Xin Chào Đà Nẵng

Hàn River Bridge or Cầu Sông Hàn.

It's been four years since I stepped into Vietnam. Yup, one of those last minute decisions again. A quick getaway to Đà Nẵng (loosely translated to refer to the opening of a large river) and Hội An (referring to a 'peaceful meeting place) because the man has finally got a breather in the hectic work calendar. There's also time to pop up to Lâm Đồng Province to look at tea and coffee plantations and all that.

My command of Vietnamese, has sadly, plateau-ed at ordering food, asking for chilli, drinking games, understanding prices, checking the time and dates, bargaining and the sorts. Hahahaha. It's nowhere near fluent. When I quit the Office and stopped being a full-time corporate minion, there isn't much of a point continuing with the study of the language. Vietnamese is one language I could easily acquire, but not quite feeling it. I haven't spoken more than a few sentences beyond cursory convos about the food and weather.

I normally don't care about bridges. But since there're two bridges that we keep crossing on jaunts to the city and towns beyond, one has to notice them. They're big bridges which are the architectural pride of Đà Nẵng, so they ought to be mentioned. One is the new Dragon Bridge or Cầu Rồng over Hàn River. Opened on 29 March 2013, the bridge commemorates the 38th anniversary of the North Vietnamese victory of Đà Nẵng and the end of the Vietnam War. The city is to its west, and the beaches are to its east. The other parallel bridge is the Han River Bridge or Cầu Sông Hàn, one of the first swing bridges built in Vietnam. There's one more Thuận Phước Bridge which is the longest suspension bridge in Vietnam, crossing the lower Hàn River.

Nice to play tourist, even if this is the rainy season. It kinda rains daily, but there're spurts of bright sunshine too. In the day, it averages 27°C with sun, and in the rain, 24°C. Rain away, we're prepared.

Dragon Bridge or Cầu Rồng, modeled after a symbol of the ancient Ly Dynasty.
On weekends at 9pm, it breathes fire, smoke and water from the mouth.