Was sponsored for an oversea conference in Danang from 16 - 20 September.
Flew into Danang in the afternoon of 16 September. Half day conference the next 2 days (17 and 18 September), then flew back to Singapore in the afternoon 4.30pm flight.
By the time we (a contingent of over 20 doctors) checked into the hotel - it was already near 6pm. We then were transferred to a French restaurant for dinner.
Most of us took the opportunity to visit the various tourist spots in Danang in our free time.
The obligatory spots are - Marble mountain (which is just 10 min walk from our hotel)
Hoian - world heritage old town
Lady Buddha
Bana Hill and its iconic Golden Bridge
Some other attractions - My Son Sanctuary (featuring ancient ruins date 300-400BC)
Coconut farm with its coconut boat ride
Monkey Mountain to see monkeys, and aerial view of Danang beach/sea
Since the places I wanted to go may not be the same as others (particularly My Son Sanctuary), I decided to go on my own after the conference to visit Marble mountain, Lady Buddha, Hoaian/Coconut boat ride (first afternoon), and My Son Sanctuary (2nd afternoon). I joined the rest of the contingent who was flying back in the afternoon of 20 Sept for a morning 1/2 day tour of Bana Hill (covering French Garden, Golden Bridge, and French Village).
We left Bana Hill at 1.15pm - the bus drove us to the airport, managed to reach airport by 2pm.
Breakdown of my trip:
I walked to Marble Mountain on 2nd day - and bumped into a Grab driver as I was trying to book a Grab ride to Lady Buddha - he was able to converse in English, and volunteered to wait for me and drive me to Coconut farm (near Hoian) for boat ride, and then Hoian to enjoy the old town at night (apparently lantern decoration at night is the attraction).
Marble Mountain...
I booked him for the trip to My Son the next day (at 2pm).
What's my impression of Danang's tourist spots?
Personally, I feel that Hoian is probably an overhyped old town. It was full of tourists at night, The buildings along the river was decorated with colourful lanterns. Even the boats (there are many of them) cruising along the river was decorated with colourful lanterns as well. But, it is probably a place that I would only visit once....
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| shop houses lining both sides of the walking street, decorated with lanterns |
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| the main river @ Hoian, with many boats cruising along the river |
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| this is the shop house that I took local noodles for dinner |
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| night market |
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| a connecting bridge which house a temple |
I took local noodles for dinner, and bought banana pancake as desert as I explored the night market in the vicinity.
Coconut boat ride was interesting for the experience. But nothing to shout about - nevertheless, one may harbour a tinge of regret if one never experiences the ride while in Hoian.
My Son Sanctuary is definitely only for those who are interested in ancient ruins. There are a few clusters of ancient ruins - it may not be as majestic as those in Ang Kor Watt or Borobodor. The place is quite far away - it was about one hour's drive from Marriott Resort that I was staying in. The walk in the sanctuary itself takes about 2 hours. I was caught in the rain for about 10 minutes - had to take cover under a canopy (a resting place for local guards manning the place).
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| at the entrance to My Son |
Lastly, Bana Hill is literally a theme park in the hill. It carries a few attractions - the most iconic is that of Golden Bridge (with two gigantic hands supporting/holding it). It was very crowded as well. There are also other attractions -eg. French Garden, French Village, a gigantic Buddha statue.
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| Entrance to Bana Hill |
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| view from cable car |
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| giant Buddha statue next to French garden |
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| View from the temple next to French Garden |
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| Glimpse of French village from the temple |
上个星期，飞往岘港参加某婴儿奶粉公司举报为数2天的研讨会，也趁机在当地玩透透。俩个不可忽略的旅游景点是会安与广告打得很响的“手捧金桥”。
因为是自由行的缘故，也游览了大理石山，观音佛像，椰子园及比较冷门的美生古迹。
我向来比较孤僻，选择自己出行；除了最后一天因为要在下午2点抵达机场，便与其他同事参加了到BANA Hill 的跟团游 （不过在山上的我，还是我行我素）。
也许是“大场面”看多了，岘港的几个景点，缺少了震撼力。
“哪一座桥”，人潮太旺，整个美景都被破坏了。
美生古迹，也就剩下几个残留红砖旧墙，震撼力不大。我没有看过吴哥窟或婆罗浮屠，据说美生古迹就好比是前者的缩影。我想也只有古迹虔诚爱好者才会有共鸣。凡夫俗子的我，也只是走马看花，拍拍照，到此一游便完事。
会安古镇，远近驰名。但感觉上与中国的古镇，大同小异。
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| Banana pancake |
叶子园的卖点是乘坐形如叶子壳的竹制划船，有船夫在河上划行，并观赏特定船夫在江上表演旋转圆形竹船的伎俩。
两天的行程，在GRAB 司机的“护送”下圆满完成。
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