Mrs. ItchyFeet My adventures finding living quarters in Đà Nẵng, Việt Nam have been chaotic at best and started six months ago. Through my travels, I have found that you can usually find really good deals on stays if you book well in advance, especially on longer stays. I was so excited about Đà Nẵng because I secured a really large apartment (with a dishwasher and washing machine, and potable water!) with this absolutely amazing swimming pool right on the beach. It was gorgeous! And only about $900 USD per month. So you can’t imagine how disappointed I was when they cancelled on me a month later. WTF!
1st try in Đà Nẵng
But I looked at it as an opportunity. When I let friends know that I was going to this area of Việt Nam, they all said that I have to visit Hội An, which is just down the road. Well, why not stay in Hội An for a couple of weeks before heading to Đà Nẵng, since my housing fell through? I was still pretty bitter about that apartment. The owner said they had some urgent maintenance to do. I was like, you have five months to do the “urgent” maintenance before I arrive. Get it done. They were all, we want to do the work in February and we want you to cancel so that we don’t get charged for cancelling on you.
Are you kidding me? I asked if they had a different unit in the same building. They said yes, but it is twice as expensive. But you are canceling on me. It’s not a bigger unit. Just move me over. We went back and forth for a month before I finally had to talk to the Booking help desk. I kept hoping they would give me a room. It took me a while to find out that the stay was over Vietnamese New Year (Tết), and they could therefore get twice as much as what I was going to pay. Sigh.
2nd try in Đà Nẵng
So I booked a lovely room in Hội An for two weeks over Tết and another apartment for a month in Đà Nẵng. This one is smaller, with fewer perks and not as good location, but only $800 USD. My friend was so excited that I would be in Hội An for Tết. The small city is absolutely gorgeously decorated for the holiday with tons of lanterns and lights and reds and yellows. But once the holiday starts, most everything closes as it’s a family holiday… that you spend with family… not working… or cooking for tourists.
I picked the worst time to not have a kitchen. Even the hotel restaurant is closed for a week, which bums me to no end because they made the best banana, peanut butter, chocolate, coffee, coconut smoothie. It makes sense to be closed because it is bad luck to cook or clean over Tết. That’s why Bánh Tét (steamed filled sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves) is so popular now, as it keeps for a long time and there is ready food available during the holiday. I spent a lot of time wandering around, looking for food that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. It was an adventure for sure!
Mỹ Sơn archeological site
A couple of days before Tết, I did manage to secure tickets to Mỹ Sơn, which is an archeological site similar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia but older and smaller, and sustained a lot of war damage. Both were built by the same religious folks, the Champa (Cham) people, who came to this area from what is now present-day India, so they have a lot of the same structures and Hindu statues. And both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The ticket for the Mỹ Sơn tour was only $15 USD and includes lunch. I will still have to pay the 150,000 đồng entrance fee ($6 USD) but that is well worth it.
With my favorite phở breakfast place closed for Tết, I got lucky in that I was able to find a random street vendor selling really good beef noodle soup (Bún Bò) in the parking lot of a closed tattoo shop. It was packed with locals, so you just know it will be delicious. If there’s a line, you will be fine! I skipped the self-serve tea, though, because I think customers were reusing cups, which is good for the environment, but… nope.
Once in the tour van with everyone, our guide gave us some historical context of which I remember very little because I was too busy checking out the rice fields for water buffalo, the rivers for crocodiles (there aren’t any, anymore), and the roads for tourists on motorbikes trying to get themselves killed. I’ve already seen two scooter crashes in Việt Nam, so you have to keep your eyes peeled. I actually lifted the motorbike off one lady who got her leg trapped underneath.
It was truly impressive how many people (locals and tourists alike) came to her aid the second her bike went out from under her. The complete opposite of what happened to me when I crashed my bicycle in Seattle, USA. I was bleeding on the side of the road and tons of people just drove around me like they didn’t see. I blame liability laws! Anyway, she was fine but probably broke her ankle.
Back to the story
I digress… once at Mỹ Sơn (which is Beautiful Mountain in Vietnamese… see, I learned a bit), I bought my entrance ticket and headed with the guide into the site. After a quick buggy ride, we met a lovely family from India whose guide never showed up, so they joined us. We walked for a bit to a pavilion. Then the guide sends us on our way to take pictures of the archeological site with the request to be back in 15 minutes for a show. Wait, are you not going to walk us through with information?
Fifteen minutes is not a lot of time to get pictures for you all, but I managed. There weren’t that many people around, which was kind-of cool. Usually, these sites are packed. Once back at the pavilion, we were treated to several really fun performances by local artists. The costumes were wonderful, and I got lots of pictures. You’re welcome!
Once the show was over, our guide took us into the ancient Hindu site and gave us a ton of information. So he wasn’t lazy! He just wanted us to get good pictures before all the other tourists swarmed the place. Smart! He told us about the three major Hindu gods that the site was dedicated to (Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma) with a few statues of the deity Ganesha thrown in for good measure.
Ganesha is the deity with the elephant head and four arms. According to one origin myth, Parvati and Shiva had a kid, but Shiva had to go away for many years. When he got back, he came across this attractive adult male in his wife’s house and promptly chopped off his head in a jealous rage. Parvati screamed and admonished Shiva for killing their son. In desperation, Shiva runs into the forest to find a suitable replacement for the missing cabeza. Finding an elephant, he chops off its head and glues it back onto his son’s body. Hence the elephant head! Our guide got very serious after telling us the story and assured us that the story is just a myth. I guess previous groups thought the story sounded entirely plausible, and he didn’t want us spreading misinformation.
It gets better! The locations of the temples were specifically chosen because of the combination of a prominent lingam (phallic) mountain overlooking the yoni (vulvic) valley below. There were several lingam-yoni stoneworks used for worship with water. One had boobs all around the bottom, which is just good fun. I’ve seen loads of archeological sites dedicated to male genitalia, so it’s really great to see one dedicated to both male and female bits.
Our guide also talked about the restoration that was ongoing. Several of the buildings were damaged during the American War last century, and there are visible bullet and shrapnel holes in some. I’m very glad the locals don’t hold a grudge! On top of that, the site was looted by the French at one point. Some statues, and pieces of statues, are currently at the Louvre in Paris. With these sobering thoughts, we head back to the start for lunch.
With our bellies filled with delicious chicken soup with wide rice noodles (Mì Quảng), we head to our next stop. A rice-paper making shop! And they do it all there. They remove the husks, grind the rice to flour, and cook it up over a rice-husk fired steamer. They have both the old hand driven devices and the new electric ones. I get to make a rice-paper, which is fun. One of the ladies on the tour said it reminded her of The Amazing Race episode in Việt Nam where contestants had to make 12 perfect rice-papers. I thought I did pretty well!
The rice-paper is then placed outside to dry. Our guide showed us their fish fountain where most of the fish escaped a few months ago when the entire region along the river flooded. It’s the highest the river has gotten in over 65 years! I’m absolutely amazed that the water got that high, and that they were able to clean it all up so fast. With that, we head to our boat ride downriver back to Hội An.
I’m pretty confident that where we got on the boat was not an official boat ramp, as we had to climb precariously around a fence and across an old wooden plank to get on, but nobody fell into the drink. That boat has seen better days, and I for sure put on a life vest. The chairs were kitchen chairs tied to the sides of the boat, and the entire thing listed to one side. But the views were really pretty, and we didn’t sink even a single time. They dropped us off in the center of Hội An, and I opted to walk back to my apartment. Not a bad day for $15 USD!
3rd try in Đà Nẵng
So remember that not as wonderful apartment I booked for a month in Đà Nẵng? Well, two weeks before the move-in date, the owner messaged me to ask for a deposit to be made directly to his account. He said he was worried that I would cancel on him. I’m more than willing to make a deposit through an official Booking platform, but I’m not just going to wire you money. I asked if he would honor our original agreement that I would pay him rent in two weeks. He relented and said that was fine.
Then, four days before the move-in date, he tried to force me to pay a deposit, or he would cancel my reservation. I called Booking, and they said he could not do that and not to pay him off-platform because it sounded like a scam. I told the owner I wouldn’t pay, and he canceled the booking. Sigh. So now I’m desperately scrambling to find an apartment during a very popular holiday. Luckily, the hotel I was currently staying in let me stay an extra night, and the owner was able to arrange it so that I could stay in my same room. She is so nice!
I finally find a place in a nice quiet neighborhood in the Mỹ An area of Đà Nẵng for way too much money ($1200 USD) and way fewer perks and no swimming pool. But when I get there, the lady renting to me is not there. I wander around looking for Wi-Fi to message her, and she finally sends a guy on a motorcycle to come get me. She says I’m at the wrong address. No, I bloody well am not! This is 100% the apartment building as seen on Airbnb. This is the old bait and switch!
4th try in Đà Nẵng
The guy takes one of my bags on his motorcycle, and I walk behind him with my other bags almost a kilometer away to a very busy and loud intersection where he walks me upstairs to a different apartment than I rented. He says it’s newer and cleaner and better than the place I booked. Cleaner? What is going on!?! The place is so tiny (definitely not 40m2 as advertised! 26m2… I measured) and so loud with the busy honking traffic outside. And no potable water. There is no way I’m paying $1200 for this!
Luckily Airbnb was very helpful and got the owner to agree to move me back to the other building in four days (even with her claiming that this unit was cleaner and better), and reimburse me half for my four days of inconvenience. Plus Airbnb gave me $50 USD for my troubles. The owner even got me a taxi to move me. So after four days, I pack all my stuff again and move to what turns out to be a very dirty apartment. She was not kidding when she told me the newer apartment was cleaner. I just assumed she would clean the old one! I should not assume.
I spent that first day cleaning. You should have seen the A/C unit. It was filled with mold. I don’t think it has ever been cleaned. The sheets and towels were clean, so I stayed overnight with the kitchen closed off. When I opened the door the next morning, the stench of mold and sewage was brutal. My friends in Portugal taught me to use plastic bags of water on top of drains to keep them from off-gassing. But the holes and the mold were under the kitchen sink with no way to cover them. Plus big cockroaches. Sigh.
5th try in Đà Nẵng
Time to look for another place. But first, I contacted the owner to see if she would clean the place and lower the price. I think I could stay here for $600 USD and a good clean. It does stink, though. We mutually decided to cancel and promised not to rate each other on the platform. Luckily, I found a massive, gorgeous apartment just up the street for not too much. Here’s the catch… it’s only available for ten days, and it is right smack in the middle of party central, so it is loud. The apartment comes with earplugs, and the owner said I should sleep in the back bedroom because otherwise I will not get any rest.
6th try in Đà Nẵng
But the neighbors are wonderful. We went out to lunch and chatted for hours. Making friends! And the apartment has a gorgeous kitchen with everything except a microwave or oven (not common around here). The people-watching from the balcony is amazing. There is a bar that is open 24-hours a day, and I can see the same people in the evening still there, totally wasted, the next morning. It’s so much fun. I make up stories about their lives and how they got to this point.
There’s a dance club associated with the bar that pumps out music from 6pm to 6am. Thump-thump-thump! You kind of get used to it after a while. Like white noise. Plus, it’s only for ten days. I keep a fan on, which covers most of the noise. The shouting drunken fights draw me to the balcony every time. So fun to watch from a distance. It’s like reality TV in real life!
I managed to find another place in a quieter neighborhood, still in Mỹ An. This one is smaller, but still has a kitchen and is closer to the beach. I hate moving, but I am looking forward to, hopefully, sleeping better. I’ll let you know how it goes! It’s an adventure!
