Day 272
After spending a few days in Hue, Vietnam, I continued south to Da Nang. I had arranged for a van company to take me on the two and a half-hour drive. At 11:00 am, I received a phone call from the driver, but he didn’t speak English. To communicate, he hung up and texted me instead to let me know that he was outside of my Airbnb.
I walked outside to find a small SUV with two other people inside. My Airbnb hosts helped the driver load my bags in the back. After picking up another single woman, we arrived at a hotel. We were all instructed to get out so we could transfer to a van. While we waited for two more people, they asked me to sign an itinerary that was in Vietnamese. I asked what I was signing, but the language barrier made it impossible for me to know what it said. A young couple on the trip helped to translate, so I signed.
The VIP van had two single seats in the front, two in the middle, and three spaces in the back row that were all on the same seat. They instructed me to get in the very back corner. I asked if I could just have a seat in the middle because I’m so tall. They wouldn’t budge because the seats were assigned in the order of our bookings and I booked last.
Frustrated, I got in the back seat with two tall Europeans next to me. The shorter locals were all in the larger seats that recline. The man in front of me reclined, making it impossible for me to get some writing done. We left 30 minutes late and the ride was so bumpy that I started to get car-sick. I was annoyed and grumpy by the service in Vietnam.
When we arrived in Da Nang, the driver stopped on a random street. He asked us to get out because apparently, this was our drop-off place. I tried to order a Grab, but the location wasn’t registering correctly, so I had to cancel it and order a new one. I stood on the sidewalk with my luggage and fumbled with my phone. Just then, the young couple from the van (who helped translate earlier about the seats) asked me if I needed help.
The guy was on a motorbike, and his girlfriend was on the back. I explained I was having difficulty with my Grab driver. The guy used my phone and called the driver to tell him where I was located. They waited with me until the driver arrived and then drove away. They restored my faith in humanity.
The heat in Da Nang was more bearable than Hue: 97 °F (36 °C) vs. 105 °F (40 °C) in Hue. I arrived at Dylan Hotel Da Nang that I booked on Orbitz and was able to check-in and drop off my bags. The modern hotel had 30+ floors. My room had two double beds, a TV, a desk, and a beautiful bathroom. I was elated to have a shower that had a glass barrier separating the shower from the toilet.
The rooftop on the hotel had a bar on one side and a pool on the other. After eating some lunch at the empty rooftop bar, I took a nap in the plush bed because I wasn’t feeling very good.
Later, I went to the (still empty) bar to watch the sunset, and I had widespread city views. The city was much more modern than what I had seen in the northern part of Vietnam.
For dinner, I signed up for a street food tour with Exploring DaNang Food Tour. I was the only person signed up that day, so instead of paying $35, I paid $50, so it wouldn’t be canceled. It would also give me a personalized tour. At 6:00 pm, Diep drove up to my hotel on her motorbike. She was 27 years old, about 5’6”, had straight hair pulled back into a ponytail, and wore blue pants with two white stripes on the sides. The sparkly black-brownish shirt that she was wearing said, “No glitter No party.” She was spunky and beautiful.
Diep told me to hop on the back of her motorbike so we could drive to the city center (my hotel was near the beach). I cautiously climbed on the back of the bike and tried to make sure she had enough room. I put my legs on the two small posts sticking out on the sides. I was careful not to let my leg hit the hot exhaust pipe.
We crossed over a bridge to the city center. I looked to the side and saw a river and a bigger bridge with a giant dragon along it. Riding on the back of the motorbike was great! The cool breeze felt refreshing in the night air. The city seemed cleaner and better-kept than what I had seen in Vietnam. The streets were newer and wider too. Diep told me that the city has grown tremendously in the last five years. They opened the Golden Bridge just outside of Da Nang at Ba Na Hills (it’s the famous bridge with hands holding it up) and it’s brought in a lot more tourism.
Diep parked at a market and rushed inside before they closed. We zipped through stalls until we arrived at the one she wanted. She bought me a green juice and a cup with jellies and sugary green beans. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. I ate the chunks and drank the juice, but Diep warned, “Don’t feel like you need to finish everything. We’ll eat a lot tonight. For some reason, Americans always feel bad wasting food, but trust me, you won’t be able to try everything if you finish all of them.”
Diep and I chatted as we stood near the stall. She told me that the average salary in Vietnam is $200 USD/month, which isn’t a lot of money. Most of the businesses are run by family members. They have to pay the government to rent the space for a market stall, and eventually, they’ll pass the business on to other members of their families.
The market was going to close, so we continued to our next destination. During the walk through the streets, Diep told me that Vietnamese eat small snacks throughout the day, which mostly consists of street food. For dinner, they are expected to go home to have dinner with their family.
We arrived at a street cart where an 80-year-old woman was making Banh Mi Que (Vietnamese baguette with pork liver, chili jam, and dry onion). Diep explained that the woman has been serving these from that food cart for more than 30 years. It was really delicious!
As I ate, Diep told me about herself. She attended University to study accounting, and she works for the government doing just that during the day. She doesn’t care for it very much, and she only makes $150 USD/month working full-time. She taught herself English in three months by watching YouTube videos. She was the second person that I met in Vietnam who told me they learned English in three months from YouTube. Both of them spoke English very well, and I was curious as to what videos these were. It also made me realize just how much the American school system is failing us. I took two years of Spanish in high school and two semesters at University and have never been bi-lingual.
Diep started to hang out with expats in the area so that she could work on her English. In return for their help, she would take them around to street vendors and show them which foods to eat and how to eat them. One day, someone told her that she should be charging for the food tours. She wasn’t sure at first because she thought her English needed improvement, but people encouraged her by assuring her that it was perfectly fine. Diep started doing food tours in the evening after work a year ago and was slowly building up a fantastic profile on TripAdvisor.
Our next stop was for some spring rolls in a small sit-down table down an alleyway. Diep told me about life in Vietnam for women. A woman is expected to cook and clean for her husband and his entire family. They often live with their parents even if they’re married. She said, “If you marry a Vietnamese man, you’ll be a slave to his family, especially if he has a lot of brothers.”
Diep told me about her aunt who has been married for 15 years to a man who beats her about once a week. She’s beautiful but puts up with it because it’s so common there. Diep watches as some young women marry, take care of the kids, and work all day while their husband is having an affair. The wife doesn’t know because she’s too busy taking care of everything. Diep has chosen not to marry a Vietnamese man. She said she’s old for not having been married. Instead, she’s decided to focus on her studies and now her business. She told me, “Then my money is my money. I won’t rely on anybody.”
I told Diep that I was a manager, but quit my job and sold my house so that I could travel. She was impressed that I gave up a good job and a house. She made me feel proud. I loved that two women in very different circumstances and from different countries could be supportive of each other.
Diep told me that as a child, people would tell her that she’s dark and wouldn’t play with her. They’d point and say she’s a farmworker. Finally, as an adult, she realized that she was wearing multiple jackets and face masks to cover her skin, and that wasn’t a way to live. Now, she’s confident and doesn’t care.
I told Diep that I noticed a lot of “whitening” soaps and face creams in Thailand and Vietnam. She explained that their culture values being light-skinned and does crazy things like getting a nose job for $2,000 to look more Caucasian. Diep said she could be out with a friend who doesn’t have as pretty a face as she has, but because her skin is whiter, she’ll get all the attention from guys. I told Diep that it was ironic that they do that when Caucasian people go to tanning beds to get darker. We agreed, “I guess we always want to be what we’re not.” She is a natural beauty.
Our next stop was a street vendor that served Che Chuoi Nuong, which is a grilled banana dessert served in coconut milk. It was so tasty, I ate the entire bowl! I noticed that the family still had a decent amount of food left and it was getting late. Diep had told me that they always make everything fresh daily. What do they do with the leftovers? Diep explained that families will eat it because they have big families and lots of people living together.
The next stop was Banh Trang Kep, which is a Vietnamese rice paper cracker with pate, beef jerky, and quail eggs arranged like slices of pizza. It was so delicious, it was my favorite food on the tour. Diep kept asking me for feedback, but I didn’t have any suggestions. It was a great tour!
While I ate my slices, Diep told me that she lost one of her three sisters when she was 14 years old. She was very depressed over it. After a year, she realized that’s not what her sister would want. Life is too short, and we have to live it in fulfilling ways, like having great conversations with inspiring people!
We hopped on to Diep’s motorbike for our next stop: eel at a sit-down restaurant. I was hesitant to try it, but Diep told me the Tumeric sauce makes it easier for newbies. She laughed and laughed at my inability to use chopsticks and how I was weirded out by the eel. We were having such a fun time!
For the finale, we went to a large outdoor restaurant to eat shrimp and BBQ oysters. Diep got me a beer as well, and I was so stuffed, I begged her to help me eat the oysters.
I told Diep that she’s an entrepreneur and she should feel proud of owning a women-led business. She told me that she doesn’t think she’s an entrepreneur because she doesn’t have any employees. I explained to her that she still had a business, was an innovator, and when her business takes off, she’ll hire employees. We even looked up the definition so she could be certain that she is, in fact, an entrepreneur. She looked proud of her accomplishments.
Diep drove me to my hotel, and we hugged goodbye. She told me that she was so fortunate to have met me and that we’re now a part of each other’s stories. I gave her another hug. I’m the one who was fortunate to meet such an incredible soul.
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4 Responses
Really enjoyed this!
This is one of my favorite posts
Thank you!