If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, head to this link first! This will be a continuation of the first post.
Da Nang
Darrell’s mom is from Da Nang, so we knew we had to visit on our first Vietnam trip together! Whenever we were driving around the beach town, she would point out things from her childhood and adolescence: her elementary school, restaurants and street stalls that she frequented–I loved learning more about her and seeing this excited side of her. We even visited a few of her old friends!
We stayed at A La Carte Da Nang Beach because we loved the modern touches. We got a room with a balcony and an ocean view, and it was still rather cheap, around $80 USD per night. We arrived around dinner time so we had a seafood feast at Be Bien, and then we visited the Son Tra Night Market! I’d say this was a bad idea (to eat dinner before going to the night market) because the night market was brimming with TONS of yummy food, from fresh lobsters to banh xeo and banh khot. Also, a thing about the night market… people are VERY aggressive, basically talking in your face to sell you on the food at their stall! I tried not to make eye contact while also shaking my hand and saying no thank you, haha! At the same night market, they also have a bunch of clothes, accessories, and toys to buy if you’d like. We even saw some funny knock-off dupes of designer bags and shoes!
The breakfast buffet at A La Carte was next level. We thought we had it good until now, but this one was our favorite so far! There were so many breakfast options from banh cuon to banh beo. The pictures above are some of our sample plates–they even had waffles and pancakes! The best part was the passionfruit and dragonfruit jams they had on the side… so fresh and sweet.
On our first full day in Da Nang, we visited the Marble Mountains, which are a popular tourist destination here. Each of the five mountains have caves, tunnels, shrines, and pagodas on the inside. It was quite a site to see! My parents and I actually climbed to the top of one of the mountains. It was super steep and very slippery, but once I saw some elderly people go up and down, we knew we could do it. I love that they are adventurous (and fit) enough to try these things with me!
Hoi An
We took a day trip to Hoi An, which is an ancient town in Vietnam that’s famous for custom tailored clothes, fresh banh mis, and a nightly lantern lighting on the river. We walked around the streets of Hoi An in almost 100 degree weather (combined with the humidity, O M G), visiting many tourist shops, tailor shops, and street food stalls along the way. We didn’t get any custom clothes, though I totally wish I had!
For lunch, we went to Banh Mi Phuong, which is famous because the late Anthony Bourdain popularized this restaurant. Banh Mi Phuong is SUPER popular, so expect a crowd, but the line goes by quickly. I got a roast pork banh mi and I can confidently say that this was the best banh mi I ever had. The French bread in Vietnam is on another level–perfectly crisp on the outside and super soft and fluffy on the inside. The bread also didn’t cut up the roof of my mouth like the banh mis do in the US! We also tried cao lau, which is a special Hoi An noodle dish consisting of a savory sauce, pork, and thick noodles. So good!
After walking around Hoi An for a few hours, we were pretty tired and were starting to overheat. We came across this che (sweet Vietnamese dessert) stand, and my mother in law was speaking with the woman who ran it. She said this stand has been in her family for 150 years, and she’s been running it for the past 40 years! We each tried something ranging from mung beans with jellies, tofu with ginger syrup, and che bap, which is cream corn with coconut milk. Eventually, we found our driver and headed back to Da Nang to swim at the pool, eat dinner together, and rest!
Hue
On our next full day, we went on a day trip to Hue. Hue is a very well-known city in Vietnam, known for the imperial city, which contains the palaces that housed the imperial family during the Nguyen Dynasty rule. Darrell’s grandma is also from Hue. We spent most of our time in the imperial city of Hue, which is a walled enclosure in the city. We saw many shrines, gardens, and villas, and even got to play dress up (photo above in yellow and red robes). We also joked that the heir to the Nguyen dynasty was finally home (aka Darrell. Haha!).
For lunch, we had our first authentic bun bo hue (also called BBH). Since this dish originated in Hue, they actually drop the “hue” here, and just call it bun bo! My mother in law also calls it bun bo, and I never knew why, but now I know. ;) Bun bo hue is a savory beef noodle soup. I noticed that ours didn’t come spicy–whereas in the US, BBH is notoriously spicy. The broth is straight RED at home! Regardless, this was a great bowl of noodles, even in 90-degree weather. Luckily, we cooled off with some coconut jello after.
This was the end of our time in Hue & Da Nang, and then we headed back to Nha Trang to finish off our trip!
VinPearl Nha Trang
I’ve you’ve never heard of VinPearl, it’s basically Vietnam’s most famous luxury hotel chain. They have multiple locations in Nha Trang, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Ha Long Bay, etc. This was actually a last minute decision for us, suggested by Darrell’s parents. We booked it a mere two days before we left for Vietnam (if you know me, you know this gave me so much anxiety LOL. I like to have everything planned WAY in advance). However, it was definitely one of the best decisions we made! We booked a four bedroom villa in VinPearl Sealinks Nha Trang, which was just a seven minute boat ride away from the Nha Trang harbor. There are regular hotel rooms at Sealinks as well, but the four bedroom villa worked perfectly for us, as we had four couples in our party.
When we checked in, we were ushered around on golf carts and it was so cool! We rolled up to the villa and all of us were in awe–this place was totally EPIC (the first pic above is the front of it)! The villa was so nice; we had our own private pool, and we had beach access as well (second pic shows this “backyard”). We were also walking distance to the biggest community pool any of us had every seen! I say community, but we never saw anyone else using it. The resort was actually rather empty, it seemed.
The only bad thing about the villas was that they don’t provide any amenities such as pots and pans, utensils, napkins, etc. that you’d normally expect in a hotel or airbnb that looks like this. They also don’t have any general stores or supermarkets on the island. This basically makes you dine in at VinPearl’s resort restaurants because there’s no other choice of where to eat. We had the breakfast buffet every morning (the best breakfast buffet we’ve had all trip!) and ended up eating buffet for dinner too.
PS. Darrell’s dad enjoyed his time here so much, that he actually booked the villa again for his siblings to visit!
My parents, Darrell, and I also golfed at VinPearl and it was such a great experience! The picture to the left is of us and our personal caddies. I probably had the worst golf game of my LIFE, but also the most fun. The caddies told us where to aim, which club to use, and even lined up our balls for putts. The golf fee includes the green fees, caddies, and carts. The greens were very well-maintained and we even saw a few animals while we were playing–monkeys and deer! (How did they get on this island?!) The golf round ended up costing us about $160 USD per person, which is actually less expensive than some of the resorts on the mainland of Nha Trang and Da Nang, which were around $200 USD.
Overall, i’d say our first overseas family trip was a success! Darrell and I, my parents, and Darrell’s parents have been on short weekend trips to Tahoe before, but this Vietnam trip was definitely one for the books. I’m so glad we all get along super well and can tolerate each other for close to two weeks, haha. Next time, we definitely have to bring my brother Jason and his wife Michelle!
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