The Sites & Smells of Da Nang

With Google maps pinned with all the points of interest, we head out ready to explore Da Nang. Already we are loving the vibe of this, the 3rd largest city in Viet Nam with less traffic to navigate and not as many high rise buildings.

First stop was the Com Market which is a one stop shop type of market not unlike our local shopping centre. Actually, truth be told, it's nothing like that at all. The only similarity is that you can do your weekly shopping here.

This is where the 'smell' part comes into play. We've been many an Asian wet market before therefore we know what to expect. All is good until you hit the fresh meat or fish section. This is when you hold your breath, closing off your sense of smell and duck in for a quick look and get out before you run out of air. The meat was mainly pork and poultry so fortunately we weren't hit with the horrific smell of all types of seafood. That is stomach churning!

Third image on the right would be my favourite. Seeing and smelling the various fragrances of lemongrass, shallots, chili, garlic, galangal, turmeric and ginger which could be purchased in their whole form, chopped or minced. How convenient is that.

We finally found out that the green skinned fruit in the second row was in fact oranges. There is nothing better than a freshly squeezed orange juice over ice from a street vendor when it's stinking hot.

It's difficult to to watch where you going when you are taking in all the different styles of architecture in Viet Nam.

With being in Da Nang, out of the highrise city of HCMC, we are noticing that long narrow buildings no more that three stories high.

Today is Palm Sunday so it's apt that we pop into Da Nang's Catholic Cathedral to take part in a small section of the mass. Luckily it was an English mass but being outside we weren't able to see the inside which is meant to be quite stunning. The cathedral is also known as the pink church. We are noticing a theme with churches being pink. Must find out why.

From this point we found us a taxi (with a meter that worked) and headed to the infamous Da Nang (China Beach).

Da Nang Beach runs in a huge bay for 10kms with clean white sand but the water is not clear. It's clean, just not clear. We sat in one of the many beach bars forcing ourselves to drink a Viet Nam cold beer.

In Western Australia we are spoilt for beaches so it takes a lot to impress us. We appreciate the size and cleanliness but didn't have the wow factor.

Deciding whether what to have for lunch. Difficult decision. Eel or Penis? We opted for a cold beer and a bag of chips instead.

That was enough for the day, we were hot and hanging to cool down with a swim at the hotel.

The evening events were ready and waiting for us with an amazing dinner along the river front ending with a spectacular show to finish the day.

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at 9pm the Dragon Bridge comes to life with an amazing Fire and Water show. The traffic stops and people wait on the bridge near the dragon's mouth. Out spirts several huge flames of fire from its mouth followed by a massive amount of water. It's a fabulous site to see especially watching all the people on the bridge as they are drenched with water.

Quite spectacular!

Da Nang is has taken our hearts and we look forward to more adventures tomorrow.

xoxo

Donna & Kevin