We Came Back To Vietnam For This Da Nang The Traveling 3

Vietnam has a unique way of drawing travelers to its soil and the roots of its culture. It rewards curiosity and for those it settles into, the impression it leaves endures long after the journey ends. We've roamed from the southern shores of Phu Quoc to the cool northern heights of Sapa, captivated by this country's rich essence that eventually ushered us to Da Nang. This modern city sits along Vietnam's central coastline, where the restless sea meets folded green mountains, offering many versions of Vietnam all at once. The warmth of the welcome that made this country impossible to forget, mouth-watering culinary playgrounds, chaotic-looking choreography at scooters, Vietnamese cafe culture that is unlike anywhere else, and traces of ancient worlds and lanternlit streets wait within reach of a city racing confidently toward the future. The pleasant echoes of Vietnam's distinct attributes persisted in our memories and eventually drew us back for another chapter. And once you catch a glimpse of the simple yet richly textured character of Da Nang, you'll likely have the feeling that a visit to this place won't be your last one either. After two and a half years of travel, certain places began to stand out from the rest. Vietnam became one of those places for us. Weeks turned into two and a half months. Landscapes, conversations, flavors, morning routines. They stirred something in us that made leaving feel, well, temporary. What we found in the North left us in complete awe of the country's beauty and depth. Coming back to a place we've become enamored with is beautifully strange, and we can't help but wonder whether Da Nang will embody the elements of Vietnam we've come to love. The simple comfort of finding yourself instantly connected the moment you land makes the path from arrival to doorstep painlessly simple. Thanks to today's sponsor, we were able to book a very affordable grab and enjoyed the 15-minute commute to our Airbnb with great anticipation. We're back in Vietnam and it's hard to believe, and I don't know if you can tell, but it's a kind of rainy season here. There's actually a typhoon that's supposed to hit in the next few days, so hopefully that doesn't hit us. We're here in November, which is supposedly the wettest month of the year, featuring heavy but brief dampers and an increased risk of typhoons. Sometimes itineraries and less than favorable weather conditions coincide, and you just have to roll with it. Could I have a mango smoothie and Saigon coffee? Rain or shine, a proper start to the day in Da Nang waits in the doorway of one of its many beautiful cafes. There is no better welcome to this country than a proper cup of Vietnamese coffee. Oh man, if you've watched our last series in Vietnam, you know that we absolutely love salted coffee, and so we've decided to start off our trip right here and get the best coffee that Vietnam has to offer. And now that the strong robusta we just drank has begun to have its energizing effects, it's time to go on an adventure. This adventure is just 15 minutes south and will carry us from the depths of the earth and ancient tradition to the heights of the limestone hills collectively known as the Marble Mountains. Nhu Hai Son, known as the Marble Mountains, is a cluster of five to six limestone peaks rising from the coastal plain just south of Da Nang. In 1837, Emperor Minh Mang formally named each of these peaks to represent an element of Vietnamese folk belief. Thank you. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Today, Thuy Son, the Water Mountain, is the main peak open and designed for visitors. Wow, this is so beautiful. Look at how it like curves up and down. Although these mountains were named only two centuries ago, archaeological evidence shows they were already a site of worship in the 14th century during the era of the Champa, an empire that once ruled much of central and southern Vietnam. Wow, it just keeps going. There's like a curving staircase that heads up. This place is amazing. It's like a cathedral of stone in here and it's also like a maze, like there's so many different passageways that go in so many different directions. For generations, marble was taken from these mountains sustaining artisan workshops that Over time, the scale of extraction began to threaten the landscape and by the end of the 20th century, quarrying here was brought to a halt to preserve the terrain. Over the last nearly four decades, the focus of this site has returned to spiritual pilgrimage and historical preservation. You know, going up these stairs is one thing, but going down is entirely a whole different thing. It's so steep, especially when there's a lot of people going up and down the stairs. A lot of teamwork that has to happen. The caves within the water mountain are only a glimpse of the hill's beauty and cultural significance. Many trails meander across this karst mound. Man, this is just incredible, isn't it? Some leading to centuries-old shrines, others to the over 300-year-old Tham Thai Pagoda, and a little further on to the Gia Noi Stupa. Well, this place is gorgeous. It's like walking through an Indiana Jones movie or something. Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful. And if you're willing to follow the trail beyond the easy turns... Are you supposed to go up there? Yeah. Really? Oh my goodness, wow. I didn't expect this. The terrain begins to demand more of you. But the view waiting at the end answers generously. Well, I didn't expect to do that kind of hiking and caving today. However, after having been to Ninh Binh... Oh my gosh, what the heck am I doing here? Okay, that's it. I'm done. That's it. Goodbye. And I'm not sure why I expected anything different. One more nearby landmark still waits for us in Da Nang. But after the climb, our energy is waning rather quickly. Oh, just cry me a river. I need food. Okay. We have excellent cell service even on the peaks and are able to search for some grub along the way. All thanks to Saili, the sponsor of this segment. Saili is an eSIM service we've used and enjoyed many times on our travels, which is why we were happy to partner with them to give you an exclusive 15% discount, which we'll share with you in just a few seconds. We've repeatedly used Saili because the app is so easy to use and data plans are quite affordable. If you don't know what an eSIM is, think of it as a digital SIM already inside your device. So there's no need to physically manipulate your phone. All you have to do is download the Saili app on your iOS or Android device, choose the plan that fits your needs from the list of over 200 countries and follow the prompts to install and activate your eSIM. Most phones these days have eSIM capability, but if yours turns out not to be eSIM compatible, Saili offers a full refund. And if anything feels confusing along the way, support is there 24 hours a day. So if you have a trip coming up, don't leave without getting your 15% discount at our link in the description or download the Saili app and type in coupon code TRAVELING3 at checkout. Thank you Saili for making it easy and affordable for us to quench our appetite for Vietnamese cuisine today. In fact, we found a fantastic restaurant called Vietnamese Daily Cuisine that we may have frequented once or twice or maybe almost daily during our three-week stay in Da Nang. It's recording. Is it? Oh yeah, it is. Okay. I've been getting black Saigon coffee ever since we arrived here. And today I finally learned how it's made. I got to watch the barista make it. He let me film him. And so what he does is he gets thin coffee that is pre-brewed and stored in the fridge. And then he puts a little squirt of some kind of sweet syrup, like a sugar syrup kind of thing, and shakes it up. And he comes up with this fantastic drink. Oh my goodness. I got coconut coffee, which is always amazing. I mean, take a look at this beautiful coconut shreds with toasted coconut. So good. I love Vietnam. This is coffee jello. And he puts a little bit of caramel on top. You're supposed to eat this with your black Saigon coffee and it goes really nicely together. Oh, it's more concentrated today. It's really good. Dude, this is like black Saigon coffee jello form. It is so good. Dude, that's legit. Yeah, it's really, really good. It's really hard to describe the flavor because it's just Vietnamese coffee. If you know what I mean, you know what I'm saying. It has its own specific flavor and it is so heavenly. Honestly, in my opinion, it's the best coffee in the world. Yep. Whether or not coffee is a part of your daily routine, I need to give you a fair warning at this point. The scenes that follow are likely to cause your mouth to water and may suddenly awaken your appetite. Thank you. I got braised chicken with a lime leaf and ginger and the smell is absolutely amazing. It's very fragrant. Oh, wow. You could really taste the lime and the ginger and it all mixes together really well. This fresh spring roll is so good. These are stuffed white pearls. I actually don't know what they're stuffed with, so we'll find out. It's almost like congee and it does taste fishy. It's really light and really nice. And this here is a Vietnamese shredded chicken salad. We've gotten this dish in other places, but this restaurant is my favorite for this particular dish. Oh my goodness, this is so good. The dressing is a little bit tangy. I think they use white vinegar or something. There is cilantro flavor. There's some other herbs in here and it's a little bit salty. It's so delicious. And this particular shredded chicken salad has a lot of onion. So if you like onion in your salads, then this is totally on point. Well, that was absolutely delicious. So satisfying and filling. And now we have one more stop. From the hills above Da Nang, the city stretches wide beneath the open sky and standing over it is a figure that has become one of its most recognizable symbols. In the time of Emperor Minh Mang, some local fishermen found a Buddha statue washed ashore and believed the seas were calmer thereafter. So they built a small shrine called Bai But meaning Buddha Beach. That shrine was the inspiration behind what you see here today. Many visitors know the statue simply as the Lady Buddha, but its true name, and bear with me as I'm about to make an attempt at pronouncing some Vietnamese names. Its true name is Quan Am, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. And at 67 meters tall, she belongs to the grounds of Linh Ung Pagoda Bai But, inaugurated in 2010 on the Son Trap or Calm Mountain Peninsula. It is believed that she answers sincere prayers with compassion and is a symbol of protection and guardianship of the coastline. This complex is so big and beautifully designed. I mean, look at all these trees. Getting to the statue is a very calming and peaceful walk. And coming here at the time that we're here, I think it's like around 4pm, the light is just perfect. It's a soft golden color right next to the ocean. Oh my goodness, it's wonderful. You know, sometimes when you visit a place, you fall in love with it. And it's just because of, I don't know, like, a particular reason, like the weather was great, or the people you're with, or something like that. But this is our second time in Vietnam, and we're loving it just as much as the first time we came here. And we cannot wait to explore more of Da Nang. It is another beautiful, windy day here in Da Nang. We've been here for about a week and a half already, and today is the first time that we have actually seen the sun. So we're headed over to the beach to grab some coffee. Crossing the road this way may look precarious if you're not used to the Vietnamese flow of traffic. And although we've previously spent two and a half months in Vietnam and were once used to this, it took a minute to get used to it again. For example, this was taken a couple of days after we landed, and while Steve and Alia got the hang of it almost right away, it took me a little longer to come to my Vietnamese senses. But let me assure you, we have never felt safer as pedestrians. Speeds here stay low, drivers anticipate interruption, and instead of abrupt stops, the traffic simply parts around you like a school of fish. Once you learn to go with this flow, you may find yourself wishing the rest of the world worked the same way. You can find many beachside restaurants and cafes along Da Nang's beautiful sandy coast, and this particular restaurant just happens to be right across the street from our apartment. Now that the salty breeze and palmy espresso have given us the tranquility and energy one needs to start the day, we're ready to begin exploring Da Nang itself, starting with breakfast at a locally famous cafe just across the street where we were pleasantly surprised to meet one of our subscribers. This restaurant features local and international cuisine, and since we haven't had western food in some time, we're going to gobble up breakfast so that we can taste test this scrumptious bakery. The options here are endless. It is so hard to choose just one pastry. Every time we come here, I want to order all of them because they look amazing. But for now, we're going with a strawberry croissant, mango New York roll, and whatever this delicious looking puff pastry dessert is. So I have a tropical New York roll. It's got mango and cream covered in this white chocolate flakes and filled with something tropical. Life is so good right now. Oh my goodness, it's filled with cream. Is it really? Look at this. Oh, that was a pleasant surprise. In your happy place? It's like a strawberry whipped cream basically in an amazing croissant covered with this white chocolate strawberry coating next to the beach. I mean, a morning doesn't get any better than that. And with that, it's time to explore Da Nang. You know, one thing that has been really surprising about Da Nang is how little traffic there is. And by little traffic, I just mean in comparison to places like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh or any other big city in Vietnam. We expected it to be a lot noisier, a lot more traffic, but it's actually really chill here. And crossing the road is really not as stressful as it is in other places. In fact, it feels so relaxed here that this construction worker never once looked before crossing the road with his barrel and we watched him do it several times. Da Nang is Vietnam's fifth largest city with a population of roughly 1.3 million people and is steadily growing. The famous Dragon Bridge is a striking landmark symbolizing strength, prosperity, and good fortune and spans the Han River connecting the eastern and western banks. The bridge doesn't just resemble a dragon, it behaves like one too, engineered to breathe fire and water out over the river. But we'll come back to that later. For now, we have a different objective in mind. It's time to go shopping Vietnamese style. Named after the river beside it, Han Market has become part of Da Nang's commercial life since the 1940s when it began as an open air trading area servicing residents near the Han port. As the city grew, so did the market, eventually becoming the organized two-story hub that locals and visitors continue to frequent to this day. You know, since you don't get the chaos of Vietnam in traffic, you get it from the day market. You have to learn the flow of human traffic in the day market and move accordingly. It is definitely a fun experience, but wow, you could barely even stand in here. Since we're here, we figured it was the perfect time to find Aaliyah a new pair of shoes. The shoekeeper kindly pulled out a classic plastic stool so we could sit comfortably in the relaxing ambiance of her shop and take in the symphony of market sounds while choosing the perfect pair. Of course, there was a good deal of bargaining that took place, but in the high stimulation environment, we forgot to press record. We've truly fallen in love with Vietnamese coffee and with one errand out of the way, it's time to search for what we really came here for. We're here on the hunt for fin filters. In our search, we found some of the friendliest shopkeepers and we got really excited when we found what we thought was a fin filter and cup combo. For this one, how much? It turns out the cup was not for sale. No, it's fine. No, she's saying use your own from home. For two, how much? Oh, same price. 90? We found a fancy one. The price was already good so we didn't feel the need to bargain for these. Well, that place was crowded but fun. Everybody was so nice in there and they all loved Aaliyah. It was a really good experience and I highly recommend that you go and check that place out. It's definitely crowded and it gives you like the full authentic market experience. And now that we've had a taste of chaos, it's time to step off the tourist trail to experience the tranquility of a truly local cafe sheltered down a quiet, narrow road and cocooned by lush regional flora. Coffee culture in Vietnam produces more than excellent coffee. Each cafe has a completely unique atmosphere with its own ecosystem of character, making it nearly impossible to find two that are the same. When you're at a cafe like this, you gotta have a salted coffee again. Man, it just hits the spot every single time. Okay, I got an egg coffee and when people hear egg coffee, they get grossed out because the first thing you think of is literally an egg in a coffee and that sounds disgusting, right? But that's not what egg coffee is, okay? What they do is they whip up the egg and they also add some heavy cream to it and so it ends up being this super fluffy consistency and it's like a dessert. Alia, do you approve of egg coffee mixed with the thin coffee? Oh my gosh. Dude, I'm telling you, do not write egg coffee off. This stuff is phenomenal. You know, I think our verdict is official. Vietnam has the best coffee and cafes in the world. I'm just gonna say it. In the whole world, this coffee and the cafes here are the best because every coffee shop is so unique. There's so much creativity and it's just so fun to experience. If my body could handle that much caffeine, I would do 10 coffee shops a day. One of the things we love about Vietnam is its night markets and of course, no trip is complete without going to one. So we're going to grab some food before we head off to the next thing. Wow, I think we just got mobbed by a bunch of people. Thank you so much. Gosh, like what, five or six people surrounded us. We ordered some food and then everybody who we didn't order food from was like pretty disappointed. We actually just realized we have not eaten since breakfast this morning but you know what, that is the best way to come to a night market so you can experience... so you can experience all the flavors. And unfortunately, Aaliyah was right. Coming to this night market with an empty stomach didn't turn out to be a great idea. I'm gonna be honest with you, this doesn't even have salt. It's literally a barbecue chicken with a barbecued pepper. We might have to get something else. Over the two and a half months that we've spent in Vietnam, we've gone to many night markets and have not found a bad one. We have loved every single one from north to south except this one. Unfortunately, people were very pushy, unusually pushy, and the food was expensive for a Vietnamese night market. So we are actually on our way to a restaurant now because we're still hungry and hopefully we'll get some better food. Well thankfully, this local banh mi place was right next to the night market. It's like a one or two minute walk away and now we're going to eat some real Vietnamese food. This is what I'm talking about. Cilantro, sweet and sour chicken, all the fresh veggies and the soft crispy bread. I mean this is Vietnam right here. Vietnam in my hands. The thing about Vietnam is pretty much anywhere you go you're just a couple of minutes away from food so obviously not everywhere that you're gonna eat is gonna be amazing but as long as you stop by one of the street stands you're probably not going to be disappointed. This is why we come to Vietnam. To close out the night in Da Nang, we joined the crowds gathering along the Han River all waiting for the Dragon Bridge's weekend fire and water show which is usually held around 9 p.m on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The entire crowd waited for at least 30 minutes with great anticipation, hopeful for a burst of flame. But in the end, only water sprayed out. Regardless, the energy of the city slowly gave way to a distant ancient whisper about an hour southwest of Da Nang where a very different chapter of Vietnam's story waits among the ruins of My Son Sanctuary. This history is not Vietnamese but belongs to an Austronesian people known as the Cham who once ruled much of central and southern Vietnam for more than a millennium. Centuries ago, this temple complex served as a spiritual center of the Champa Kingdom where Hindu temples rose from the forest floor. The story of My Son dates back more than 16 centuries. Construction began in the late 4th century when temples were initially made of wood and continued through the 13th century. This means these towers were shaped, rebuilt, and refined over nearly 900 years of Cham civilization. It's just amazing to be in a place that is so ancient and has experienced so much change and cultural influence and it's just so layered the history here. Around the 15th century, My Son gradually fell into neglect as the Champa Kingdom declined and Vietnamese began to conquer formerly Cham land. For centuries, the temple stood largely forgotten, overtaken by the forest, until French scholars documented the site in 1898 and began systematic archaeological study and restoration in the early 20th century. That work was interrupted during the American war in the late 1960s when heavy bombing severely damaged many of the remaining structures. After the reunification of Vietnam, Vietnamese-led conservation efforts resumed, often in cooperation with international experts, and restoration continues today as teams work carefully to preserve and rebuild what remains of this ancient sanctuary. Being out here in the countryside is so beautiful as you walk through the jungle and the mountains and then you come upon these like thousand-year-old temples and what I love about this site is you actually get to walk through a bunch of them and it just really helps bring this whole site alive. The Champa history here stretches one hour east of My Son to an ancient port town currently known as Hoi An. We ended up hiring a driver from Da Nang for the day and he pointed us toward a small family-run spot tucked away from the main streets of Hoi An. His name is Trong and he kindly took charge of the ordering. I may not be able to tell you the names of these dishes but I can confidently say they were as good as he promised. Long before it became the lantern-lit town many recognized today, Hoi An was part of the Champa kingdom. By the 16th and 17th centuries, it had grown into one of Southeast Asia's most important trading ports. Japanese and Chinese traders settled here, European ships docked along the Thu Bon River, and commerce shaped the architecture that still lines these streets. The layered influences you see today are the imprint of centuries of global exchange. On this visit we had only a few hours in Hoi An, yet even in that short window its depth was unmistakable. There is far more to tell about the layers of its history, the centuries of trade that shaped it into what it is today, the delicious food and coffee that continue to add flavor to daily life and the charming beauty of centuries-old architecture that has endured and still remains in use. What we experienced was only a glimpse of a town shaped by a blend of cultures, time, and careful preservation. If there's one thing Da Nang reveals, it's that a city can be both forward-looking and deeply rooted. Modern coastal convenience meets ancient civilizations and is framed by mountains and stories that stretch back centuries. It stands on its own merits and is also within easy reach of places that expand the narrative even further. And before you start planning your own journey here, we hope you'll come along with us as we continue to embrace the unknown that lies ahead.