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The Center of Vietnam shines by its east coast boarding the China Sea and the High Plateau to the west, offering diversified climates.
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Flying Sardines
The Central Vietnam is a very diverse region where mountains and sea unite to offer to whoever travels, a multitude of pleasures, be it for the beautiful scenery and the diversity of climates or the culinary cultures. One thing remains the same throughout this vast region. The friendliness, hospitality and kindness of the Vietnamese. Bordered by the South China Sea to the East, Central Vietnam gets a lot of rain and frequent violent typhoons during the months of July to November. The climate varies greatly between the coast and the high plateau more to the west, where the average temperature is about 21 ° C.
DA NANG
We had 4 wonderful days of sunshine in Tam Coc. Traveling is so much more pleasant with sunshine. The green is greener and the scenery is so much more beautiful. So here we are, in Danang for 2 days of street food tasting. Danang is well known for its delicious streets food and our foodie souls were attracted by it. Here we are, in Da Nang to eat. But we had no idea of what was to “fall” on us …
The rain began in the evening of our arrival day. In Hanoi we made the best investment of our trip so far and purchased 2 umbrellas for $7. And they are still keeping us kinda dry, even after having served as much. Typhoon Damrey also decided to visit the center of Vietnam. Our 2 days turned into 4 because our next destination was also flooded by Damrey. Hoi An was strongly affected by dramatic floods.
Armed with our umbrellas, we left to an adventurous self tour of what Da Nang street had to offer us. We were the only ones walking around. People were looking at us like… “are you crazy ?!?! “ It eventually turned into discovery tour of the cool cafes.
We stayed 2 days in a youth hostel, Bookaholic in a bedroom, not the dorm (Q-tips under our bed, lake on the terrace, mega job in the sheets but for $ 10 , I guess you can not expect too much … The decor was very cool, like bed on wooden pallets, but the place would just need a little more love. We like hostels because you can meet other travelers and share our experiences. This time, we were the only ones. And moreover, we have seen very few travelers during our stay in this city. Perhaps they were aware of the typhoon …
Also, we were there during the APEC summit! Justin, Donald and all the top leaders of major countries were also in Da Nang. I don’t know if our email reached Justin. We were offering to have a drink with 2 Québécois of his own riding of Montréal. But it remained unanswered. 😂
So we ate very well despite everything and drank good coffee for 4 days.
Seriously, we found small hidden gem cafes. Beautiful places with a great decoration and a perfect atmosphere. And of course good coffee, usually! If you want to go to their websites to find out what the Vietnamese are capable of, they are:
We also had great food. Braving the weather, we went out to discover what Danang street food looked like. No internet search or guide. We just went for whatever was out there. We found a small street kiosk where the food was delicious. No idea what we ate. We sat on the small plastic bench and we were served. I love this kind of place where we speak in sign and our plates are always full of surprises.
We were also looking for a dinner in torrential rain. I had to invoke my infinite universe “Dear infinite universe, we will find a restaurant with a great ambiance with good and cheap food. Thank youuuu!” 3 minutes later, we found the perfect place with lots of locals, again no words exchanged, some pointing fingers and here we were, with food in front of us. Banh Xeo (pancakes with shrimp, served with fresh herbs and vegetables, rolled in rice paper) and Nem Lui hue (pork served in the same way as the Banh Xeo) accompanied by a peanut sauce .
We also tasted Mi Quan a kind of soup but with less broth. I found this soup over the top !! It was in a small restaurant, not too far from the hotel, with neon lights, and we were the only customers.
The last dining experience was the testing of a Vietnamese BBQ. With a lot of smoke. They bring you meat and seafood and you cook-it yourself on a little bbq grills at the table. The smoke accumulating in this place was crazy.
This was our experience of Da Nang. Food and coffee!
On the way to Hoi An. The rain stopped!
HOI AN
Located in the central part of Vietnam, Hoi An is a popular city for tourists from all over the world to enjoy the charms of the old city, the proximity of the sea and beaches and the nightlife, where the streets of the old city are illuminated by thousands of colourful lamps. Dating back as far as the 15th century, the old city has preserve its architectural style, influenced by various world cultures (Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, India).
From its strategic geographical position and being bordered by the Bồn River, Hoi An was once a spice-trading port, controlled by the Cham people.
Today, the old buildings beautifully preserved by the Council for Preservation and the Vietnamese population, were converted to become Cafes, Restaurants and Shops, for the sake of its abundant tourists in this part of Hoi An.
Having spent a few days in Da Nang, in the pouring and incessant rain, caused by the passage of Typhoon Damrey, we were very happy to change scenery and arrive in Hoi An. We had already been advised by fellow travelers and some blogs, including the highly detailed World Travel Family, as the ancient city was flooded by 2 to 3 meters of water but the rest of the city was intact. The flood was caused by a hydroelectric dam upstream on the Bồn River that needed to let the surplus of water accumulated by the torrential rain, go through. The inhabitants of Hoi An had been warned that the river level would increase significantly. This practice is used almost every year in the monsoon season so the locals are very accustomed to it. So when we arrived at the old city, most homes remained flooded and people were traveling by boat in the streets. The next morning, the water had started to withdraw from the city and shops that we flooded the day before had already started to open and resume their activities.
We had a bit of a crush for this city, despite the abundant amount of tourists. The place is charming, the atmosphere is magical and you can find plenty of good restaurants and cafes with fantastic scenery. Among them, the BANH MI PHUONG,
small restaurant on two floors, made famous and very busy for being mentioned by Chef Anthony Bourdain on his show No Reservation, serves those famous Banh Mi, sandwich in a small French style baguette and garnished with your choice of chicken, BBQ pork, and many more. Crispy outside and tender and tasty inside. We went 2 times! We can’t talk food without mentioning Nü Eatery, the best food we had since we started this adventure. Delicious fusion Vietnamese food with a awesome Pinot Noir from Mendoza in Argentina. Anyone going to Hoi An have to go there. Make sure you reserve before you go. Another attraction of this city of many beauties, are a lot of tailors offering their services to make you custom shirts, jackets, dresses, etc! And the prices are much cheaper than home.
Within easy reach by cycling from Hoi An center, you will reach An Bang and Cui Dai beaches, which are very beautiful. Small hotels and restaurants line the An Bang beach, while Cui Dai beach is lined with bigger hotels, resorts style. We were not able to swim because the passage of Damrey had left the water very dirty and filled with multiple objects and dead animals floating adrift. Not at all inviting!
After renting a motor-bike, we went to visit the ruins of My Son, about 1 hour from Hoi An. Located in the jungle, this sacred place built by the Champa people was a temple of contemplation and prayer. It is still used on occasion in the early morning, before the tourists arrive. The ruins were severely damaged by wars but some structures are still standing.
The rain followed us throughout our stay, but some clear periods enabled us to enjoy this beautiful city. We will surely return, at some point. But the rain followed us to our next destination, Da Lat …
DA LAT
Located about 80 km from the coast and at an altitude of 1,500 meters on the Plateau of Lang Bian, Dalat is the capital of the Lam Dong Province. With a temperate climate averaging around 21c, it is said that it is the eternal spring. And the climate is perfect for growing vegetables and flowers, which are then distributed across Vietnam. You can see thousands of agricultural greenhouses in the valley around the city. The “countryside” around Da Lat is beautiful. There are an incredible amount of huge pines trees and marigold flowers everywhere!
It is also said that Da Lat is the “Paris” of Vietnam. Indeed, this is a charming town, relax, yet eventful upon nightfall. In the center lies a night market where one can find a multiple of seafood on displays, grilled on the fire before you, and enjoyed on site. Several restaurants, bars and cafes are also part of the scenery and gives the place a European atmosphere. There are in fact lots of beautiful villas built by the French in the late 1800s, giving à “Swiss” mountain feel to the city.
We love to go walking in the streets, without a plan or itinerary, and get lost in the maze of streets. Discover a small market here, a central place there, and see what people really do in their daily lives. In the highest section of the city, we discovered several small hotels with wonderful and colorful decoration, vintage style. We would have loved to stay in each of them. And true to this new trend, many great cafes in the city have attracted us, the time to write a few lines and enjoy excellent coffee and completely divine fruit juices. Note in particular the An Café and the Delycious Café, where we spent several hours writing, protected from the rain.
And do not miss out on a drink at the Maze Bar. As the name suggests, you enter this establishment and go through a maze of walls, staircases, sculptures, all made of concrete. Hours of fun guaranteed. Try not to get lost, if you can.
Easily accessible by scooter at about 1 hour from the center, Pongour Falls and Elephant Falls are magnificent. You must choose the right time of day to visit because you can get stuck with several tourists. Early morning and late in the day, preferably. BTW, this is the best time for light and photography.
From Da Lat, we rented two motorbikes and left on à 4 days adventure to discover the small coastal villages of Vinh Hai, Cam Lap Cam Ranch. We were looking for beaches and sun. Our friends were posting pictures from there and it was sunny. We decided to go check that out. Life flows at a very low speed in this part of the country. They live by the sea, eat seafood and live stress free and slowly. And it’s perfect like that for us … But it was quite difficult to find open places to eat! One little corner restaurant for breakfast. For lunch … it was always hard to find a place since we were always hungry around 14:00 and 14:00 is the nap time. The often offered us a pack of ramen soup. And for dinner, a big hotel or a small corner bui-bui serving only soup “Pho”. We managed with what we had.
The big surprise was to fall on Marion & Giorgio, our fellow travelers / bloggers met in Cat Ba. Their blog Dreamy Travel Story contains great pictures. It is written in English and Italian. We have met them again in Da Lat when we returned from our motorbike excursion. And I must say that meeting people who share our values, our choices in life, our desire to discover, travel, LIVE, is one of the biggest attraction of traveling independently. And it’s mostly very pleasant when we see them again in different places, in different cities or countries.
Da Lat is, in our opinion, a must for any traveler passing through the central region of Vietnam. Located midway between Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An and, at 3hrs by bus from Nha Trang.
We could consider spend a lot of time here. Too bad the rain (yes .. She follows us) gave a slightly gray air to the city. But not enough to stop us from enjoying it à lot !
Then it was time to move southward towards Ho Chi Minh City.
PRATICAL INFO
Da Nang
- Nhân Meo: This restaurant was next to the bookaholic Hostel and it was raining , that’s why we ended up there. The menu was in Vietnamese. We ordered Fried noodle seafood. They were actually very good. Restaurant recommendation if you stay at the bookaholic and you don’t want to go downtown.
- Six on Six : Great place to enjoy western food. The Breakfast Burritos is awesome and they were working on a delicious quesadillas
- Tacos Ngon: Very good tacos, a bit expensive for Vietnam, western food is always more expensive. But if you want western food, go there. Right next to Six on Six. 35,000 per tacos.
- Bà Mua, My Quan: This was a restaurant we found by chance great great my Quang.
You have to eat the Mi Quang, Banh Xeo and the Nem Lui Hue. This is the central Vietnam food and they are very tasty.
- Bookaholic : Very Cheap hostel. With great decoration, beautiful room but it is not clean, hair from the previous customer, Q-tip under the bed. But, the staff is super nice. It was only 10$us per night with a “balcony”, private bathroom, hot water, no breakfast. It is also far from downtown, but right next to the bus station.
- Danang Bay Hotel: Situated right in front of the ocean. It was nice, but far from the city centre. The room were great, clean, well decorated. The bed of the standard room on the 1st floor wasn’t comfy. We felt the mattresse’s springs. The breakfast at the hotel was a little bit pricey. We paid 21$ Cnd per night.
- Six on Six: This is a Great Cafe hidden in a very quit street. They also offer 2 room through Airbnb. Great big rooms and awesome common area, asian style. The place is absolutely gorgeous
- Six on Six: First discovery, we spent the day chatting with the owners (an American and a Vietnamese) the food was like home. It was very good, the breakfast burritos can’t be missed. Vintage deco, somewhat comforting with table bench and sofa. We loved it. They also offer two beautiful rooms on airbnb with a magical common space.
- Why Roastery: This is a clear place because there are windows on three walls. They are really specialized in coffee and they have all the different instruments used in the preparation and tasting. We had a filter coffee which was delicious. This is a pretty cafe. We enjoyed our working day here.
- March Rojo Coffee: This cafe has 2 floors is just as charming as the 2 others, much larger with a vintage decor, soft, we felt at home. Pineapple & coconut juice was delectable and good latte. You are looking for a place to work on your laptop, this is your place.
We were there during Damrey Typhoon so we have not done anything except touring the Café and eat. Da Nang is known for his street food scene. So check that out.
Hoi An
- Cafe 41: We ate a Banh Xeo which was wonderful and the famous white roses. It is like a dumplings, it was delicious. With a mango smoothie and a beer $ 6 cnd.
- Lao Cau / Good’s Restaurant: The address is 474 Cua Dai. We ate the lao Cau, it is a soup with a little less broth which was superb. Supposedly one of the best in town. Accompanied with fried wontons, eggplant cooked in a clay pot, succulent. Very cheap.
- Nam Thanh Quan: Great little family restaurant with 4-5 tables. It is the true homemade food. The Lao Cau was tasty and the chicken rice worth the trip. With 1 or 2 beers the bill came to 6.33 cnd
- Ganesh: We ate the best butter chicken of our life. The samosas were very spicy and the lentils curry was okay. There is Ganesh restaurants all around Vietnam, in big cities. The bill is a little bit higher.
- Phuong Banh Mi: As we said in the article, this is a place recommended by Anthony Bourdain. There are a lot of people but it is possible to share a table on the 1st or 2nd floor. The Banh Mi are very good, our favorite: cheese & chicken. The everything one is good as the pork BBQ. A Banh Mi with a fresh passion juice is 2.20 $ cnd. We looove that. The restaurant The Banh Mi Queen is also supposed to be very good. We unfortunately ran out of time.
- Nü Eatery: It is where we ate the best in Vietnam, the most expensive too but it so worth it. It is recommended everywhere; Lonely Planet as one of the best in Vietnam, tripadvisor, all guides. It is out of the league. Fusion food. The steam bunds were so full of flavors, followed by pomelo and squid salad, really refreshing, chili lime shrimp served on a rice cracker were perfectly perfect and the star of the meal the rice with chicken, just WOW! Accompanied with a Pinot Noir from Mendoza. Can’t be missed, make a reservation or you could have an unpleasant surprise
- At the Hoi An market we went to Be Na Cafe. It was a great place. Special mention to the sweet and sour beef and fried spring rolls.
- Thien Tan: They have great rooms with balcony and nice marble bathroom. It is a little bit out of the center of town but they lend the bicycle for free. It’s perfect. The scooters are a bit more expensive then anywhere else at 150,000/ day. The price of the room was negotiated for 3-4 nights at $ 12 cnd / 8 $ us. Breakfast included. And it was great a very good breakfast.
- Café Mia: A very nice place to have you java boost in the morning. Super terrace, not too far from the Hoi An Market. The “flat white” is very good but so small. They are 37000vnd. But they are worth the trip the mango-raspberry juice was also completely insane.
- Hoi An Roastery: Same thing, super good flat white but a little more expensive than at Mia. 40000vnd. As small but equally tasty. It has several Hoi An Roastery in town.
- Why Not Bar: ( pham Hong Thai street) We had stopped to play pool. There is a table at the back of the bar, happy hour on beer until late, the decor is nice with art painting all over the bar.
- Corner of Pham Hong Thai and Tran Hung Dao, there is a place to grab a cheap beer sitting on small plastic chairs.
Thank you to blogs:
Little WanderBook for restaurants suggestions and activities
World Travel Family for recommendations of restaurants and assistance with updates on the flooding.
My Son: We rented a scooter to visit My Son. It is about 1 hour distance from Hoi An. We would suggest to take a guide, if not, it is not as fun. 150000vnd person for entry.
The beaches of An Bang and Cua Dai: The beaches were very polluted because of the Typhoon, it brought so much horrible stuff on the beach. But normally, I think we can swim in the ocean.
Da Lat
- Coffee An: We had the pork soup, it was delicious and the bowl of fresh fruit, granola and yogurt was Karine’s favorite. We went back 2 times to eat it.
- Born Bò 3 ngon: Chinese restaurant really cheap, 30,000vnd per plate. Where you eat rice with sunny side up egg on top, meat and vegetables. It was good and cheap. More for backpackeys.
- Vuong pizza: We chose a pizza rocket, parma ham and mushrooms (150,000vdn) and tomato sauce pasta, basil, parmesan and cream. (85,000vnd) the pizza was better than the pasta.
- Night Market: We ate seafood, snails and scallops. For 70,000 per plate. All the little street food stand looked good. The Vietnamese pizza is very very delicious.
- Goc Ha Thanh recommended by the Lonely Planet. The curry was very tasty.
- Lien Hoa Bakery : super cheap and. Very good Banh Mi, they also sell lots of pastries.
- Paris Hotel: We negotiated the price for 230,000vnd per night for 3 nights. Decent hotel but not in the center of Dalat. In front of the river.
- LaCasa House: Bed & Cafe. We have not stayed there, but I visited one room and the dorm that were very good. With a beautiful blue and white vintage decoration. They have two hotels close to each other.
- Pi Hostel, Gaia Hostel, Cozy House are 3 hotels / hostels that offer dorms or super well decorated rooms. All 3 are very special place where we really liked to stay but had no room available, only dorms. They have a great atmosphere, with a 2017 decoration!! We didn’t have the chance to see the rooms but the “lobby” gave us the feeling to sit and have a drink or read a book. See the links for more information and pictures check on booking and Agoda for prices.
- Misty Forest House: super well organized for children. Great decor, very purist. Magnificent. We would have loved to stay there.
- Dalat Central Hostel: We visited a room, great light, 10$us per night, we would surely have been able to deal a little. Very correct, very central in front of An Cafe.
Crazy House: This place would be a one time experience in your life to stay at this place.
Dalat has a looooot of great great cafes. Perfect for Travel Nomads, for coffee lovers or just to chill out because it is raining outside. Here are Some great coffee in Dalat.
- DelYcious (by percent) is a great little place with beautiful decoration, They have some outside seat. The painting on the wall is beautiful. It is on the small side. Great latte and great internet to Work.
- An Cafe: was our favorite coffee shop. The food was great and the coffee delicious. 39000 vnd for latte.
- Bicycle Cafe up: We found this place because of the old bath in the entrance. We went to visit and checked the menu. It was really a cool spot. Our travel blogger friends Dream Story Travel went 2-3 times while they were in Dalat and they loved it.
Windhills: This is a chain in Dalat, there are at least 5 shops in Dalat. Cute cafe, well decorated. We Did not try the coffee but we thought it was worth mentioning.
- Woody Bar-Cafe Saigon 2×1 on beers. Until late. 30,000vnd for 2 beers.
- Maze Bar Crazy bar like you’ve never seen in your life, where it would be easy to get lost in the tunnels, labyrinth and small holes. Unique experience in an eclectic mix of art and kitsch objects. Admission is 1 consumption. 40,000 beer. Not to be MISSED
Thank you to blogs
Vietnam Coracle That gave us the idea to go see Cam Lap beach and restaurant ideas.
- The crazy house: Lonely Planet Description: architectural exploration of surrealism, Hang Nga Crazy House is a private home happily conceived, outrageously artistic. Think of Gaudi and Tolkien that meets on acid. Voilà
- Maze bar: Not to be missed, in the same vein as the crazy house.
Road trip on the coast: you rent a scooter (TulipHotel are the only one that rent scooters for long durations 100,000vnd per day) Go visit Vinh Hi and the nearby
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