Posted September 7
Da Nang and Vietnam Wrap up
The final few days in Da Nang have been attempts to find rhythm and prepare for the journey home. As a large city, Da Nang offers a lot of nightlife, dining, and, of course, the beach.
There is an amusement park with roller coasters and a huge ferris wheel. On weekends live music at bars and the Dragon Bridge show are in full force. Overall, there’s much to see and experience.
Traditional Viet Opera Singer
Roller Coaster at Da Nang Downtown, an amusement park run by Sun World
The large Ferris Wheel at Da Nang Downtown
I was fortunate to be in Vietnam for its September 2 celebration of National Day, which commemorates the reading of the Declaration of Independence by Ho Chi Minh. There are parades and celebrations throughout the country, and of course fireworks. In Da Nang, the famous Dragon Bridge puts on its show before the fireworks. It’s a spectacular display.
Dragon Bridge display on National Day
Fireworks in Da Nang for National Day
Flags on display for National Day
As I get ready to fly to Singapore to spend a few days before returning to the US, I have been reflecting on my time in Vietnam. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I decided to spend time here, but I knew I wanted to see things up close and personal.
Vietnam has an interesting place in US history, and given my age, the standard story I was taught about the Vietnam War was that the US was fighting Communist Aggression and liberating Vietnam. Even before visiting Vietnam I understood the folly of that interpretation.
Now that I’ve spent over a month here, I am bemused by the irony that Vietnam has chosen an economic structure that includes private corporations and an active stock market. Maybe the US could have saved the lives of tens of thousands of US citizens, and an order of magnitude more of SE Asian citizens if it had just realized that if Capitalism is so great, people will figure that out on their own.
View of Vin Pearl Island, a resort and amusement park owned by VinGroup, a large publicly traded corporation in Vietnam