Da Nang

Today I want to walk to My Khe Beach and also look for a gold shop to see if I can buy some USD as I will need that for my visa when I enter Cambodia.

I stopped at a street food stall and had a sausage and egg Banh mi for breakfast … I added a little chilli sauce for flavour. It was very tasty and at 20000 vnd $1.23 aud it was a bargain too.

I passed a busy market street on my walk. I have been buying fresh fruit and vegetables from local markets but there is no point today as I am leaving here tomorrow.

I am not a Pepsi drinker but I am enjoying this zero calorie Pepsi with lime … maybe the lime takes away the Pepsi taste. It is very refreshing and I am wondering if it is available in Australia. I stopped to buy this pepsi so that I could use a bathroom. 15000 vnd $0.93 aud … nearly as much as my Bahn mi. I am finding that the cheapest price I can pay for cans of drink is between 10000 vnd and 20000 vnd. A small bottle of water costs between 6000 vnd to 12000 vnd. Water is an essential as you can not drink the tap water. I often have green tea with a meal and I do have ice in my drinks. Maybe my tummy is getting used to the local bugs as I have been in Vietnam for just over 3 weeks now … I know it could be bad luck for me to say this. It is almost 3 months since I left home, in Pine Creek, Northern Territory, Australia.

There was lots to see at My Khe Beach and the sea view was beautiful.

I had not seen any gold shops on my walk to the beach so I decided to take a busier route in the hope of finding one. I did find a Route 66 Diner and eventually a gold shop.

I did have some drama at the gold shop. The lady said that she could speak some English so I used Google translate to say what I wanted. I told her that I wanted to buy 200 usd using my debit card. I showed her the card. She said that was fine and their cost would be 6%. 6% was about $19 aud so I went with it. That is slightly more than I have been paying for conversion here at ATM’s. But just to get the job done I said ok. That would get me enough cash to get into Cambodia and get settled before worrying about further cash.

It took 6 attempts to take the money off my card but it finally went through. She then started to count out VND to me. I told her no and said again that I wanted to buy USD. After much back and forth on Google translate she said that she had misunderstood. I asked if she could reverse the transaction on my account and she said no. She then told me that it would cost a further 120000 vnd if I wanted USD. Ok so that’s only $7 Aud so I went with it as I am over the whole process now. So I have paid $26 Aud to buy $200 USD … that is over and above the buy / sell rate.

Anyway the deal is done and she is giving me my USD. One of the $100 notes is in good condition but the other is not … it is discoloured and someone has written on it. I do not want to risk getting cash that may not be accepted. I know that they know this and I refuse the note. They offer me some other notes but they also are discoloured and have folds in them.

In Cambodia only good quality USD notes are accepted … or so I believe.

When I refuse their $100 notes they come up with an alternative to give me $20’s and $10’s in USD and we are all happy. Hopefully I have what is required to get across the border next week.

After this I enjoy my walk back to my hotel with a little help from maps.

Karim Restaurant is next to my hotel and I decide to go there for lunch. They serve vietnamese and Malaysian halal food so I am thinking that they will take care with the preparation. I order chicken curry with Roti for 100000 vnd $6 Aud.

The food was ok. There was good broth depth in the curry but maybe I should have ordered the beef as there were so many bones and the chicken looked a bit undercooked in places. The roti had too much sugar and I would have preferred it to be more savoury. I am just being picky really as I am full and that is the main thing. Just not one of my favourite meals.

I went out walking again tonight ... looking for dinner and photographs of the city.

I am not sure about these photos that my I phone is taking but I am going with it … until I see them on my computer and then I may change my mind.

Anyway I have got back to my hotel and without food so I have ordered via grab.

I had quesadilla with salsa, avocado and garlic sauce … it was so good. I was too busy eating to get a photo.