Da Nang -“Mouth/ opening of the river” - Sea Food Paradise..

Da Nang - Day 1 in Vietnam 

Da nang Airport

We boarded Vietjet flight from Ahmedabad to Da Nang on 24th Dec 2022 at 10pm. We arrived at Da nang International airport early in the morning approximately at 5am. Vietname is 1.5 hrs ahead of India. Arrival area was crowded as two flights from India arrived almost same time, one from Ahmedabad and other from Delhi. There were long queqes for immigration check. 

Immigration - 

A valid passport with E-visa were the two important documents to show and get passport stamped. It took almost 45minutes to get our turn. Entry port must be same as mentioned in the E-Visa or else it can be troublesome. 

Baggage -

After immigration check, we went ahead towards, baggage claim, Free trolleys can be easily found nearby the baggage carousels. There was no display of the belt on which the baggage will be delivered, but luckily only one belt was running and we could find our baggage in no time. 

Customs - 

After collecting baggage was the Customs. As we had nothing to declare, we simply made our way towards exit. At the exit gate, our driver was waiting for us with a placard of my name. We didn't buy any SIM card as WiFi connectivity is everywhere...

Da nang International airport is centrally located. While passing by, we crossed Dragon bridge on the river Han. 

Hotel Eden - Location with ocean view ★★★★★ We had booked early check in as normal check in timing is 2pm (It needs to be told at the booking time and charge for early check is 30% of per day charge.)

Food - ★★★★

Rooms were specious with triple setting 1 queen size bed and 1 single bed 

Cleanliness, hygiene ★★★★★

We reached our hotel Eden in 10-12 min. It was bang on the beach road with rising Sun with east sea, amazing view. 

Photo credits - Google maps

First thing which makes impression on your mind is lanterns everywhere, its a city of Lanterns...

After checking in the hotel, we took rest for 3 hours then got fresh and had breakfast in the hotel and off we went to the beach. Its clean, neat one of the internationally best strip of beach with collection of cafes and food trucks all accross the beach. Surrounded by mountains and embraced by the Han River and the East Sea, Da Nang is a rising star in the region.It is one of Vietnam's most important port cities. The old city centre with its overflowing markets and hushed pagodas still functions, but the area we lived, was a touristy area full of planned architectures and similar looking structures of the buildings. 

View from Balcony

We came back to the hotel after getting soaked in the white sand and Sun, refreshed. By lanes along the beach, we got USDs converted into VNDs. And here we go, ready for sight seeing, by a seat in coach service.

Son Tra Peninsula (Monkey Mountain) - 

Photo credits - Google maps

We started at 2.30pm and reached Son Tra Peninsula within 20min.(approx. 7km), its densely forested hillsides stays the endangered red-shanked douc langur. (Known as Monkey Mountain as well) Lady Buddhha is the in-official symbol of Danang city located here. statue is 69.7 meters height and positioned on a lotus shaped platform which is 35 meters in diameter. There are 17 stories built inside the statue. Each storey has 21 Buddha idols. It took 6 years to build the statue, the Son Tra Quan Am holds the city peace and spiritual life. You can visit Linh Ung Pagoda, 1000-year-old banyan tree, Dong Dinh Museum, surrounded by well maintained well planted garden of Bonsai Plants. 

From Sontra, the view of surroundings, fisherman colony is excellent. 

We went to the next destination from here, i.e. Marble Mountain (five elements mountains), which is hardly half an hour (approx.13km) away from Son Tra Island. In between we paid a visit to a marble souvenir and sculpture art gallary, and a wash room break. 

Photo credits - Google maps

Marble Mountains is a collection of five mountains topped with atmospheric pagodas, in marathi we call it as पंचमहाभूत -आकाश (Space) , वायु (Quark), अग्नि (Energy), जल (Force), पृथ्वी (Matter).  

A stairway of 156 steps leads to the summit of Thuy Son (Mt. Water), the only Marble Mountain accessible to visitors. The steps are short and difficult to climb. If you are physically fit and strong and prepared mentally to climb, then no problem. To make it convinient, there a tube elevator with a ticket, which takes you up quickly and safely. My suggestion is you take a elevator while climbing up and with energy and zeal you can move around the cave, temple, pagoda, view point and then while coming down come by steps to get a feel of magic of mother nature in the area. 

The area is known for stone sculpture making and stone-cutting crafts. But escavation/ extraction is banned in this site. The Marble Mountains are home to several Buddhist and Hindu ideologies statues and relief depictions of religious scenes carved out of the marble. Linh Ung Pagoda has an amazingly detailed archway facing the Non Nuoc Beach. The place is peaceful and tranquil takes you back to many centuries.