GARGANTUAN steps

Độc lập, Tự do, Hạnh phúc
Independence, Freedom, and Happiness
- motto of Vietnam

After returning from a Communist country steep in Confucian values, I was immediately off to another one within a few days. Not a work trip per se, but equally as tiring. This was my third trip to Vietnam – the first, back in 2010, to Ho Chi Minh City, and the second, back in 2012, to Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. I still have fond memories of those trips, with both the major cities ridden with the bullets of history, and Ha Long Bay, a contemplative wonder. This trip to Da Nang was entirely different – there were kids this time. And a word of advice about an age-old adage that one should stick to – one should limit grown-up related activities when there are children around, or else, no one is going to truly enjoy themselves.

The name ‘Da Nang’ means ‘large river’, with the words themselves arising from the Cham language ‘da nak’. The Champa people themselves were an Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia, who used to inhabit central Vietnam and coastal Cambodia. More on this later on in the blog, though. I did spend my fortnight in Beijing reading up about Ho Chi Minh, the founding father of modern Vietnam, just to get a better understanding of the country. Clearly, geographical reasons explain the majority Chinese ethnicity in the country, as well as the Asian values incorporated deep in their DNA. Yet this was a group that had withstood Chinese colonisation over the centuries, only to find themselves wilting against French military superiority in the mid-19^th century. It was actually in Da Nang where the French first began their military presence in Vietnam in 1858, before subsequently establishing their base in Saigon. Vietnam, back then, was separated into three regions – Tonkin (north, and where Hanoi is), Annam (centre, where Da Nang is located, as well as the old capital Hue), and finally Cochinchina (south, where Saigon is located). The presence of the French in Vietnam thus explains the colonial architecture littering the country, as well as the strong presence of Catholicism as well. Danang, having been where the French first conquered, subsequently became a major base from where the Viet Cong attempted to repel the Americans. Following its war torn past and crusade against the invaders, the city now schizophrenically welcomes back the very same group of foreigners it once evicted, and more, to take in the sun, the sand, and the sea. What must have once been a beautiful beach front, viewed from miles away, is now fenced up by beach resorts towering along the coastal road. The irony, once again, is that the locals are left to feed on the bread crumbs of their own land.

Da Nang is also a much smaller city compared to its larger cousins. It has a population of about 1.2 million people, making it the fourth- or fifth-largest city in Vietnam. In comparison, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have a population of 9.4 million and 8.5 million respectively. In that sense, Da Nang isn’t crowded out yet. You can still cross the streets with ease of mind, not having to worry about the endless streams of motorcycles weaving through any available gaps that you might otherwise experience in the former two cities. Also, it is catered for a different crowd – the beach stretches endlessly along its eastern border, and the mad hustle of a city is distinctively missing. Or at least, I did not get to experience it, having been secluded in a resort. It was to be a kids-friendly trip, and we did indulge ourselves a little with a nice family resort, which is highly recommended. The Hyatt Regency Danang Resort was everything we wanted – if only we could stay longer. A short twenty-minute ride away from the airport, the rooms were comfortable with spectacular views of the beach and sunrise, as well as Marble Mountains; the facilities were top-notched with many kids-friendly activities (which we did not maximise using, since we did quite a bit of touring); and most importantly, the breakfast spread was just pure lavishness. I would go back to Da Nang just to stay in this resort again. 

On arrival, we were greeted by a heat even more suffocating than that in Singapore, which you could not imagine to be even possible. But it was a blazing 34-35 degrees Celsius with the humidity saturated. It did start to drizzle a little later in the afternoon just as we were about to explore the hotel facilities, and we ended up hiding out in the indoor playground. An interesting point of note was that we ordered Grab food in, and the delivery charge itself was a mere 50 Singaporean cents, and a dish of Vietnamese pork and rice was a decent SGD $2.50. I’m not one of those to harp around going ‘cheap, cheap, cheap’, but things can be pretty affordable here. After a spectacular sunset, it was an early retirement to bed – for the kids at least.

Only for them to wake up at the unearthly hour of five in the morning (which is six in Singapore), when the sun rose. Despite the curtains being drawn, somehow, as if filled with chlorophyll, they awoke with a passion to seize the day. Even the hotel breakfast would not be available till an hour and a half later. This would be a recurring theme for the rest of the trip, regardless of how late they slept each night (which could be pretty late). It is also one of the many explanations about why we need another holiday right after having one with the kids.

On the itinerary for the first proper day in Da Nang was a trip to the highland resort, Ba Na Hills. Not surprisingly, because of its elevation, it attracted the French during the colonial period to reside there as a hill station and resort area, so as to escape from the insufferable heat and humidity of the lowlands. After ousting the colonizers, the locals made it into a tourist attraction – providing a day (or even two) of fun-filled activities. There are rides, performances, mock French villages and castles, and even hotels. I didn’t see any casinos but you can see lots of construction happening at lower elevations as you make your way up. It also boasts one of the longest cable car rides I’ve ever sat on – it took us more than thirty minutes to ascend to the top. More impressively, there are more than one cable car lines to get you to the peak – it was quite impressive. 

The next morning was one more the adults – a trip to the ancient Hindu temple ruins at Mỹ Sơn (pronounced ‘Mee Sorn’). Most tours to the site suggest for an early departure at seven in the morning so as to start touring at eight. Initially, I had the impression that this was done so as to beat the crowds that would arrive later in the morning (the late risers), but the only thing we were competing with at our ‘late’ arrival (we wanted time to enjoy a nice breakfast) was the energy-sapping heat. You had that to contend with, as well as the kids, who clearly were not that into ancient ruins and historical sites. It was a bit of a dilemma – it was a place I was really interested to explore, but would the experience be ruined by querulous kids? The kids, though, surprisingly handled it pretty well, although on a side note, prams are not particularly suited for navigating ancient ruins.

Our final morning of the trip was spent exploring Da Nang’s very own tourist attraction, the Marble Mountains. The Marble Mountains rise to a height of 106 metres above sea level and are called ‘mountains’. In comparison, Ba Na Hills rises to an altitude of 1487 metres above sea level, and yet are known as ‘hills’. It was entirely perplexing. The Marble Mountains are visible from our resort room, and they stand out like a sore thumb in an almost otherwise flattened out beach landscape. A lift brings you up from the ticket booth to about two-thirds up the mountain, before you disembark to start exploring the top. Scattered up at top of the mountain are various Buddhist temples and statues, which, without a guide, we were pretty clueless as to their significance. What you need are a good pair of shoes and a strong pair of legs. We didn’t have too much time to explore, having to catch a flight later in the day, and so we hiked to the largest cave, the Huyen Khong Cave, as well as up to one of the highest peaks, the Cong Troi, or Heaven Gate, the latter at the behest of Nathan. The boys were really quite the troopers as they trudged up and down the stairs in their tiny legs, and Joanna was even more impressive, having to carrier Elizabeth all the way to the top, and then back down again, through treacherous, uneven rocks and narrow paths. It was really impressive. On an interesting note, both the American forces as well as the Viet Cong, at various points during the Vietnam War, utilized the Marble Mountains as a base. 

All too soon, our trip came to an end and it was time to catch our flight back to Singapore. The most memorable part of the trip? Probably our resort. I wouldn’t blink an eye going back there again! Till the next time.