We check into our hotel in Da Nang in the evening at the Draco Hotel situated in a really cool neighbourhood with great restaurants, pubs and a beautiful cafe across the street within a short walk to the beach. And a fabulous rooftop bar and pool!

That evening we ate burgers and grilled cheese at the restaurant across the street called Bikini Bottom with a SpongeBob theme. Very funny.

In the morning, our guide took us to Monkey moutain – Nui Chui Moutain where the 67 metres lady Buddha stands. The complex was built between 2004-2010 mainly from private donations.

He explains that most temples in Viet Nam have a happy Buddha in the front, then lead Buddha in the middle, the lady Buddha on the right and the Karma Buddha in the left. In Vietnam, they worship Lady Buddha and Happy Buddha mostly.

The massive Bonsai garden there is donated and maintained by volunteers and is worth a lot.

Our visit to the golden bridge was a bit of a surprise. We didn’t realize that the bridge was part of a sort of an attraction park. The area is being developed by the Son Group, owned by the 2nd richest man in Viet Nam. They rent the land from the government and have rebuilt what used to be a French village during the occupation, but that was destroyed. They have now rebuilt a simili Paris at the top of the mountain with the most famous buildings that can only be accessed by 5 cable cars built by Austrian. The mountain stands at 1400 metres above sea level. In the winter, it is mostly cloudy, which was unfortunate for us.

It gave us a feel of Disney world – particularly Epcot.

Interesting fact – the highway leading up to the base of the mountains are built and maintained by the conglomerate and are in perfect condition.

The golden bridge was built in 2014 and they used a women Vietnamese architect who did a fabulous job. But it was built as an attraction for tourist. It represent a strand of silk held by hands to take you to heaven. A bit disappointing.

The village is composed of reproduction of things like the Notre Dame cathedral, all the hotels bear names of regions in France and they now have added buildings representing other countries like a German beer garden, a section for China etc…he asked is I want to go inside the “Notre-Dame cathedral”….euh no. I have been in the real one 🤣.

They also have a garden called Jardin d’ Amours with multiple garden structures.

On the side they also have fantasy park which is a park with rides.

Everything is clean and all staff wave and guide you as you walk by.

He told us that there can be up to 10,000 visitors per day in the winter but double that in the summer. currently Chinese are not allowed in the country but when they reopen the borders they will be everywhere.

This was not really a very Vietnamese experience.

We move on to Marble mountain. They now had to stop extracting marble as the mountain was going to cave in. But we could visit the grotto at the top where they have built temples. Very pretty. I was happy to find several mortal and pestle and chose one as a souvenir.

The guide then takes us to the Ho Chi Minh museum and other war museums in the same compound. This guide is not as knowledgeable and can not answer some of Chuck’s questions 🤣

It is very interesting to read the signs and see the photos and artifacts from the other side than the American. Uncle Ho is definitely revered here, although I wonder what he would think of the way the country has developed squarely embracing capitalism.

That evening we make our way to the beach just before the sunset. Beautiful beach with lots of surfers and waves.

Later we enjoy a very very local lunch – we had no idea what we were ordering. We believe chuck was having BBQ chicken organs skewers. Very chewy!

The next day we transfer to Hoi An and meet our guide at our new hotel – the Delicacy Hotel. Very lovely hotels and beautifully appointed room. Once again the staff is amazing!

Our visit of Hoi An is truly excellent! This is our favourite Vietnamese area so far. Much less hectic and quaint and full of history.

Here in the old quarters, the river overflows each year during the rain season by at least a few feet so every shop needs to move all their wares up to the second floor by October.

We learn that this area was completely destroyed during the war and that it is thanks to a polish immigrant who came to help rebuilt that they maintain the flavour and traditional architecture of the area. There is a canal that separates the old quarter. In the 1800s, one side of old quarters was established by Japanese and one side by Chinese as the guide tells us these two people do not like to live together.

Nowadays most have left but there are still descendants here. Some of the houses opened to the public are built with solid dark wood and have several very old artifacts and dishes and are still owned by the original families.

One of the highlights is visiting the silk worm factory. We learn that it was the Vietnamese who invested the process with worms and not the Chinese. And that the Chinese that were selling silk in medieval times were making their ware with Vietnamese silk. It is a very short process from north to cocooning which is the silk. We see worms at various stages of their life – 7 days and 22 days. They must grow mulberry trees as that is the only thing they will eat.

We learn that there are 3 types of silk – the natural (raw) one which feels a bit like linen and will show some imperfections due to knots that they must make with the one strand. Up to the refined silk which is the glossy one that is made with several strand from multiple cocoon. The mixed silk is usually made of silk with other material like cotton.

We are taken to the showroom and I fall in love with a magnificent Silk tunic representing Hoi An. I purchase a tailor made one with the natural silk black pants – excited!

We continue our tour and visit another temple but learn again that the majority of Vietnamese in the centre are not religious. They believe in Karma and that you reap what you sow.

They value their ancestors and judge people based on how they treat the elders in the family. No one has pension here so the children are responsible for paying to support their parents. Here they do not all live together as most elders remain in the countryside where they are established but the children move to Hoi An or Da Nang to work and raise their families.

They also do not have healthcare so again they must cover all expenses. The schools are also not free – not really a government for the people here.

We also learn from Trien that there is severe discrimination by the government for any descendants of anyone who sympathize with the American or was in the south army. For example, his father was in that army so he will never be allowed or able to get a government jobs (like be a teacher). His niece received a scholarship to a university in Moscow and they had to bribe the official to pass the background check to allow her to go.

Here they also do not keep track of the day they are born, only the year. They prefer to celebrate the day that people die as a way to remember them. The government recently required them to declare birthday so a lot of people chose January 1st but other February 2nd, March 3rd and so on. He tells us that his parents have no idea of the date that their 8 children are born.

We have lunch at the Hoi An street food restaurant and I finally try Cao Lau (only available in the old quarters) and Mi Quang. I absolutely LOVE Mi quang. I will definitely figure out the spice for that sauce. It is amazing! They assemble the food right in the middle of the restaurant!

We come across this hilarious bar where I drop off Chuck to go get my tailored pants.

In the evening we meet up with our new very good friends Rick and Monica who are also touring Vietnam and have dinner at the Hai cafe. We thoroughly enjoy sharing each other’s impression of VietNam so far and the places we visited and have a wonderful evening! We pledge to find a way to visit each other again!

Next day is our last day here as we fly to Bangkok early evening. So we pick up my tailored tunic and the linen pant suits I also ordered from a different store.

We enjoy lunch at the famous morning glory restaurant. They have a list of teas to solve all ailments :). Now off to the airport….back to Thailand!

PS: I have become addicted to ginger – honey tea.

PPS: while we saw many older white men with young Thai ladies (mostly scandinavians) in Thailand, we were happy to see that this doesn’t seem to be the case in Vietnam. We do notice much more Caucasian tourists from many different countries and of all ages – you can hear so many languages spoken everywhere.

PPPS: We have discovered that getting money from an ATM in Thailand is very easy so no need to bring cash. But in Vietnam, cash exchange is king. And best to have USD to exchange ATM are not as prevalent and not all of them accept the Canadian Interac debit cards. So it is much harder to secure local cash which is how everyone wants to be paid.