Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Danang Train to Hue

 

At the departure platform of the train station in Danang as we wait to board our train to Hue. Lots of propaganda posters everywhere. Most of the time I forgot that Vietnam is actually a communist country at it's core. 

There seems to be a 50th anniversary celebration going on on the year of our visit. 

The train that we are about to board. It's actually a touristy train cause I couldn't get tickets for the normal local train. I tried booking online but they only accept Vietnam issued credit card..... So I had no choice but to buy a tourist train ticket from Klook. It was more expensive than if you were to buy it directly from their website..... Oh well, the whole ride itself wasn't expensive. I think it was around 12sgd. per way. 

The train looked rather old though, for a tourist heritage train, lol. 

Inside the train, also rather retro. 

Lots of Vietnam flags decorating throughout the train, and the wallpaper on the train was also very traditional looking. 

There was a whole Vietnam group was also seated on the same carriage as us. They talked non-stop through out the train and shouting across to each other. It was indeed almost like a local train! Lol.  They were all dressed in red. Perhaps it was a company trip or something. 

There is a community carriage in the middle where you could go get snacks or even watch a performance. I didn't visit the place on our ride from Danang to Hue, but I did went to check it out on our way back the other direction.  By the way, they also offer foot bath during the train ride, which I thought was rather interesting. If you order it, they will bring a wooden bucket of herbal hot water for you to soak your feet in. 

View of temple with Goddess of Mercy as the train pulled out from Danang Station. 

The train ride was supposed to offer lovely scenery via the Hai Van Pass, but I can't say I enjoyed the view very much. I think the view was a lot nicer on our way back. We did see some sea view, river view and mountain view, but nothing very outstanding, at least not for me. I've been on many trains in Japan that offers jaw dropping view before, so this was just so-so experience for me. 

Time to eat out snacks on the train. What did we get?

These lovely treats from the bakery at Big C this morning. I love them. It's just those little things that I need in my life to make it worth living. Something to cheer my soul up :)

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Danang My Quang Lunch and Train Station

 

After getting back to our hotel from our short expedition to Big C, we checked out from our hotel and took a Grab to Danang Train Station. We were kinda early for our train, so we decided to walk around looking for somewhere to eat and sit. The train station was rather small with not much space to sit. 

Just across the road from the station, we decided to try this Vietnamese noodle shop. I was ok with it cause Mi Quang was something on my to-eat list here. I wasn't expecting much from it though. 

The shop was big and spacious, with some locals dining inside. 

Here are some of the menu items. I already knew what I wanted to order, the traditional Mi Quang with prawns and pork. 

They also serve other food, but we just wanted a light lunch and a place to sit, so we didn't order anything else. 

Our order came with a side of fresh raw vegetables. I really love this noodle. It tasted like a dry version of Penang Hokkien Mee. I actually bought a pre-mixed sauce back home so that I can try to cook this at home one day. Still waiting for that day :P

I also ordered corn drink cause one of my favourite Vietnamese influencer recommended it. The shop serve it with a cup of ice and it was so delicious that I am now addicted to it and will order it whenever it's available wherever I'm eating at in Vietnam! Lol. My friend ordered a lotus seed drink but she didn't like it much. 

My lovely corn drink <3

After our meal, we made our way back to the train station and went into the lobby area to wait for our train. It was so crowded inside! 

Not much seats available, and have to give up seats for people older than me. 

Soon it was time to enter the departure area for our train!

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Danang Breakfast and BigC

 

All our hotel stay in Vietnam comes with buffet breakfast. This is only day one so we are still very in-to it! Woke up nice and early and went to the dining area to fill up our stomach. Got a nice window seat so that we can see the town waking up as we eat.

I miss the fried maggi mee of Vietname, but here they only have the beehoon. I took a bit of everything to try.

I also tried the pho since it was offed and cooked upon order. It was super comforting to eat. I can understand why Vietnamese miss this food so much when they go overseas. I also miss my koay teow soup from Malaysia very much. It's just a very comforting food to eat, simple and homely.

They have a lot of these rice made snacks in all shapes and sizes with different variation and fillings. I tried a few of them, but most of them tasted blend or boring for me. The ones wrapped in banana leaves smells nice though.

When in Vietnam, I also always stuff myself with passion fruit. I know most people like dragon fruits, but for me, it has always been passion fruits. Lychee was also in season, so I ate some too. Vietnamese buffet always have lovely selection of vegetables and fruits cause they love these group of food so much. 

After breakfast we took a walk to find the central market. My friend did not like the walk at all cause it was on the road with cars and motor zipping by us. We took the Grab back after our visit :D. We didn't even made it inside the market as I think day 1 is too much of a culture shock for my friend. We went to Big C instead where we were are familiar with in Thailand. I would like to come back and visit this huge market one day. 

Inside Big C, besides checking out the prices, we also looked around the ready-to-eat food area so that we can buy some snacks for our train ride later in the day. We were taking the train to Hue in the afternoon.

I found the food selection very interesting and would have love to try a few things!

The prices were also pretty good. Eventually we got a pack of these kimbap and I'm so glad we did cause these became our dinner on that day when we reached Hue since it was raining when we reached the imperial city. 

I was also very distracted at the bakery section and seriously I wanted to just buy everything to eat. I know these were probably too sweet and bad for health, but I just want to try some! They were so cheap!

And there are so many types!

I want them all!

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Danang Dragon Bridge Show

The river side has a very different vibe upon night fall. For a start, everything is lighted up in techno colours. And vendors started arranging all their tables and chair out for visitors to sit and enjoy the food, drinks and show, all for a small price of buying something from them.  

You could also see all the lights across the river. Some buildings are lighted up with words and moving screens. It all looked very vibrant and young at heart.

Even the street lamps are in the shaped of red hearts. Cheesy.... but lovely all the same.

This is what the area looked like before the show. Tiny plastic chairs and tables everywhere. I think because we are Asian, it was a lot easier for us to blend in than the other Caucasian tourist. We also tend not to be target of scam so much. 

It was getting very crowded, so me and my friend also grab a table and chairs to sit on. I promptly went over to the drink vendor and got us some drinks, a must to be able to sit here. If you buy them from the guy who come and ask you, I think the price is higher as compared to if you go get the drinks yourself. The drink wasn't expensive from the vendor. And it was kinda fun sitting there among the Vietnames from other province waiting to enjoy the show.

Our table and our drinks :D

Great Ball of Fire started the Dragon Show. It was scary and cheesy at the same time. It was impressive. The show is only available on weekends from Friday to Sunday, and the whole bridge is closed to traffic during the show from 9pm to 915pm. 

There is also a water spraying session where people standing nearby could all be soaked wet by the dragon! I read about it, so I was sure to steer clear of the wet zone! But I read that it was great fun for the Caucasian tourist, especially if they have kids. 

Here is a short video clip I captured from that night :P And once the show was over, everyone just started to leave the area all at once. The vendors would also automatically clear and clean up the tables and chair in a flash. It was like nothing ever happened there! Like a flash mob performance or something lol. 

Walking back to our hotel across the bridge prove a challenge as we have to cross a busy wide road on our way back. Luckily we saw three monks walking the same direction and decided to follow them. Surely no one would knock down monks! It wouldn't be very auspicious at all! Anyway, thank you very much for guiding us safely across those roads at night! Crossing roads in Vietnam City is always a stressful thing for foreigners in Vietnam. It's fine in smaller towns like Hoi An or Hanoi, but definitely not so much in Danang and Ho Chi Minh. 

Danang/Hue/HoiAn 2025 - Danang Son Tra Night Market

 

The plan for us was to walked along the river, and maybe have dinner at the night market before we went to watch the weekend Dragon Bridge Show. It was rather early in the evening when we reach, so the night market was just in the mids of setting up. The name of the market was called Cho Dem Son Tra.

It was quite a huge market, and separated in sections for shopping and eating. The eating area lined with seating area and shops selling all sorts of food, while the shopping area is filled with clothes and souvenirs. 

We head to the eating area for our dinner. There were so many types of food to pick from. 

A seafood stall. I guess we shouldn't be too adventurous on our first day in Vietnam? Don't want to have an upset tummy at the start of our trip. lol. But it looks so appetising. And I know it would be delicious cause I've eaten such street food in Hanoi road side before and it's always filled with so much condiments that it was hard not to taste delicious.

There were lots of street snacks too, things served in skewers are always popular in night market cause they are so easy to eat as you walk around exploring the place. 

Lots of BBQ or fried meat. Above is roasted chicken. I'm trying to pick up Vietnam bit by bit. So I know that Ga means chicken, and Com means rice. So Com Ga means Chicken Rice! and Ca means fish. I can also read pork and beef as Thit and Bo. 

The stall we finally settled on, and the menu above.

We ordered a mixed platter to share. It was very flour-y, but it was ok. Our first taste of Vietnamese street food. We sat among the locals to eat, so the ambience was really nice. It was a rather light dinner for me. 

Soon it was night time and the streets are lighted up by lanterns. It was time for us to walked to the Dragon Bridge to secure a place to watch the free night show!