Da Nang - much has changed, but much is the same

Ah - Da Nang - It did not feel like 11 years since I wandered your streets.

Da Nang - our home for 14 months in 2003-2004. Some things are the same but much has changed!

Twelve years ago there were a number of buildings around ten stories but now there are numerous real high rise buildings and many more being constructed. The long sandy "China beach" where US soldiers swam during the Vietnam War, is now lined with high rise hotels and five star resorts and construction sites. It looks like the Gold Coast when viewed from Son Tra Penisula at its northern end. The city centre is changing too. This a bad photo but it gives some idea of the changing city skyline.

Old and new - one of the lovely colonial buildings overlooked by Da Nang's tallest building, the People's Committee and local government administration offices.

The view from our fifth floor hotel room showing just one of the new bridges. There were two bridges across the Song River in 2004. Now there are five, and they are all large! This one is the Thuan Phuoc and is 1850m long and 80m high.

The Dragon Bridge (666m long) apparently breathes out fire once a week. Sounds really kitsch but is actually quite impressive (we did not get to see the fire). It points directly to the new international airport, which is unrecognisable compared to what we used to fly in to in 2204.

Oh - free wifi!!! Both Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City have really jumped onto the free wifi craze. It is everywhere, free, easy and FAST! Australia - take notice! Not only do most of the cafes and hotels have free, fast wifi, but the government also provides free wifi which seems to be all over the city area, and even the taxis advertise that they have wifi! And it is fibre optic - not old copper cables!

And coffee! Wow - that sure has improved. Coffee and cafe culture is truly alive and happening. Not only is Vietnamese coffee available but also all the western styles we know and love. Expresso machines are every where. We did go to quite a few, sometimes with local friends. It did not feel like we had been away for almost eleven or twelve years.

Da Nang is known for fresh seafood. Joel and friend, Huy choosing our dinner, all live and swimming.

While this visit was about revisiting the past and old friends, and meeting new friends, we did play tourist.

30 minutes drive from Da Nang, Hoi An is an old favourite place for a relaxing get away. It still retains its charm as it is UNESCO Heritage listed, but the tourist shops for art, crafts and tailoring have spread out across the river and into surrounding streets. There are way more tourists wandering around now.

Marble Mountain, originally a maze of caves and shrines, has become even more touristy. It even has an elevator going up the side. It used to cost $1USD to enter the main cave. Now it costs $1 to enter the main cave, $1 to enter the walking paths to all the shrines and other smaller caves, $1 to ride up in the elevator and $1 if you want to come down the elevator, but you can walk up it you want. Still cheap, but there are even more tourists visiting now which has the advantage of toning down the once extremely aggressive marble statue and trinket sales women in the shops at the bottom . Now they have so many tourists around they don't have to compete for us. Back in the 1990s, they would literally grab hold of your arm and drag you into their shops. Not a pleasant experience at all.

Below is the view looking inland from the side of the mountain near the main cave.