Da Nang is full of surprises and a city with much character. Besides the multitude of bridges it has many other awesome traits, just waiting to be uncovered.  

 

Twelve kilometers in one direction and you can climb the majestic Marble mountains. Another seven in the that direction a beautiful beach. Up the road and there’s the Linh Ung pagoda. Some more in land and you reach a lake worthy of fairytales. 

 

A left turn here, a right curve there and you leave the city behind for a small town atmosphere strangely reminiscent of the Boland area in Cape Town. The road becomes a bit narrower and there’s no sidewalk because that is someone’s front yard. The area looks a bit older,the motorbikes a bit more worn and cars are fewer and further between. Clothes are hanging on makeshift lines near the roadside or on the fence and some houses have bits of patch and solution. But somehow you feel like something is awaiting you. 

 

And then a next turn reveals the glorious vista of rice paddies, haphazardly connected like a well designed quilt. In the distance you see a peak hat here and there working the fields. Nurturing the future harvest. The sight rests on your vision like a soft cloud on the horizon, but leaves an indelible mark like a hot branding iron. 

 
You wish you can capture the image. Not just the fields, but everything that was telling the tale leading up to the climax. It’s eerie how something so simple can envelope you and claim your senses as if you are invisibly connected to it all.   

I’m fortunate to share this experience with Fin and TJ and a whole set of new friends who has already connected to a piece of my soul.