03.03 Day 48 Hoi An to Danang

Sunday 3rd March - Hoi An - Danang (Day 48)

And so the journey north continues, albeit only 30 kms up the road. Like 48 hours earlier, there’s plenty of time and we’re in no rush with a midday checkout. So there’s time for me to borrow one of Truc Loc’s bikes and cycle 5 minutes - with an (over?) confident manner learnt from watching Vietnam’s roads for two weeks now - to get Banh Mi’s from three different locations, under 50 metres apart, vegetarian from one for me, egg for Kate from another, and two further egg for the kids from Banh Mi Phuong where our very first crispy rolls came from on our first wet day. 

I also collect a Ca Phe Muoi - an iced salt coffee which I recommend. Along with Banh Mi and noodles we’ve also had a lot of mangoes as either snacks or as part of breakfast and so it is again this morning. The kids get through some school work - Sienna happy to do so, whilst Seb needs more cajoling and frequent breaks too. 

Sienna and I hop back on a bike - she’d been given a book by Emmett and Hazel in Thailand and now I’ve found a buy / exchange shop - it exists in the lounge of a family home - the 11 year old daughter left in charge to man the shop. We trade in the book and buy two Enid Blyton short story paperbacks. 

We’re finally ready to leave and have the reception order a taxi to take us the 40 minutes up the coast to Danang. There’s seemingly no split between towns; a consistent selection of shops, cafes and houses lining the road. 

Danang proper sits alongside a long strip of beach and it reminds me of a cross between Gold Coast (Aus) for the developments right up to the water's edge, Vegas (US) for the large blocks mixed with Denarau Island (Fiji) with sprawling complexes of large hotels. 

Of course we’re not staying in the Pullman or the Hyatt Regency or the Mariott, but Lahome Apartments. One block back from the beach, this five storey building is sprouting greenery from each window. Our two bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor opens to a one sided corridor, the open side dropping all the way to the ground floor and the swimming pool below. On one side there is a steel walkway perforated with floral patterns and also a similar pattern of open stairways. The effect leaves Kate a little uncertain, preferring to stick to the lift (in Kate’s defence the perforated steel gives slightly as you walk on it). 

We find lunch one block away. The usual array of noodles and rice, with our first cane juice. Many juice stands also have a grinder through with sugarcane is fed, and refed, to produce a sweet honey and lime flavoured drink. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly the kids spend the afternoon in the pool, whilst Kate and I do a laundry drop off and pick up two hours apart. In Thailand, there were plenty of self-service washing machines, sometimes even just standalone under a tin roof on the side of the road, but in Vietnam they only seem to want to do it all for you. We’re content to hang our wet washing on the open rooftop. 

Sienna is clambering for something other than Banh Mi, egg, noodles or rice, and I’d seen a place offering burgers on the walk back from the laundry which we now walk to. The further away from the beach you go, the less English is spoken and we struggle until another customer helps to translate that burgers are only available for breakfast. The disappointment is partially offset by the fact that this place bakes it’s own bread so it’s literally fresh out the oven. The kids enjoy their plain, albeit warm crusty bread rolls.