I am having a break in my Thai adventures - I have gone to Vietnam for 2-3 months. 🤠 I am thinking about visiting Cambodia too before returning to Thailand.

A night bus from Bangkok to Thai border city Mukdahan (17$), then crossing the Thai-Lao border on a bus over the Mekong River (4$), so wide!, then a night in Laotian city Savannakhet (3.3$ for a room), and a 9-hour bus trip to Danang next day (23$).

Three-Dollar Room in Laos

A word about it. 😀

It wasn't my first time at this hotel. I choose it every time when I am in Savannakhet (for example, for applying for a Thai visa). The main reason (except it's super cheap 😄) is because it has no bed bugs - you can encounter these awful insects in Laotian hotels; I hate them.

Secondly, I can trust the hotel since they have never stolen anything from me, and I and the owner know each other already and he even treated me with drinks once (beer and vodka). This is his family business, he is an accomplished man.

But, yeah, the 3-dollar room looks very basic:

It has a powerful fan and ancient TV which fully occupies the only table 😞

The room has its own bathroom which is amazing by itself. But the bathroom isn't the greatest to put it mildly 😁

The bucket and the bath ladle (covered with a sticky layer of algae and bacteria 🤢) are needed for the toilet that has no flush (out of the frame). I avoid touching this ladle - I use my own empty plastic bottle.

This isn't that much unusual in Asia but look at the sink: it has no drain pipe! 😄 - water pours right onto your feet. 😁 I jokingly call this sink "optimized". 😁

But don't worry about me, it was just one night, now I stay at a very nice hostel in Danang! 😀 It's only 4 dollar since it's Vietnam, not Florence or Singapore. And no bed bugs here too.

First Walk in Danang

It isn't my first time in Danang so I knew where to go (right after getting a coffee overdose according to the local tradition 😁).

Thai beaches with turquoise water can make you drunk with beauty but Danang coastline has its own charm. Picturesque waves are usual here, they just come from somewhere in the open sea, and make you think about hidden powers of the ocean. The mountainous Son Tra peninsula adds an extra twist. You can also sometimes witness clouds hanging over the top of the peninsula, like a hat made of white fluff on a giant's head.

A distant monument reminds about gender troubles. 😄 There, Lady Buddha stands guard over Da Nang's waters:

Lady Buddha is actually a Vietnamese goddess Quan Âm who is the representation of a Buddhist character Avalokitesvara.

Another curious feature of the Danang beach: local fishermen fish in these waves.

In the afternoon, East Asian tourists crowd on the beach in shadows of seaside high-rise hotels:

While white people prefer sunbathing.

Fine sand creates this beautiful haze when it's windy (Take care of your photographic equipment!):

On the opposite side of the seaside avenue, there is a long row of multi-storey hotels. Yeah, that's quite different compared to Thailand where tourism starts from small businesses. In Vietnam, the industry has flavor of the socialist planning. As a plus of this approach, there is a line of free toilets and foot wash stations along the beach.

I have never seen Danang truly overcrowded with tourists. In October, there are few of them at all. Hotels and restaurants of the tourist seaside are empty in October.

These concrete hulks actually have their own charm.

Bright light surfaces, noon geometry, romantic names... Angel Hotel, Dragon Sea, Ocean Haven Hotel... To be continued. 🙂

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More images and stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal Pinmapple map.

I took the images with a Nikkor 50mm and Nikkor 70mm-300mm on a full frame Nikon D750 on October 4, 2023 in Danang, Vietnam.