Rock-Awn 3.0

I meet up with Roxanne in Da Nang and we easily slide back into our travel team of Rock-Awn. Our roles are fluid and shifting, but she often researches food and I often research logistics. We spend our first day catching up as we walk along the long stretch of beach. The fishermen repair their nets and prep their little round boats while women sort through buckets of tiny snails. Exhausted from walking in the sun, we spend the afternoon by the pool then set out to find a good street food dinner. Da Nang is not super touristy, so it’s nice to see street side vendors filled with Vietnamese patrons. We settle on delicious fried noodles then set off to secure a good viewing spot for one of the main attractions: the Dragon Bridge. On Saturday and Sunday nights the colour changing dragon breathes out flames and water in a spectacle that attracts both tourists and locals alike. We cycle out to the Marble Mountains, which is a grouping of 5 hills each representing a different element. The largest one has numerous caves, temples, and pagodas all over it. Each of the caves is a little different. One has some really creepy images and my favorite one is filled with magnificent sunbeams. Rox read a food blog which leads us to cycle to a obscure little restaurant at the end of an alleyway. There we eat what I am crowning ‘best meal of the trip (so far)’. This honour should not be taken lightly. Remember that I was just in India and Singapore. It’s called Bánh Xèo and there are some steps to eating it. 1. Take 1 thin rice paper and place a Vietnamese pancake onto it. Do not worry about the shell on the shrimp; it adds to the texture: 2. Load it up with cucumber, greens, and some pickled radish-type thing: 3. Scoop on some secret recipe peanut sauce (which may contain pork liver) and a mystery meat stick. Start rolling it and twist to remove the stick and leave the meat: 4. Roll it up, dip it into more special sauce, and devour it: 5. Wipe your messy hands and the drool pool that it hanging off of your chin from it being so delicious. 6. Repeat at least 3 times. We revisit it again the next day to ensure quality control and to present them with the trophy. We also enjoy trying new fruits at a local market (mangosteen for Rox and soursop for me) and sipping delicious Vietnamese coconut coffee. Moms can probably stop reading now… We have seen this Lady Buddha statue from the beach. Turns out it is the tallest one in Vietnam (67m) and is located in an area called Son Tra. We decide to grab a ‘Grab’ (the local moto-taxi) to take us out there. Let’s just say it gets my heart racing, especially when my driver passes a bus on the winding road then later when, while driving, I watch him type something into his translation app.  Want to know what he was translating? ‘Hope you have happy in Vietnam.’ I guess I am happy that we didn’t die.