We’ve been back in Da Nang for about a month, and though bloggers, vloggers and media are both touting it and doubting it, after being gone for 2 years, it still works. We heard a lot of people complaining about the construction, and that is absolutely happening. And yes, prices have gone up as well, but we moved back into the apartment we left 2 years ago and even though we’re paying about $150 more, it’s still a value, especially since they added a kitchen to the unit. We have been planning to return here pretty much since we left Vietnam 22 months ago, and our intention/plan is to stay for the foreseeable future. The visa runs are not a problem since it gives us a chance to go somewhere new (like Japan recently, Sri Lanka in August). There is no doubt we are slowing down a bit after 7+ years of nomadic travel, and this place—Da Nang– is one of the three places that we truly love and plan on making our semi-regular or semi-permanent home. As my token brother has said before, “We don’t live anywhere but we belong everywhere.”

Some of the rants we’ve heard and continue to hear:

> Construction: yup, it’s everywhere, including to the left of our unit as well as the right! The vacant lot that was there 2 years ago on one side is now a single story café (yay!), and on the other side is a tall apartment about 80% complete. Yes, they DO make noise, and it does seem that there is construction on almost every street.

> More tourists: oh yea, lots more. The Walking Streets are quite busy, as is the beach and the beach promenade. But that is true in almost every desirable city in the world. It will get busy, the buildings will grow to accommodate it, and hopefully the infrastructure will, too.

> Careless motorbike riders: How controversial is THIS topic! Tourists without helmets, even shoes! Rude riders (of all persuasions), and car drivers who don’t pay attention. As a bike rider for half a century I can state with certainty that this is NOT THE PLACE to learn how to ride!! You must ride like a local in order to fit in and stay safe.

> Too many… Russians! Koreans! Japanese! Westerners! You name it, people will say there are too many of “them.” Truth is, Russians are less than 5% of visitors, and the Japanese influence is more deep rooted, and they have a significant business presence. The Westerners, including Americans, Brits, and Aussie presence IS significant, especially in the An Thuong party and beer areas. Is it just cheap beer that brings them?? But the largest group, by far, is South Koreans, who look at Da Nang as being the “Seoul of Vietnam.” Generally (but not always) they have more money and stay at nicer resorts and do more high end tours. You’ll see more and more Korean eateries in the years to come.

Nothing in life is perfect, and no PLACE is either. You take the good with the bad, but even the worst part of Da Nang and Vietnam is probably better than where you left

The first thing that came to mind as Kathleen and I pulled into Hanoi was, “OMG, this reminds me so much of Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon.” Busy and crowded and chaotic, and as we sought out our room in the Old Town/ French quarter, we kind of questioned our decision to come here in the first place. Accessing the building was a bit crazy, and thank God for hosts who put pictures in with explanations of exactly where to go because if we had to read it verbally, we would have spent so much more time in frustration… The alley zigged and zagged through different buildings and past open kitchens and bedrooms, with people actually preparing their meals outside IN our alley. Weird. And how they could squeeze THAT MUCH density into such a small space is a miracle. And dangerous.

We got to the room, it was quite small, as we expected, especially the bathroom with, of course, a shower that intrudes upon the toilet (which I hate, but endure), but that is status quo for a lot of smaller places. We checked out some coffee shops for Kat to work, found some good places to eat, and when we got back to our room, we acknowledged that MAYBE Hanoi was not as bad as those first impressions. We learned this lesson many times in the past, but it’s easy to fall back on bad habits.

Our first evening walking around was like bedlam, as is typical for every large Vietnamese town, but in the morning it was much more relaxed. Busy, but not crazy, and not as many shops open as I would have expected, and I have found out for ME, particularly, that once I settle into a neighborhood it becomes like putting on comfortable shoes, and I embrace it.

Since this is our fourth visit to Vietnam and I’ve seen quite a bit of it, there are some things that I don’t appreciate as much as others, and someI do.

Hanoi has lots of “beer craft shops” within any given block, but truly I am not a beer drinker and certainly not a connoisseur. And of course Vietnam overall is well known for their many varieties of coffee, ie, egg, salt, avocado, but the only one I truly, truly love is my coconut coffee, which is a Vietnam staple, and of course my traditional cappuccino.

And take hamburgers, which many places spiff up and create concoctions you can’t even bite into, but as for me, give me a simple Old Burger, pure and unfettered, with ketchup, onion, and relish. Don’t need the mushrooms, nor bacon, but cheese is always appreciated!

The point is you don’t need to embrace EVERY feature that every country offers—but we WILL embrace the massages in Bali!—and you don’t need to visit every attraction within the area. As Travelers and not Tourists, we live a basic, simple, day-to-day life in different locations. But that’s perfectly fine with us.

By the time we left Hanoi after five days we pretty much (?) had a handle on things, but concluded that there may not be enough to entice us back again. Kathleen had a particularly difficult time with the cars, bikes, and merchants crowding the small streets, plus the constant noise, and the dinginess and foul odors of some areas, which was worse than many places we lived.

(Photos courtesy of Kathleen Plumley}

The small sampan rides here in town didn’t wow us very much when we got here, since we thought they just went around a very small lake. That lake, the focal point of Tam coc (near Ninh binh), is not that big, and people and buses and cars keep going back and forth all around it. We noticed the boats taking people all over the lake and thought, “that doesn’t look very exciting…” But we were missing the boat…so to speak. They were being rowed by drivers (mostly women) pulling the paddles with their feet. Yes, their feet! They were able to hold the oars on the pushing and pulling ends and made it look effortless!

But that was just the first surprise.

The other half was learning that the ride took 90 minutes went through rice fields and lotus paddies and also included three more caves. OK, we’re in! And what a pleasant surprise. Our ride started about 4:00 pm, just before dusk, when the heat of the day was behind us, and we were able to enjoy the scenery under misty, beautiful shrouds of fog, with the sun peeking through; it was heavenly. It was so calm and serene you couldn’t help but appreciate the natural splendor in this country.

Our driver spoke little English, but I used Translate to ask her how often she rowed, since doing it just ONCE seemed challenging, and she said they have 1400 boats and they row every four days. Wow, on both of those, and I have no idea where they store that many boats!

Just the day before we had toured Trang An, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and that is one of the strong draws for people who visit here. If they miss the Tam Coc Bich Dong, the official name of the ride, they might be missing a great time, too.

(photos all courtesy of Kathleen Plumley