. We ducked inside the hotel lobby and waited to be out of the rain that had started.
We took the cable car down, walked past elaborate settings, our driver found us and we took Kirin back into Danang with us.
He got out with us outside our hotel and caught himself a Grab back to his hotel. It was a nice evening Kirin – hope the rest of your trip goes well!
So the whole excursion was somewhat of a bust but we had a nice time drinking and chatting with our new friend.
Friday was about the same weather as yesterday (partly sunny not foggy like up in the resort) but it seemed windier so a little cooler. Fran did yoga, we went for breakfast and then both went for walks; Fran on the beach, Doug not. It was a pleasant walk on the beach but she liked the beach at Nha Trang better even though it’s not as long as this one, it was much cleaner. However, here there are more successive waves here which is nice to look at. She got to a point walking south where there were crews cleaning up and beyond them reached a point that really needed cleaning and she turned around there.
One of the famous things about Danang, is the Dragon Bridge. It is lit up every night and on weekends, the dragon breathes fire and spits water. This we really wanted to see – actually it was the reason we went to Hue first and backtracked to come here to be here on the weekend. We read on most sites online, that it only breathed fire on Saturdays and Sunday, but a few sites said Friday’s too. Fran asked our hotel hostess to look into this and she confirmed we’d have two chances to see it while we’re here depending on weather. Helen advised the best was as to take a taxi and watch from the east bank.
That afternoon we went to the beach to read. It was a tad cool to go swimming but the view was worth it. Two chairs and an umbrella cost us less than $4. We did see a guy go into the water and have a lifeguard tell him to get out; like in Nha Trang the red flags were out due to the strong waves/current. He walked north on the beach and was back ten minutes later when the lifeguard, who was on motorcycle, moved on down the beach. Ah the things people do for social media, eh?
We returned to the room afterwards and chilled till dinner time when we went out to a vegan restaurant that had quite an amazing menu selection (more to Doug’s liking than Fran’s but she enjoyed her meal) including vegan ice cream!
We returned to the hotel to watch a bit of TV before catching a cab at 8pm to get a spot along the river to see the Dragon Bridge breathe fire. We were told to arrive 45 minutes before 9 to get a decent spot to view the show. Some enterprising locals had set up tables and chairs along the wide sidewalk and were selling drinks and beer which we indulged in while waiting.
The main bridge span was started in 2009 and completed on October 26, 2012. It was officially inaugurated on March 29, 2013, on the 38th anniversary of the liberation of Danang City.
The Dragon Bridge is 666m long, 37.5m wide across the Han River and equipped with a lighting system of total 15,000 LED lights. It is the longest suspension bridge in the country, and currently the world’s largest dragon-shaped steel bridge. The bridge was designed and built in the shape of a dragon and to breathe fire and water each weekend night at 9 pm. The dragon’s head breathes fire nine times and spits water three times.
So for about 40 minutes we watched the bridge change colour from orange to red to blue to green and watched the cruise boats that were even more lit up, travel along the Han River as you can view the show from boats as well.
The traffic across the bridge stopped at 9 (not ten minutes before like websites said) and while we can’t say for sure it shot fire nine times, it was very cool to see and we had a pretty good spot about 220 m away; they say if you are within 200m you can get wet but the locals believe it’s good luck!
Here are some pics and video.
The entire time its breathing fire or shooting water it continues to change colour.
We caught another Grab back to our hotel and had a good night’s sleep – very good in fact.
Saturday, we awoke to mostly cloudy skies as predicted; Doug went for his long run, the best he’s had in a few weeks, and we went out for breakfast to the vegan place again for another very good meal. Fran did a walk north on the beach this morning.
We went to the beach again in the afternoon to sit for a few hours and read. It was not as windy as yesterday but also not as hot so no desire to go into the water but we loved watching the waves and there were several surfers out there to entertain us.
That night we went to an Italian place for dinner and it was very good pizza and it was 2 for 1 on the wine tonight so Fran enjoyed that instead of beer. We both slept well again and Sunday morning the sun was out (figures!) and after breakfast we went for walks; Fran on the beach going north, Doug in town going south. We met up at Cong Ca Phe for our favourite iced drinks and then returned to the hotel to pack up. We have arranged a late check out for 1pm as our bus north is at 1:35. We called a Grab to get to the pick up point. Like in Hoi An, the hostess here has been most kind and helpful and we wish Helen all the best.
We arrived at bus “station” at 1:20 only to be told bus would not be leaving until 2pm. They gave us a couple of chairs to sit on on the sidewalk and we took turns walking and watching the bags. The bus did leave on time but we could not see how we were going to arrive anywhere near on time when the distance was 689 km / 428 mi! We had booked a double sleeper cabin; we thought this meant we’d be in the same “bed” but it consisted of two “beds” across the aisle from each other on the lower level. The backs of the seats come up to about a 45 degree angle and were barely comfortable unless you used the provided blanket as a pillow to sit up straighter and Doug found it very cramped – we can’t imagine how anyone taller, could find it comfy.
We made a few bathroom stops, a dinner break that was supposed to be 30 minutes but ended up being 50 minutes! Fran stayed in contact with our hotel and advised we’d be quite late. They said to just call them on WhatsApp when we get off the bus and they’d meet us at the gate.
When 9:30 came and went, we decided we should try to sleep but the bus conductor had decided to lay down in the aisle between us (we did have privacy curtains) and he snored like the loudest freight train we’ve ever heard. The driver didn’t help with his music and honking although to be fair, it lessened the later it got as there was less traffic. So instead of dropping us off at 10:10 pm as per the ticket we’d purchased, we got dropped off in Tam Coc at nearly 2am at the bus station!
Tidbit: Tam Coc means three caves
The lady from Lys Homestay met us just outside her place and let us in, copied our passports, took our payment and let us into our room. Fran was pretty sure she’d book a room with a “deluxe room with a balcony” but we got a “family room” with two large beds but it was too late to argue – we just wanted to get to bed.
Here we have a private bathroom, AC and a ceiling fan, breakfast included, Wi-Fi and good hot water on the third floor for $55 US for two nights.
Today was a three tunnel day – same ones we went through to get in and out of Hue.
After breakfast Monday morning, Fran dropped off a few things for laundry with reception (just to have enough to get us to Hanoi) and we had a decent breakfast. The hostess showed us a map with things to see and do and we retired to our room to decide what to do. We’re both feeling rather wiped and although Fran did yoga since she was up before Doug, he didn’t feel quite like running first thing in the morning.
We walked down to the “marina” about 300 m away and tried to get a boat tour on the Ngo Dong River – the reason we came here. The sky was overcast but the cloud ceiling was high and the chance of rain was quite low.
This is the famous photo of this trip:
Well, it’s very weird; this is where you get on the boat but you have to go to the bus station where we were dropped off last night, to buy your ticket! They point you to a mini electric golf cart style bus, it takes you over there, you purchase your ticket and they drive you back! It cost $20 for the two of us for the boat ride.
We had our own boat with an older male rower who sadly didn’t seem to want to row with his feet as many of the others were doing. He seemed winded at times too but kept trying to show he wasn’t by passing others! Anyway, he took us up the 2 km through three caves and lots of lotus flowers. This is the wrong time of year for rice paddies but we preferred this anyway as we’ve seen lots of rice paddies in our travels here and in other Asian countries. Instead we saw thousands and thousands of lotus flowers!
We took a few videos, lots of pics of lotus flowers and the karst mountains. This area is often called “the land version of Ha Long Bay” because of these karst mountains.
(Can you tell we enjoyed seeing all the lotus flowers!?!?!)
The boat seats were quite uncomfortable so at the end of tour we were happy to get out! It was a lovely peaceful ride down the river and we are very glad we came.
We walked around town for about a half hour and then returned to the hotel after picking up some drinks; Doug went for his run.
After showering, we went to see the owner of the hotel and rented a motorbike for a couple of hours to see more of the area. This cost us, with petrol, $4USD! We got helmets and off we went. Doug took us to the area he ran in and we saw the boats on the river, some shrines, fields, ponds, fisherman and restaurants.
We drove around where Doug had jogged and stopped to watch the boats go by as well:
We then went out of town to Lotus Lake – we weren’t sure what to expect but it was pretty cool. It actually was a lake full of lotus flowers! Now there are not all in bloom, no far from it, but they have set it up with walkways and boardwalks so you can walk amoungst them. There is a $4 fee to enter and of course, there are shops, cafes and restaurants.
We really enjoyed walking around in the lake. The pink lotus flower is the national flower of Vietnam and it’s quite lovely. There was a few nice fountains and bonsai trees and a pretty waterfall.
Around 3:40 we sat in a cafe having a cold beer with a view of the lake and then got back on the bike and went to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner. We went out for street food for dinner that night. We had arranged with the hotel for an early breakfast (6:45 instead of 7:30) but the booking agent for the cruise that arranged out transport from Tam Coc to Ha Long reached out and said our pick up would be at 7, not 7:30 so Fran went down to tell the hotel owner, Lys, that we would cancel breakfast so as not to inconvenience her and so we wouldn’t have to get up that much earlier. She said she’d pack us something up.
She was already up when we went down the next morning before 7 and gave us a 3 bags with some breakfast items: one with pineapple, one with mango, one with bananas and two small mango cakes. So nice of her. She really has been one of the best hotel owners we’ve met. She runs the place with her husband and her two sons and their wives.
The bus that picked us up to to take us to Ha Long was a small limo bus:
And after we boarded the bus, it stopped three more times to pick up others. Most of the drive was under overcast skies with a bit of rain at first and we went mostly through built up area and not rural.
When we stopped around 10:15 for a bathroom break, we were told we had to board a different bus. We were unaware of this but when Fran reached out to the agent, she said sometimes this happens; everyone else was boarding a cruise today and going to the main port whereas our hotel was near the other port which is for the ferry to Cat Bai Island.
After changing buses (from a bus to a 9 person mini van), the driver took the toll roads and we arrived about 20 minutes earlier than scheduled (a rarity). The skies cleared and it was quite a pleasant day.
As we entered the city we saw this long mural:
We arrived in Ha Long at our hotel: Ha Long Essence and our room was not ready; Fran had asked for an early check in between 12 and 1 but it was only 11:10. We left our luggage and walked down to the beach about two blocks away.
Tidbit: Ha Long means “descending dragon” in Vietnamese. The meaning of “Ha Long” is also associated with the legend of the origin of the Vietnamese people, “Con Rong Chau Tien,” which is about dragons descending to help the Vietnamese people fight against foreign invaders and protect their homeland. More specifically, during a foreign invasion, the heavens sent a mother dragon, accompanied by a flock of dragon offspring, to help the Vietnamese fight against the invaders. As enemy ships from the sea relentlessly attacked the coast, the dragons created countless jade gemstones, which transformed into myriad towering stone islands that linked together like an impregnable fortress wall and halted the advance of the enemy.
To our surprise it was quite a lovely sandy, wide beach with coconut trees but with NO people and not until we walked about 600 m did we encounter beach chairs and umbrellas. Turns out this is low season and the end of typhoon season. We asked the fellow in the little snack shack the price of chairs and told him we’d come back in a little while.
We walked over to see Sunshine Garden and noticed the area all around here was pretty much brand new, away from the main part of the city, with hardly any traffic, people or shops. The real estate development company Sun World seems to own most of the land and buildings and most of them were empty probably due to low season and there are few shops and restaurants around, let alone open ones.
We did see many broken trees and storm damage from the typhoon 3 weeks ago – the 7th this season. The biggest one was back in September: Typhoon Yagi hit many countries in the south China Sea from Philippines to Vietnam. On the Vietnamese mainland, the actual wind measured at a level 14 gusting above a level 17, which was assessed as the strongest storm to hit the Vietnamese mainland in the past 70 years. There were 325 deaths 1,987 injure and 23 missing with damage assess at more than $3.37 billion! Sad.
We returned to the hotel, got checked in, paid and then grabbed some stuff to head to the beach for a few hours of reading in the shade near the water. It was super quiet, just a few people around, a long kite surfer but luckily the little snack shack had drinks and ice. The water was definitely cooler than down in Danang and certainly cooler than Nha Trang – just Fran dipped her feet. There was a lovely breeze and although we’d been feeling hot on our earlier walk, we didn’t feel the need to go into the water – just enjoy the view.
We returned to the hotel by 4 and before six we went to find a place to eat – there is VERY little around our hotel and after the two places we did check out (one just seafood and the other not open) we returned to the hotel and asked the hostess; she found us two vegetarian restaurants and we took a Grab to one; it was part of a hostel and although Doug enjoyed his meal, Fran found hers lacking. We then decided we should hit an ATM because we may need more cash than we have on us for the cruise (tips, bar bill, etc.) and returned to the nearly empty hotel for the night.
