Vino Con Vino: Da Nang

The city of Da Nang is in Central Vietnam on the Han River, separated from the ocean by a narrow penninsula. We stayed on the beach side of the penninsula, with a good view of the East Vietnamese Sea (or South China Sea depending on who you are talking to). Da Nang was the first place in Vietnam that US troops landed, with marines coming ashore there in 1965 on what became known as China Beach (later the title of a brief, 1988-1991, war drama TV series starring Dana Delany -- not that we ever saw it).

We spent five days in Da Nang, and because most of the things worth seeing were nearby, were able to avoid doing any tours. Instead we visited the Museum of Cham Sculpture, Marble Mountain and the Linh Ung Pagoda on our own by taxi, which is unusual for us, but unfortunately public transport is virtually non-existent in Da Nang. We never even saw a public bus, although the internet says they exist.

The Museum of Cham Sculpture is dedicated to the best of the sculptures discovered at several locations, including My Son, the capital of the Cham (or Champa) people, who ruled central Vietnam between the 5th and 15th centuries. The museum was extremely well organized, and did a good job of explaining the meaning of the sculptures, including the Cham deities, fertility symbols and decorative symbols taken from both Hinduism and Buddhism, which had great influence on the Cham culture.

Another common theme was the Astara dancers, who are shown in bent postures in order to suggest movement. There are many impressive examples in the museum. Most of the sculptures are sandstone.

We walked around Da Nang, which was a lot like walking around other Vietnamese cities: difficult to maneuver among broken sidewalks and parked scooters while trying to avoid cars and moving scooters. Not for the faint of heart. In the city we visited the Chua Phap Lam Buddhist Temple, along with the city's cathedral. Note the banner honoring Pope Benedict, who had died only days before.

Da Nang has a number of very cool bridges, but none is cooler than the Dragon Bridge. We did not get to see the dragon breathe fire as it does on weekend nights, but it is still impressive. As you can see, we had grey and rainy weather the whole time we were in Da Nang.

One day, we went to the Marble Mountains. Many years ago, these five mountains were mined for their marble and limestone. Now, they provide a series of caves and Buddhist and Hindu religious sites that you can explore with hundreds of your closest friends.

The main cave (pictured above), was the first time that we felt overwhelmed by tourists in Vietnam (really this whole trip so far), because many tours stop there. After that, we were able to explore other caves and religious sites with fewer people around.

We also climbed to the top of the main mountain where the views were spectacular.

After exploring the Marble Mountains, we had lunch at a truly local place that had exactly two items on its menu: noodles and pho. We shared one of each, and both were delicious. Total cost: $7. This area of Vietnam is known for producing sculpture, which we observed in the number of nearby shops selling statues, mostly of Buddha. Seriously, you could buy statues ranging from small to giant (15-20 foot tall Buddhas were common). Shana liked these Buddhas that were only slighty larger than life-size.

Another day, we caught a cab out to the Linh Ung Pagoda, which is in a beautiful location right on the water, and against the mountains of the Son Tra Penninsula. It is known for two things: monkeys and the 200-foot tall "Lady Buddha" statue. We were fortunate to see a lot of monkeys who are not always about, including one eating from a banana peel he had found. Shana was thrilled since monkeys had eluded us in Singapore, despite all the signs warning us not to feed the no-show monkeys.