Places to visit in Da Nang, Vietnam

Da Nang is a coastal city bursting with stunning beaches, rolling mountains, and religious relics. Once considered a drop-off point for many of Vietnam’s smaller cities dotting the coast, Da Nang is now drawing in its own tourists to gawk at the natural beauty and historical remnants.

Ba Na Hills

Ba Na Hills is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Da Nang. This fairytale-like hill station is modeled on an old European city complete with castles, cobblestone streets, and beautiful courtyards. The complex also features Buddhist statues and temples built for entertainment only, which makes for a quirky combination of old East and West. To get to the top, visitors must ride the world’s longest cable car lift which offers spectacular scenery of the valley below.

Son Tra Peninsula

Son Tra Peninsula is also known as Tien Sa Mountain. Its name is from a legend that Son Tra was called as a stop for fairies in the past. This peninsula is at the north end of Da Nang’s My Khe beach is nicknamed Monkey Mountain for the rare species of monkey that dwells inside the dense forests. Son Tra Peninsula was a former U.S. Army base for radar and communications, with some of the radar domes still visible today.

Tourists usually rent a scooter or hire a local to drive the steep, winding road to the peak to see the sprawling city and coastline in all its glory. Several local tour companies organize hikes up and around the mountain, where lucky tourists might catch a glimpse of some playful monkeys.

Marble Mountains

Marble Mountain or Non Nuoc is a well-known attraction among local and foreign tourists. This place is a cluster of five mountains named after the earth’s elements: Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). They look like bonsais emerging between a vast hillock. Every mountain has its particular beauty in shape, position, a material with many caves and temples inside. Marble Mountain is truly a heaven of all tourists.

There are several stunning pagodas and temples nestled in different areas of the mountain so it’s best to purchase a small map before embarking on the hike. The largest cave’s entrance is at the base of the mountain and is described as ‘hell’ by the locals; various creepy statues and engravings are hidden inside this deep cave depict an afterlife of suffering and torture.

My Khe Beach

My Khe Beach is voted by Forbes magazine as one of the most attractive beaches on the planet. With a coastline stretching to 90 meters, blue waters, fine white sandy beaches, and high-end hotels, My Khe is an ideal destination for those who are in love with beaches. Also, there is a great selection of water activities in Da Nang, which can help you to spend a day long in Da Nang beaches.

My Son Sanctuary

Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the My Son Holy Site hosts the abandoned ruins of Vietnam’s ancient Champa civilization that once occupied southern Vietnam. My Son depicts intricate carvings of various Hindu gods and makes an informative, fascinating day trip. A tour with a knowledgeable guide is highly recommended so you get the most from the area. Only a few buildings remain as the majority were destroyed in a carpet-bombing campaign by the Americans during the war; there are large bomb craters still visible around the site. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn about this ancient kingdom and explore the overgrown ruins surrounded by mountains.

Linh Ung Pagoda

Situated on an area of about 20 hectares on the side of a mountain, the pagoda is a magnificent artwork. The pagoda was built with a perfect harmony of modern and traditional features typical of a Vietnamese pagoda. The pagoda and the statue all come from the 18th century and have been recently restored. The surrounding gardens are really beautiful and you can admire the nearby bay from the main terrace.

See more: Places to visit on your first trip to Central Vietnam

Asia Park

Asia Park is one of the biggest and most modern amusement parks in South East Asia. Its Ferris wheel provides amazing views of the city and is a prominent feature of Da Nang’s night landscape. There are no crowds here at all and in some places, you can feel like you’re in an abandoned but still functioning amusement park.

There’s also a small train called Monorail, which will take you around the area and from which you can see the bridges of Da Nang such as Dragon Bridge, Golden Bridge, and so on.

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The interesting facts you might not know about coffee

Around the world, coffee production provides a livelihood for 25 million people. For them, coffee is a reason to get up in the morning while, for everyone else, it is the reason they can get up in the morning. Over two billion cups of coffee are drunk every single day, which raises the question of how the other five billion people manage to get anything done.

Here are the things you might not have known about the tasty brown drink.

The word ‘coffee’ has Arabic origins

The word ‘coffee’ comes from the Arabic word “qahwah”, which originally referred to a type of wine. There are a number of theories among linguists about the word’s current association with coffee.

Many believe that like wine, caffeine has an intoxicating effect, but qahwah can also be traced to the Arabic word quwwa, which means power or energy, or qaha which translates to ‘lacking hunger’ and could reference coffee as an appetite suppressant. Another theory is that it originates from Kaffa, a kingdom in medieval Ethiopia from where the coffee plant was first exported to Arabia.

Coffee beans are not really beans

The coffee plant grows berrie all along its branches and, once ripe and red, they are picked and their seeds are removed. It is these seeds that we incorrectly call coffee beans.

Legend has it that coffee was discovered by an Ethiopian farmer called Kaldi, who noticed his goats behaving strangely after eating berries from a coffee plant.

Coffee can keep you young

It has been suggested that the drink offers a range of anti-ageing benefits, including lowering the risk of cirrhosis, diabetes and dementia. It also contains antioxidants, which can prevent cell damage and help reduce wrinkles.

Perhaps with this in mind, Japan has opened a spa where you can bathe in the brown stuff. The resort, in Hakone, offers guests the chance take a dip in a hot tub full of coffee; a welcome opportunity to those who have spent too long in the spa’s other attraction, a hot tub full of red wine.

Coffee has always been an important way of socializing

Public coffee houses, usually associated with Sufism, first gained popularity in the 16th century. The first coffee houses opened in Cairo, Egypt, around an important religious university and slowly spread throughout the region.

People would visit these venues to drink coffee, listen to music, play chess and talk about current affairs and religion.

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Visit Japan, enjoy the best ramen in the world

Ramen is a noodle soup dish that was originally imported from China and has become one of the most popular dishes in Japan in recent decades. Ramen is inexpensive and widely available, two factors that also make them an ideal option for budget travelers. Ramen restaurants, or ramen-ya, can be found in virtually every corner of the country and produce countless regional variations of this common noodle dish.

The modern ramen scene has a wealth of serving variations, even if the dishes are all called ramen: cold or hot noodles eaten together with soup, noodles served without soup, and thin noodles are eaten with a hot dipping sauce.

Ramen is a Japanese adaptation of Chinese wheat noodles. Ramen was first introduced to Japan in 1660s by Zhu Shun Shui. There is another theory which claims that the second origin story centers on ramen’s arrival in the nineteenth century as a result of changes in Japanese food practices inspired by American imperialism. It was also said that Ramen was introduced by Chinese immigrants in the late 19thor early 20th century.  According to the record of the Yokohama Ramen Museum, ramen originated in China and made its way over to Japan in 1859. Early versions were wheat noodles in broth topped with Chinese-style roast pork.

The word ramen is a Japanese transcription of the Chinese lamian. In 1910, a Chinese restaurant serving ramen in Yokohama's Chinatown received public praise in Japan. Until the 1950s, ramen was called shina soba but today chūka soba or just ramen is more common, as the word has acquired a pejorative connotation.

Shoyu

Shoyu ramen soup is a clear, brown broth flavored with soy sauce (shoyu). The soup is usually made of chicken broth but often contains other meats such as pork, beef or fish depending on the region. Shoyu ramen is the most common type of ramen and is usually what is served when the menu does not specify a specific type of soup.

Shio

Shio ramen soup is a light, clear broth seasoned with salt. It is typically made from chicken broth, but may also be flavored with other meats such as pork.

Miso

Miso ramen soup is flavored with soybean paste (miso), resulting in a thick, brown soup with a rich, complex flavor. The style originated in Hokkaido where the long cold winters spurred the need for a heartier type of ramen soup, but it has spread to the point where it can be found pretty much anywhere in Japan.

Tonkotsu

Particularly popular around Kyushu, tonkotsu ramen is made of pork bones which have been boiled down until they dissolve into a cloudy white broth. The thick, creamy soup is also often flavored with chicken broth and pork fat.


See more: 8 typical dishes from Northern Japan, Aomori cuisine

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