Our Travel Adventures: 2019

6 Days Hue, Danang & Hoi An Adventure

04 - 09 July 2019

Day 2 - 5 July 2019

After dinner we checked into the 4 Star Bella Maison Parosand Hotel in Danang. Belle Maison Parosand Danang is located right by My Khe Beach and East Sea Park, delighting guests with the view of clear bay and the dynamic city.

After we have checked in we went to the Sky 21 Bar on Level 21 to view the night scenery of Danang City.

Danang skyline at night taken from Sky 21 Bar

Later a group of us walked across the road to My Khe Beach to see the scenery of the beach at night. It was quiet at the beach but it was bright due to the many buildings that are lighted up along the beach.

Our hotel is the second building on the right

Since our hotel is beside the beach we decided to wake up at 5am the next day to see the sun rise by the beach.

Day 3 - 6 July 2019

We walked to My Khe Beach around 5am to watch the sun rise and was rewarded with a magnificent view of the rising sun.

The beautiful hands of sister Swee Eng

Later we watched a group of fishermen hauling in their net that they have laid earlier. Their catch was just a basket of small fishes

The catch for the day

Lili inside one of the bamboo basket boat

The sun has come up and the beach was now crowded with swimmers

The view of our hotel (3rd from right) in the day

After breakfast we were taken to the Han Market. Along the way we stopped by to take pictures of the famous Dragon Bridge in Danang.

The Dragon Bridge in Da Nang is the longest bridge in Vietnam, offering a dazzling display of lights, fire, and water that first-time visitors to Da Nang should not miss out on. Measuring at 666 metres in length, it is located in Da Nang City and constructed in the shape of a golden dragon.

On weekends and annual festivities, the state-of-the-art bridge is also scheduled to spit water or breathe fire from its mouth from 21:00 onwards.

Han Market is a significant landmark in Da Nang, having been in operation since the French occupancy in the 1940s. This local market is set within a two-storey building, where you can find hundreds of stalls selling an array of local produce, handicrafts, T-shirts, and accessories. It’s very much like a miniature version of Ben Tanh Market central market in Ho Chi Minh City, and even if you aren’t necessarily looking to buy anything it still offers a fascinating glimpse into local life in Da Nang.

View of the ground floor stalls from the first floor

After visiting the Han market we walked past by the Danang Cathedral which is also known as the Pink Church in Danang. It is the only church built in Danang city in the French colonial period, in 1923 by the priest Louis Vallet for Danang’s French colonial population

Dragon Ball flowers in the compound of the Danang Cathedral

Later we visited the Danang Museum of Cham Sculpture. The Museum of Cham Sculpture in Danang houses Vietnam's most extensive collection of artefacts from the Cham civilization that ruled over central and southern Vietnam for centuries.

Trishaw men outside Museum of Cham Sculpture

After lunch we visited the Nun Nuoc Stone Carving Village where the local skillful sculptors create many marble products which are exported to many countries worldwide.

Later we just walked across the street to visit Marble Mountains. The Marble Mountains are a cluster of five hills made from limestone and marble in Da Nang. It's also a well-known pilgrimage site with peaks, caves, tunnels and temples all just waiting to be discovered. Named after the elements metal, wood, water, fire and earth, Marble Mountains exist in a coastal area that is renowned for stone-cutting and sculpture about 9km south of Da Nang.

We took the elevator to Thuy Son (Water Mountain) which is the greatest and most attractive mountain. With 3 peaks that look like a star, Thuy Son has the most caves and pagodas compared to other mountains in the Marble Mountains complex

The elevator to Thuy Son (Water Mountain)

Spectacular view from Thuy Son

Xa Loi Tower

Marble chess players at the Tang Chon Cave

Only a few of us continue the journey up to the Huyen Khong Cave, Linh Ung Pagoda and the View Point before we descent down to Gate No 1 where the bus was waiting

Huyen Khong Cave, the largest Cave Temple at Marble Mountains

View at the top of Huyen Khong Cave

Linh Ung Pagoda

The pavilion at the top of View Point

Scenery from the View Point (Vong Giang Dai)

Later we drove to Son Tra Peninsula, also named as Monkey Mountain and visited the Linh Ung Pagoda and the highest Goddess of Mercy Statue of Vietnam. It is a breath-taking national park that attracts a lot of domestic and international tourists. This national park has 4,000 hectares of forest and is the habitat of more than 100 species of fauna, including a number of rare animals. Monkeys are easily to be seen in this mountain. Especially, It is home to the rare red face monkey, so the mountain has the name ” Monkey Mountain” as a moniker

View of Danang City from Linh Ung Pagoda

Lady Buddha statue which is considered as the tallest one in Vietnam.

Linh Ung Pagoda at the background

There are many such Bonsai plants in front of Linh Ung Pagoda

The gate to Linh Ung Pagoda

On the way back to Danang City for our dinner we dropped by the French and Spanish Cemetery. A joint Franco-Spanish expedition under the command of Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly captured Tourane (modern Da Nang) in September 1858, but was then besieged by the Vietnamese and forced to evacuate it in March 1860. In 1895, the Iphanho Cemetery was built in memory of the fallen soldiers

Tonight we have sea food dinner at the Hai San Pho Seafood Restaurant which is just beside the beach

Drummers welcoming guests to the restaurant

After dinner we celebrated the birthday of our sister Audrey Lee today with a birthday cake courtesy of the travel agent

Today is the final of the Danang International Fireworks Festival between Finland and the United Kingdom. After dinner some of us decided to watch the fireworks live. The tour bus dropped us near the Dragon Bridge where we have a good view of the fireworks display which was won by Finland.

The venue of the fireworks display

The color lights of the Dragon Bridge changes between yellow, green and blue. Today the bridge was so crowded with people it did not spew fire and water at 9pm, which it did on every weekends and on festival day

After the fireworks ended we decided to walk back to the hotel which is a distance of about 2km since it is difficult to get any taxi due to the crowd. It was a good exercise for us.

Day 4 - 7 July 2019

Today after breakfast we started our journey to Ba Na Hills. Ba Na Hills is one of the newest and most exciting projects in Vietnam. It’s a mountaintop resort complex that looks like a medieval castle, but inside these stone walls are modern accommodations, world class restaurants and a Fantasy Park full of exciting rides.

The cable car ride up to the Ba Na Hills is an amazing experience. The gap stretches 5,801 meters (19,042 feet) and elevates 1,368 meters (4,488 feet), both of which are world records.

We stopped at the first station to visit the Golden Bridge which is the highlight of Ba Na Hills. It was newly opened in June 2018.

After crossing the Golden Bridge we walked to Le Jardin D’amour, which is also known as the love flower garden with different kinds of tropical and temperate flowers.

Along the way we visited an old French Cellar, the Debay Ancient Wine Cellar. The French discovered the Ba Na Hills area and built several works such as hotels, swimming pools, etc. However, everything was mostly destroyed during the war, and only Debay Ancient Wine Cellar was left. This place was built by French architects and was dug deep inside the mountain in 1923.

We exited the Wine Cellar to continue our walk around the Le Jardin d’Amour to enjoy the beauty of flowers and statues.

After visiting Debay Ancient Wine Cellar and Le Jardin d’Amour , we took a short cable ride to the top of the mountain. We had buffet lunch at one of the restaurants before exploring the French Village.

The interior of the restaurant where we had our buffet lunch.

Our group photo before we explore the French Village on our own. This is the only picture where all of 24 of us are together.

The French Village in Ba Na Hills Resort is a unique architecture illustrating the ancient French villages, such as lofty churches, charming hotels, and traditional cottages. This place will help you travel back in time without a time machine.