For so many reasons!
There are plusses and minuses to any country or city. Crime, pollution, cost…
Danang is different… to a certain extent indescribable. Utterly lawless, yet perfectly safe, it’s like a self-organized beehive. There are NO traffic laws… people driving wherever they please, making U-turns on crowded 4 lane streets, driving motorcycles on sidewalks and ignoring street signs.
It’s supposedly a communist country but you’ll find few places with more private property, small businesses and unhinged capitalism. There are no labor laws, no OSHA and no bureaucracy. Businesses can do damn well whatever they please.
So, why live there?
The People.
The Vietnamese are beautiful people. I was there for 4 months and never as much as heard a bad word.
I can’t remember ever seeing more helpful, kind or happy people in any country I’ve ever visited. They’re incredibly honest. I’ve never once been shortchanged or overcharged for anything. They love money, no mistake there, but they earn it. The level of service is off the charts.
As an American I was looking for war scars. I saw none. There was no anti-American sentiment. The Vietnamese never insult. I’m not sure they could if the wanted to. I was there for 4 months in 2023 and met hundreds of people at all income levels.
The cost of living.
To say Danang is cheap is a gross understatement. It’s so insanely cheap that it’s hard to spend money. Dinner in a restaurant and a beer… $10 USD. A bolt ride across town… $3 USD.
But it’s high value cheap! My apartment, a one bedroom with a modern kitchen in a 6-story building with a 24-hour concierge and a rooftop swimming pool and rec center… $400 USD per month for a NO LEASE SHORT TERM STAY.
In fact, the ACCOR ultra luxury condo complex with a private beach, luxury swimming pool, bell hops and GREAT food is $1,300 USD a month.
The beaches.
Danang was the area where US troops during the Vietnam war. Now it’s a vacation mecca with great hotels, beachfront café’s, surfing, parasailing, beach volleyball and a dozen other activities.
That said, the locals avoid the beaches at mid-day. On Sunday morning at 8AM, they’re packed, but by noon it’s all tourists.
Most of the tourists are from Australia, the UK, Japan, Korea, Israel, Russia and India. (The Indians are NOT popular, as they tend to be cheap and impossible to please) But the Aussies and Brits are very popular. I met very few Americans though. The locals really can’t distinguish an American, from a Brit or an Israeli for that matter, but that’s who you’ll see on the beach. Nice people, nice beaches, plenty to do.
The culture.
The Vietnamese are fascinating people. Their main religion is Buddhism, but there is a surprisingly large number of Roman Catholics. Danang has a rather large Catholic monastery, but the most fascinating temples are Buddhist.
The Buddhist temples are open to all and for the most part free, (or so cheap you won’t care about the price) but they are very spiritual people. If you wear shorts you won’t get in. You must take your shoes off in every temple, even the most out of the way corners of the country. But it’s well worth it.
Contrary to the “government is your mommy” European socialists or Russian communists of the last century, the Vietnamese are surprisingly free people. Make no mistake, they HATE their government who they see as useless inbreds, but there is very little government presence. In fact, I didn’t know what a policemen looked like until I was there three months!
This was not always the case. The atrocities in post war Vietnam inflicted by the north on the south were brutal. But that was then, and this is now. The scars are going away.
But they are obsessed with family. They will travel long distances to see their parents, often on no sleep. (They work very long hours)
The rats.
I write this tongue in cheek. I have never seen a place with more rats. They are literally everywhere. On the beaches when the sun goes down, it’s like a B horror movie. They race in out of the sewers and fan across the beaches looking for bits of food. They run through restaurants and scurry all over the streets.
What’s funny is no one seems to notice. As for myself, I like rats and have had several friends with pet rats. Everybody has to make a living including rodents. They’re very friendly and smart little guys, but for most people they’re a freak out.
But what I love about Danang’s rats is the way the people treat nature. Their temples are filled with monkeys who roam around like they own the place. When it rains it’s like the city is going to wash away, literally 6 inches of water pouring down the street. Nature is part of life… no sense bitching. Deal with it.
My masseuse was a tiny girl that weighed 38 kg, but she could crack every muscle in my back like I was made of peanut shells.
54,000 Americans died in Vietnam. They’re tough people.
To summarize, I loved my time in Danang. You need a visa to enter but you can get one online in just a few days. Airlines, especially Vietjet are reasonable and the service is great. Danang is just a short flight to Bangkok and Chiang Mai, which are great short trips. Taxi’s are so cheap you’d wonder how the drivers survive on what they charge.
There is an almost unlimited variety of restaurants and food choices. Service is top notch. In the little family place next to my apartment, spaghetti to go was $5, and it was legitimate Italian spaghetti with an all beef meatball. Dirty Fingers, my favorite restaurant run by an American from Louisiana had GREAT barbecue.
