Our first experience of Da Nang was hailing a Grab (Asian Uber). A 15-minute ride was 20,000 Dong; roughly $1. We went outside to await our driver and were swarmed by taxi drivers. One guy had a picture of Grab on his phone and tried to convince us he was our driver. Others told us we needed to wait a block away. Our driver showed up and we gladly ditched those a-holes.
Our apartment building (again, a momentary choice when we found out our original reservation had been cancelled) is a 6-story apartment surrounded by construction and old broken buildings. It’s not dangerous, just poorly developed. We unpacked, turned on the air conditioning cuz it’s hot and humid, and set out to find something to drink and to see the beach.
Our experiences below are pretty much entirely relating our experience in the Khue My area between the Han River and the East Vietnam Sea.
The area seems largely deserted. There are a LOT of closed-down shops and restaurants. The convenience marts are open, a lot of little cafes where 5 guys sit around drinking together and playing cards, some restaurants. But about 2/3 of the stores are closed and we haven’t seen them open.
The sidewalks here are largely sidewalks by name only. Construction debris, restaurant tables, scooters, vendor carts and low-slung wiring make it impossible to walk in a straight line, instead forcing you onto the road or to squeeze through, wobbling, ducking and tripping your way to where you’re going. Cars and scooters beep at every intersection because stop-signs here are very rare, although there are the occasional traffic lights.
With the Coronavirus active, about 50% of people are wearing facemasks. The traffic is busy with tons of scooters, several trucks and few cars, but the sidewalks are very empty. You don’t really have to worry about the 6-foot rule unless you are in a mini-mart or restaurant, and then only with the staff.
We’ve been to the beach every day of our stay so far. Again, it’s not difficult to avoid people, apart from the vendors. A sea-side cabana with a lounge or chair costs about $1-$2/person. Beer and soda costs about $1 each. How could we not?
We’ve rarely seen locals at the beach; it’s predominately tourists and expats, a lot of Caucasians. Lots of sporting and kite-flying and kicking around in the waves.
We also found a Night Market near the beach. The food is amazing. But it’s probably the riskiest place we hang out because people pack in there.
We did take a tour we found on Trip Advisor yesterday to Linh Ung Pagoda and the Marble Mountains. Both were largely deserted, but magnificent.
But it seems like most of the party venues and tourist attractions – the dragon bridge and the amusement park – are shutdown. We’ve only heard karaoke twice in the last week, and although that’s two times more than I wanted to hear it, it’s about a hundred times less than I expected to.
It really is a beautiful place though. I’m finding that I love the beach and beach life. The people (apart from the taxi drivers) are nice. We just feel bad, seeing all of these deserted resorts and abandoned shops, knowing that people are suffering when their primary income is tourism. We hope for a quick return to normal for everyone.
Tips:
Definitely use Grab… you’ll know the price before you go and the route. Don’t be fooled by pushy cab drivers who try to sneak a peak at your destination on your phone.
Cam on (pronounced: come on, means: thank you) and Tinh Tien (pronounced: dentine, means: check, please) are words we use constantly
Pack clothes you can sweat in.