Fire-breathing Dragon in DANANG

In Danang, we come across a more westernized city. It is also much larger, even the third largest city in Vietnam. We quickly realize this as we cannot get far on foot. The city is separated by a wide river. On the first evening, we walk what feels like an eternity across the bridge until we reach the other side. The city lights up at night in many colors, just like many other cities here. Almost like Christmas time, only all the time. After dinner and a delicious coconut ice cream on the promenade, we walk to the dragon head of the famous Dragon Bridge. At 9 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, a special spectacle begins here. First, it breathes fire three times, then spits water three times, followed by three more fire breaths. Dozens of tourists and locals gather in front of the head, causing the four-lane bridge to be temporarily closed to traffic. We watch the event with awe. During the water spitting, we are surprised because the wind pushes the water to the other side into the crowd. People run away screaming. We find it very funny and enjoy watching, until the wind changes and we get a little wet too.

On the way back, we come across another Bingo, as we did in Hoi An. This time we sit down. Within a minute, two or three locals come up to us and explain the game. This time we gladly participate and receive support from the side. But before it starts, they absolutely want to take a photo with us, as we are the only 'non-locals'. And it's not just one, several mobile phones are pulled out. In the end, we don't win, but it was great to cheer along, even though we didn't understand anything.

The next day, we go to the Ba Na Hills. We don't know what to expect up there and since we already have to tell the taxi driver the return time, we are a bit overwhelmed. He says 4-5 hours are enough. When we arrive at the top, we realize that we could easily spend the whole day there. Unfortunately, we have already set the time and now we have to manage it well.

The adventure starts with the world's longest cable car ride, lasting 20 minutes. We literally fly over the jungle. Below us, there are only trees as far as the eye can see, and we hear birds chirping. At the top, a small village awaits us, with a French touch. One building is actually from the French colonial period, but all the others are replicas. There is a village square with a church and many houses with restaurants and even an amusement park. As I said, you could spend the whole day here. They even have two toboggan runs up here. Of course, we have to try them immediately. Unfortunately, the waiting time is a bit longer as they don't zip down as fast as we are used to. But it's fun.

There are also beautiful flower gardens here, a huge white Buddha statue, and a bridge that is carried by hands. In the end, we do get a little short on time, but we meet our taxi driver again on time at the bottom. The amusement park on the hill was definitely a great trip.

The next day we continue on to Hue. Once again, we travel there by bus.