The first thing people tend to say when I said I went to Vietnam for 9 days was "Why did you go for so long? What is there to see in Vietnam?". There is actually, so much to see in Vietnam, but for this trip we only visited Da Nang and Hanoi. We flew to Da Nang first and then to Hanoi by plane.

Day 1

One of the most common things to do when travellers go to Da Nang is to visit Hoi An since it's only about a 30 - 45 minutes drive there. There were 10 of us and we had bulky luggages so it was cheaper and more convenient for us to book a van than to take a taxi or the bus. We booked an airport transfer service from Da Nang International Airport directly to our hotel in Hoi An through Klook.

With a low population of 120,000, Hoi An claimed a UNESCO World Heritage City title in 1999. The buildings and streets have a blend of colonial French and Vietnamese. We arrived in the evening so there were lanterns lit all over the streets and it was like walking through an eastern ancient fairytale! There are a lot of local restaurants and vendors selling silk, lanterns, clothes, apparels and many more, we took hours just exploring the place.

Day 2 

Before heading back to Da Nang city we visited My Son Sanctuary which is in the Quang Nam Province. This UNESCO World Heritage Site was constructed from the 4th sanctuary and the Hindu temples there are abandoned and partially ruined. The ruins make this place look a bit like Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I recommend visiting My Son early in the morning to avoid the crowd if you want to take good photos.

After checking in to our AirBnb we took the Coco Bus Tour which is a hop on and hop off bus that takes you around the city. The 24 hour or 48-hour pass allows you to go to 50 different stops in Da Nang and Hoi An. Our first stop was My Khe Beach. We had seafood for lunch at Hai San Be Man which is by the beach. The food is was delicious but it was also quite pricey.

After eating, we went on the bus again and headed to Lady Bhudda. It's the tallest Bhudda statue in Vietnam. This place is surrounded by many beautiful temples and statues. You can also look over the sea from there since it's located on high land.

We wanted to continue to explore the city by the bus but then it started raining so we just went to Vincom Plaza which is a shopping mall and had coffee over there while waiting for the rain to stop. For dinner, we took a taxi to a local restaurant nearby our stay which serves Mi Quang, a rice noodle served with meat, herbs and a small amount of broth which is infused with turmeric.

Day 3 

One of the must-visit places when in Da Nang is Ba Na Hills. It's a resort located on the mountaintop, so it's more cooling over there. It holds the record of having the world's longest non-stop single track cable car at 5800 metres.

The Golden Bridge is an attraction that visitors will definitely not miss. It has a pair of giant hands holding the 150 meters long bridge. The view from the bridge is really beautiful, you can even see the clouds below as if you're floating in the sky!

After visiting the Golden Bridge, we headed to the French Village which has French style buildings, churches, hotels, restaurants and cottages. We spent quite a long time just exploring the French themed "town" and taking photos. There's also an outdoor ride Alpine Coaster which can be an individual or a shared ride. There's a brake in each car so you can control the speed but of course if you like to go the maximum speed you can just not use the brake.

We also visited Fantasy Park, which is an indoor amusement park with many arcade games, 4D/5D cinemas and rides including bumper car, a 29-meter free fall tower and many more.

Lastly, before leaving, we stopped by Le Jardin D’Amour Flower Garden for photos. It's got nine different gardens with nine different architectural styles telling nine different stories.

Day 4

After grabbing some Banh Mi which are Vietnamese sandwiches for breakfast we left to the airport to depart to Hanoi.

To be continued...