Vietnam

01/03/2026

I didn't sleep much. The hotel room was great with a super comfy bed and blackout windows, but I just didn't sleep. Maybe I was anxious or excited, but regardless, I woke at 3am, had a shower and got out of there. I had been told on arrival that reception at Hotel Ibis was open 24x7 but there was no one there, so I threw my room key on the bench and headed to T2.

The board said they were checking in at gate N, but who needed that? I was a modern traveller (lol) who could check in online. I pulled the phone out and attempted to checked in, only to discover the app couldn't understand my e-visa. Frustrated, I lined up in the priority queue which seemed to be going nowhere. Frustrated even more, I left and and joined the "cattle class" line. Handing my passport to the lady behind the desk, she asked "Are you aware the flight is delayed 3 hours?"

With time to burn I decided to go back to the hotel and get some more sleep. Even if I couldn't sleep, it would be a nicer environment than sitting around an airport. People could be seen trying to sleep in corners and on the floor, and I had forgotten such a world existed. Returning to the hotel, with no one around, I reached over the desk and took my room key back. I set the alarm for 6.30am, but again I didn't sleep.

Returning to the airport with 3 hours to spare, it took 10 minutes to pass through security and then customs. It was crazy quick. Now I had 2 hours and 50 minutes to burn. My ticket said gate 10, but at gate 10 there was nothing suggesting that Air Asia was leaving from there.

The time passed and I people watched until the flight crew showed up. Most of the flight crew were the same people who were at the check-in desk. There was only one, problem... no plane! Fuck, would we ever leave?

We finally boarded about half an hour late, and proceeded to sit on the tarmac for another 30 minutes for refueling. We then taxied somewhere near the runway takeoff point and sat another hour. Thankfully, no one was sitting next to me, so I slid over and peered out the window only to see 20+ planes queued up and waiting to go. One would take off and then one would land. It seemed an incredibly slow process. I assumed we simply missed our slot and now had to wait to be squeezed into a spare slot.

After an uneventful flight I finally arrived in KL Malaysia, and quickly learnt this airport was massive. I had to walk a long way following the signs to "Transfer", where I ended up at the transfer counter and was given a new ticket, but told my flight to Vietnam didn't leave till tomorrow morning. "You can't be serious!" I thought, but I didn't say it. What would be the point. They were providing free accommodation at the Tune Hotel and I simply needed to "go through immigration and you will see the signs to the hotel" he told me.

There had been a couple on the people in front of me, they weren't fat, but rather big people, and people you just knew were Australian. "Where you guys heading?" I asked. "DaNang" he replied. "So you're being shuffled off to the hotel as well then". "Yeap" he replied. Then they ignored me. They weren't really interested in in any further discussion. Both started tapping away on their phones doing who knows what.. Australians are just rude people I thought.

Spotting a sign that said Air Asia Fast Track I headed to the passport checkout only to be told "You go over there and use machines". So I headed in the direction he said, but I couldn't see any machines, and decided to hope in the immigration line with everyone else. At the counter the immigration officer said "You must fill in arrival card. Go back over there and fill in card, and then use machine. No need to come here again".

Of course I had to fill in an arrival card! Angry with myself for not thinking (after all , I was a modern traveller) I returned to where the Aussie couple I spoke of were originally standing and discovered that they were in fact filling out their arrival card on the phone, not ignoring me, and this is what I must now do. Although, later I would run into them at the hotel, and they said nothing totally ignoring me!

With a deflated ego, I gave thanks to Holifly for giving me mobile reception upon landing and filled out the card until it said "Address of Stay". Like WTF! I was told Air Asia Tune Hotel, how do I know the address? One of the immigration officers was very nice, took my phone and completed the form for me. It left me thinking the people here are so willing to help and so relaxed, I need to change my Australian ego wanker energy and calm down a bit.

Once past immigration there was no person with a sign "Tune Hotel". There were no signs anywhere for Tune Hotel!

Spotting a currency changer I headed there only to discover the AUD/VND rate was exactly the same as in Melbourne. In Melbourne they wanted to pocket $21 per $100 which just seemed crazy. I thought $AUD21 is a hotel room for the night!

My issue with VND is that I needed to pay the hotel and it was my belief that they wouldn't accept cards. Thus, I didn't want to turn up there without cash, and I have no idea where an ATM will be.

Now where is this hotel? I know, Google maps to the rescue. Maps directed me into the airport car park which was open to the outside, and in the sudden humidity I quickly became a saturated mess. Sweat poured from every part of me, and I was soon soaked. I even found the area where they parked bikes and scooters. It went for miles, as far as the eye could see. Bike riders here must be really thin people because I could hardly fit between any bikes, especially with my bags. My position on maps jumped all over the place, and although I could see the hotel, I couldn't see any way to it. After walking around, I gave up. I found myself retreating back to the airconditioned airport where I proceeded to walked all over it and search for a sign. That was until I did something a normal tourist would do in the first place, and what I should have done in the beginning; I asked someone where the hotel was? Then I asked someone else, and someone else, and eventually a policeman. The cop knew, and told me I had to go to a lower level M1, and once on that level I then saw the signs everywhere. It was a 10 minute walk.

At the hotel I received two meal vouchers for the restaurant. My first meal of Mee Goring was so good, I went back an hour later with my second voucher and had it again!

The alarm is set for 5.30am and the plane (although I hold little hope) leaves at 8.30am.

02/03/2026

I got up at 5.30am, quickly packed and headed downstairs. Leaving the hotel at the same time, I noticed a woman carrying her backpack on a trolley and when we came to the first lift, it didn't appear to work. Both flustered I said "I think we're stuffed!". This made her even more panicky and as she repeatedly pressed the lift button, it shut.

We followed each other and chatted. She was on the same plane heading to DaNang. The airport is quite large and multi level, but we worked together to navigate to departures. At departures there was a sign saying "No Trolleys" so she ditched the trolley and put the backpack on her back. She also had a backpack on her front. I think she was around 30 yo but had a slight accent.. maybe German.

We both cleared customs, and they weighed my bags again - 13.5kg. We headed to Gate L16, but when we passed through the second bag scanner, her backpack seemed too large. She asked me "Do you know when I check this on, as it's too large to go in the plane.

"You always check baggage before customs" I replied. Then it happened... A female explosion of uncontrollable rage, blaming me because "I never told her that!" WTF... How is this my fault? I don't even know you lady!

I told her ask security what to do, and left her too it!

02/03/2026

The flight into DaNang was uneventful, but as we approached I became worried I would need an arrival card. I didn't want all the drama I had in KL. Nothing had been said about it during the flight. Leaving the plane, I followed the crowd to immigration where I found myself in a queue that seemed to be endless. Still worried, I spotted a security woman at the Visa desk and left the line to ask her. "Where you from?" she asked. "Australia" I replied. "You have Visa?" "Yes" I said. "Any line, any line" she shouted waving her arms. The only problem was that my "any line" had now turned into an even more massive line. "Fuck me" I thought, I've just added another hour to my wait asking for help.

DaNang is an amazing city of colours, particularly when compared to the darkness you see in the west. The streets are vibrant and it's lovely to look down a street and see all the flags. It's a really nice look and feel, and such patriotism doesn't exist in Australia

On the negative, right of the bat you can feel the pollution in the air. It sort of has a heavier feel to it. My throat is starting to feel a little raspy, but I'm not sure if that's the air or I may be getting a little sick. The air is also sticky. It seems to stick to your skin and you feel covered in an invisible blanket. A shower makes you feel renewed, and there is a lovely breeze at night that seems to cool the city.

The bed was firm, and I mean really firm, however, surprisingly I didn't wake up sore. Vietnam is 4 hours behind Melbourne, so I'm still trying to adjust to the time. Cafes and shops seem to open early, and I have read the beach mornings are incredibly popular.

I ventured to the beach last night and was really overwhelmed by the amount of restaurants. I felt embarrassed and a bit unsure what to do if I actually wanted to eat some food. Easing my comfort level, I found an Aussie restaurant serving burgers. Thus, it was the big Aussie burger for me. At $205,000 that was around $11AUD and given my budget is $400,000 VND per day, it's not bad value, but still I think a tad expensive. Maybe it's because it's western and tourist focused.

03/03/2026

Today I asked Grok what the plan should be and she suggested a walk along the Han River Promenade.

I headed to the Vincom Plaza, which is quite upmarket by western standards. On the top floor they have a large selection of restaurants that obviously focus on the more wealthy. I noticed some of the upper market restaurants were charging $VND1000000 which although it's only $AUD58, when considering my room is costing around $AUD20 per night, it seems crazy expensive. My current food budget is $VND400000 which seems ok.

Thuy (my host) asked me if food was cheap, but when you compare the price of food to accommodation in this way, then food is very expensive. In Australia, I would think a simular room would be around $160 per night, and you can buy a shitload of food for one at $160!

Setting off from the plaza, I headed along the river towards the Dragon bridge and soon became somewhat surprised by the amount of rubbish in and along in the river. Considering this is a prime tourist area, I couldn't help but think surely they can employ people to clean this stuff up. Then I realised something. I haven't seen a single council worker or policeman yet. Police just don't seem to be anywhere at all.

Another thing that is really strange is (as I'm writing this) I'm sitting in a coffee shop that is playing the English music song Beatles "Let it Be", and yet when I ordered my coffee no one understood English! And it's even crazier that I chose the smallest seat in the joint, and now I'm this big overweight guy sitting in a babies chair! This is a common issue I have come across for western people like myself. The local people are so small, it's like living in the land of oompa loompas.

And what's even more crazier than that crazy, is I asked for a black coffee, but I received a white coffee. The order was completely lost in translation, but is actually yumm! I just hope the milk doesn't give me an issue, as I've been trying to stay away from dairy. This coffee shop is "Our.Lock coffee" and it seems to represent a noticeable theme in DaNang - People love to lounge around all day in coffee shops, all glued to whatever device they hold in their hand. Around the corner is "Parkview 19", and it's good too, but I think the coffee here is slightly better.

Da Nang really is a thriving mass of human beings, and all seemingly doing something with purpose. The roads pulse with a constant flow that appears to be endless. Crossing the road requires walking at a constant pace without stopping and basically shutting your eyes, Amazingly the traffic just seems to flow around you and continue on it's way.

On the way back over the Han River Bridge a girl on her scooter broke down, and it was interesting observing the traffic flow. Traffic was very cautious about swerving around her, as they were obviously aware someone may be on their left side. Instead they seemed to just pile up behind her until the pile up was wide enough people could go around.

Shortly after this, a scooter came up beside me and started yelling "Hi I'm Mary". I waved at her to continue along and not block the traffic, but she persisted "I work at the hospital, I'm from Da Nang". Wondering WTF did "Mary want, I turned and approached her "how can I help you Mary?" She looked at me funny, so I tried again "what do you want from me?" She looked at me and exclaimed "I like you, I love you, and I want boom boom!"

The Dragon bridge is a worth seeing, but nothing that is jaw dropping. On the other side of the bridge is the Charm Museum. I headed there, paid $VND60000 and thought to myself, the Air Conditioning was worth it. Pretending to look at a carved lion, I soaked up the fan as it blew Godly goodness onto my back.

Overall, I had little appreciation for the charm sculptures and was quite of put by westerners rabbiting on about how magnificent certain sculpture were. These people where either fake or just fake. Whatever they were, they were not my type of people. The only sculpture I really liked, was a nude woman with perky breasts. 5/10.

Crossing the road, I asked a street seller how much for a bottle of water and she showed me $VND100000. "Too much!" I said and walked straight into the McDonnalds next door where $VND104000 bought me a Big Mac meal with coke. Are foreigners that gullible or are they so spoilt that money means nothing to them? If the later, they don't deserve to have it. I have no idea what she was thinking charging such a crazy amount, but I have to say that most Vietnamese I have engaged with so far have been very sincere.

I've learnt water runs about $VND7000, which makes me embarrassed considering I complained yesterday about $VND6000. And now I reflect, maybe the street seller showed me $VND10000 and not $VND$100000. Both are easy to mix up as I seem to regularly do.

At the dragon a woman selling folding fans approached me, "one dollar, one dollar" she yelled. No idea what she was talking about, I took out $VND1000 and said "this". She laughed and showed me $VND20000. It was then I realised $AUD1 is exactly $VND20000. I thought do I really look that Australian?

Deciding to complete the loop by walking the other side of the river back to the appartment, a man came up to me selling his motorbike tours. I'm not sure about that yet. I'm not sure if a tour is worth exploring or I just use grab. I would like to hire a bike, or even buy one. But given it's illegal for any Australian to ride a bike, I'm hesitant on all fronts.

04/03/2026

Starting to sleep much better l woke at 6am. Which is better than the morning before at 4am.

After a couple of hours Googling Danang and what to do, I settled on a walk along the famous My Key beach. The beach proved to be lovely, and the water was strangely warm. There was a guy fishing, but I'm not exact sure how he would catch fish in such warm water.

I walked south and discovered a series of resorts, each being guarded by a security person. My Khe beach is definitely the tourist area of DaNang. While I sat on the beach, from one of the resorts came a couple that still has me laughing. Dressed in their snorkeling gear, they adorned their floaties and proceeded to wade into the water. Unfortunately, I was laughing so much that I was slow on grabbing the phone for a snap. They walked out just above their knees and then turned around. I think they must have become scared!

It also became evident and somewhat concerning the number of people talking to cameras on the beach. Many were talking, waving, and dancing. I watched one girl talking to the camera, flicking her hair, and then filming herself swimming. It was a bazar sight, and one I found myself being uncomfortable with.

There is a dark side to constantly taking selfies and talking to a video camera. I understand some of the people may have been doing so as their work, providing income for their existence in Vietnam, but I'm also sure many are doing it because the audience is their friend. It's just not something in society I believe can be healthy. Is the world really this vain?

That night, I found myself looking at YouTube videos made in DaNang, mainly those that I had watched before coming to here. It's was interesting as I found many YouTube videos don't reflect my experience so far. In particular, one video had her talking to the camera in a DaNang cafe. She was saying their are many expat people to engage with in DaNang that you don't need to be lonely. But I couldn't help but think if that is true, why are you talking to a camera!

My experience so far is that expats stick very much to themselves. Most won't say hello, and simply walk past and say little. You have more chance of a response from a local Vietnamese. This of course may be vastly different in a bar, with a few drinks. Prior to coming here I had joined several DaNang Facebook groups, and read several comments about fat white guys sitting in bars all day and pursuing young women. Regardless of if these comments were made in spite or unfairness, the bar scene is just not something I want to go near.

It's my experience so far that most tourist are couples, and strangely I have seen more single female expats than male. Also surprising, is I have seen a number of white Western women with younger Asian men.

Back at the beach, I couldn't help myself and had to go swim. Stripping to my jocks I ran out and lay down in water about a foot deep. The rip was crazy strong, but the beach had a very gradual slope. Over paranoid about all my stuff sitting on the beach being taken, I didn't venture too far. In fact I had waited until the entire area seemed the most deserted before taking a plunge.

The salt was noticeably strong, but the water was clear and warm. Then came a major dilemma. Do I wear wet jocks under my shorts or take them off. I opted for the later and grabbed a grab back to the apartment.

Grab is SO cool. It's lovely to be on the back of a scooter zooming along in the traffic. It all seems to flow smoothly and it's surprisingly relaxing. Traffic doesn't move fast and it's funny watching people ridding along while talking on their phone, smoking, eating, and carrying all sorts of shit on their bike. I had to laugh aloud when a guy went past carrying a big screen TV.

Hopefully doing grabs this week will help me prepare for when I get a bike. The bike issue is an issue I mull over. But, if I am to really explore this place there will be little option. It will be good to get away from the city, although as I have already said, DaNang is very chill.

After a shower at the hotel, I grabbed another grab and headed to Con markets where I found myself chilling with a coconut. I enjoyed that coconut so much, I went back later and had another one while people watching. Sitting there I couldn't help but watch the chaos but feel a calm about it.

The Con Market was very enjoyable (8/10) and walking around the meat section was eye opening. It made me realise how amazing Australia's meat and seafood is. Not only is the Australian standard of hygiene world class leading, the choice of protein available is amazing.

The main seafood fish available is a local fish called Thu (mackerel) and freshwater carp. While meat seemed to be chicken, pork, and some type of red meat that I couldn't recognise. I didn't see any lamb or beef, but I really need to do another trip and focus more on the meats and vegetables locals eat.

For lunch I ate in the market at a place that seemed crazy busy where I had pork. 7/10

Wanting more of the markets I went to the Han Market. This market is a tourist circus and for the first time, I found the Vietnamese people aggressively selling and asking questions. It's not a market worth visiting for an authentic experience. 5/10

At the Han Market I realised that I lost my sunglasses cover, and went looking for another. It was situation hopeless. Eventually got a cover at the DaNang Plaza, which I think will be better because it will keep the glasses in a separate pouch.

For dinner, I decided to dine at the same place of the previous night. I really like the grilled food at this place. This time it was later at night than I had been before and I watched some expats or tourist walk up, study the menus, and walk off. "Fuckin Westerners are wankers" I thought. "The food is really good here, so just try it". There are so many restaurants in DaNang, I don't think you can go wrong anywhere if it's busy, and especially if there are western faces sitting at tables. However, maybe I wont say that if I get sick.

05/03/2026

Time to do something touristy and head to marble mountain. I took my favourite mode of transport - the grab bike of course. I just love these things. Maybe it'd the freedom of being on the bike and not having to concentrate on the road, I'm not sure. The mountain was 8kms away and it cost me $AUD3. Just excellent value and fun.

Arriving at the mountain, I was instantly confronted with the sales pitch and people wanting me to buy all sorts of souvenirs. One particular lady was lovely and quickly befriended me. She showed me where the ticket box was and gave me a run down on prices. All in the hope I would look at her shop on my exit. Of course I had no intent to do so!

I paid the extra $15000VND and took the lift to the top for a total of $VND55000. There I found myself transformed into a world of temples and Buddhas. Taking my time to climb the many endless stairs, I ultimately ended reaching the highest point of the mountain. Recovering and sweating like a foset at the peak, I watched an older American guy take his last step onto the summit. People suddenly started clapping, and he proudly announced "old man still alive!"

I could instantly relate. My legs were flooded with lactic acid and didn't want to move. I felt like announcing "old man over here!"

Climbing to the summit wasn't worth the reward, and there are really only two areas I think were worth visiting. That being Tam Ton Pagoda and Huyen Khong Caves. In my time there I only saw 3 monks, and assumed the public weren't allowed where they actually were.

Leaving the mountain via the Gate2 I heard my name being yelled. Yes, it was my friend who had showed me where the ticket box was. God have mercy. She lead me to her shop and tried to sell me hand calved trinkets for $VND400,000+. Disappointed and angered she gave up and realised she had picked the wrong horse. However, I did ask her about Trump which she then told me was an idiot with the Iran war. She also told me she disliked China because they took there islands. I had heard this being said before at the Charm Museum. It makes me feel sympathetic to the Vietnamese people who seem to have a long history of victimisation.

Leaving my friend who could easily sold ice to the eskimos, I grabbed a grab and headed back to the hotel.

After such a hard walk, I decided a massage was in order. Walking down the street I went into the first Spa that I passed. A pretty young lady sat down with me and went through the prices. We agreed on a Thia massages for $VND500,000 ($AUD27) which was more than I wanted to pay, but hell, she was pretty and I felt she could rub me any day. After negotiations, I stood up and asked if she was doing the massage? She pointed to an older, unattractive lady about 4 foot tall standing in the corner and said "she massage you!"

The massage turned out to be very good. She had a great touch for knowing just when enough pressure was enough. However, today I am feeling quite sore all over.

Running low on cash, I headed to an ATM only to discover it was shut. Thus, a search for a restaurant that accept cards began. After being confronted by two guys along the way telling me I can get "boom boom" here, I found an ATM and ate on the street. The only problem was I wouldn't fit in the seats! It was good, but not great. 6/10