While living in Southeast Asia has a plethora of unexpected awesomeness, one thing we get to take advantage of are affordable flights to the rest of SEA.  Within country we can spend about $50 and get to any other province within our country. Taking it a step further, between $100-250 we can get to more countries than we imagined.

In June the three of us boarded Vietnam Airlines from S and, with limited knowledge, headed to Da Nang with a quick stopover in Hanoi. The first thing we noticed after exiting the Int’l Terminal to catch our domestic flight, ALWAYS check both ways before crossing the street! We are used to the British driving system, RHD (a.k.a. steering wheel on the right) but in Vietnam, they are LHD. Side note, I googled the terminology for the whole driving thing.

After establishing our renewed ability of road safety, we then went on to enjoy and discover this small part of Vietnam for ourselves.

To say we were completely ignorant to the beauty and joy of Vietnam is an understatement. From the first interaction with the Vietnamese people at the airport to the taxi drivers, the hotel concierge to the street vendors, the random stranger to the service people, we were greeted with kindness and acceptance. Much like the rest of Southeast Asia (SEA), there is a sense of automatic trust and familial love; something you receive first and hopefully keep by treating in such the same way. Yes, we often had to politely continue on walking when people wanted to maul our gorgeous kid but that is normal everywhere we go. Aside from that, the people….Well, beautiful in all sense of the term.

When the people surpass your expectation, the rest of your experience just continues to grow. Our boutique hotel was fantastically located in the centre of the city. We walked to a beautiful beach with fierce waves, we walked to local markets and the newer mall, we walked to good food places and convenience shops, and any taxi was just a cheap ride to any other part of the city.

There were great attractions like a brilliant dragon-designed bridge to enjoy. At night it is lit up with a plethora of colours and, although we didn’t experience it, the weekends it is known for its glorious show of lights and water! Awesome, right?

The food is amazing. From the small ‘hole-in-the-wall’ Vietnamese Pancake house (not at all what you expect as a pancake), to the fancier ‘BBQ-in-the-table’ restos you are never going to walk away hungry. We even enjoyed the most legitimate crepes for dessert and I don’t need to even mention Vietnamese coffee. Mmmmmm

But one of the best parts of our time there….While we enjoyed some of the relaxing things in Da Nang, we were there for business purposes as well. Meeting with our business coach, having daily meetings (yes, often decorated with a glass or two of Vietnamese coffee), and spending time with a new friend at his business there, we were able to dream, think, grow in our hopes for our own business. So spending two days at this Int’l business was a great thing for us. Hearing a fellow Canadian talk about his vision and dreams and see them around him, awesome. This, however, is where he even brought us to a whole new level.

While we left the kid in the care of our new friend’s wife, we went with K and several of his employees/interns on their scooters and/or motorbikes, and went to a local mental hospital. There we spent 3 hours. In that time we prepared the lunch meal; that included cleaning, cutting, sorting vegetables, filling bowls, and such. We then walked around the institute talking with, singing with, laughing with the patients. It was surprisingly enjoyable and satisfying to be around people whose family or government had decided needed to be in such a facility. So we took some of our time to bless them. It was awesome.

I am certain I am missing some great parts of Vietnam and the clichés were found along the way (i.e. military personal being on back of an old motorbike, rice hats) but for all that we had wrong in our mind, so much more was discovered, enjoyed, and loved before we left. It is a place we would certainly go back to visit, a place we would tell others to experience, and it is a happening in our life we are not going to forget any time soon!