Mahanth S. Joishy is Editor of usindiamonitor

Editor’s Note: This ended up being very, very long, especially for a travelogue. Vietnam touched me very deeply, and Vietnam deserves the time and space I’m giving here. Feel free to skip around. For those who have yet to visit: start planning!

2023 was the worst year of my life by far. Such times can motivate a person. So to ring in 2024, and wash away the no-good, horrible year just passed, I unapologetically planned a long getaway from the Wisconsin winter, which wreaks havoc on my health. Filled with hope to find those elusive things I could call “as good as it gets” along the way. More than ever I understand how fortunate I am to be able to travel, and how delicate this window of opportunity might be. I was ready to treat myself, pampering body and mind in a desperate bid to return to America a healthier person. So midnight CST on New Year’s Eve found me high up in the heavens, kicking off a 16 hours-plus flight toward the Orient. The curious confluence of time and space resulting from the quest for a heavily discounted flight created the opportunity to sneak into the new year without fanfare or anyone I knew, but I was in good spirits.  By the grace of the universe I found exactly what I was looking for on my earnest hunts out East- and even more. Today we’ll turn our attention to one of the jewels of a thriving and rapidly modernizing Southeast Asia filled with examples of as good as it gets if you know where to look, my confident opinions on the matter forged by having traveled through or lived in 25 countries before my highly successful January 2024 pilgrimage of healing through Vietnam.

Modern Vietnam is much more than a country, which is why my heart will be forever endeared. Vietnam is a glorious story of optimism, renewal and healing after a brutal stretch of 20th century history marred by poverty, oppression, and bloodbath. Not too long ago the Vietnamese people endured too many of the worst and most evil conceivable depravities that could possibly be committed by man toward fellow man at mass scale, these horrors forced incongruently upon this heavenly paradise under the palms of unique natural beauty and abundance by external marauders who lusted after a piece of their juicy pie, intertwined with the violence of Vietnamese upon Vietnamese.  From years of suffering under the cruel boot of French colonizers, to America’s openly admitted Cold War gambit to bomb the nation back to the stone age using superpower conventional and chemical weapons, to China’s surprise invasion from the North, to ending the horrific reign of the genocidal Khmer Rouge, to ugly civil strife that violently pitted Vietnamese against Vietnamese as external vectors attempted to divide and conquer. In the end, all of the outside marauders from near and far retreated after categorically getting their asses kicked handily in the blood-soaked killing fields of Vietnam. 

The costs were so phenomenally high for all involved, it is hard to fathom. I made a point of visiting the War Museum in Saigon, which has more than enough detailed text accounts of depraved acts and soul-crushing images of men, women, and children killed, missing limbs, or living in grotesque suffering for decades and generations from carpet bombings and mass executions, to torture camps and Agent Orange. The exhibits were more than enough to make my cousin Anup Pai (who joined me from India) and I both sick to our stomachs well before we exited through the gift shop. We simply did not have the guts to make it through every section of the museum. Yet we had to go and we did our best, trudging through most of the floors in silence, compelled to bear witness to truth in rawest form, however inconvenient. That simple act, a small cash donation, and vowing to never forget was the best we could do. Not lost on me was the objectively grotesque acts of savagery committed by the United States government and its allies during the Cold War out of fear of communism and the “domino effect.” Not to mention the suffering and death faced by the American boys and their families, many drafted and sent to Vietnam against their will. While discussing my feelings of guilt from the museum visit with an Englishman I met later in Ha Long Bay, he tried to make me feel better: “But I’m guessing by your age, that was all well before you were born, wasn’t it?” True, I wasn’t alive during the “American War” as the Vietnamese named it, and I didn’t personally participate in the travesty, but that has done nothing to alleviate my feelings of guilt as an American citizen who took the oath of citizenship.

Despite massive waves of determined forces and weapons from abroad, all these efforts over all those miserable years failed to break the Vietnamese spirit. Somehow through sheer will and determination, these proud, tough and hard-working motherf-ers eventually united again in the aftermath, banding together to put aside the horrors of the past and emerge from their Hellscape as one. Vietnam survived the gauntlet, maintained their heritage and humanity, and are building a model society for the rest of the world in 2024 and the years to come as a shining global testament to Asian-style collectivism done right. Vietnam is rising after methodically laying the foundation for unity between North and South. Today, Vietnam boasts of partnership with many nations, low crime rates, manufacturing prowess, tech startups, global trade, tourism, people escaping poverty, and a deserving strategic seat at the table on global affairs. 

The nation is blessed by its geography, as I witnessed. All of these factors are contributing to economic growth. Others will hopefully progress side by side with them. Already, many of the clothes and electronics we Westerners purchase are made in Vietnam, and the trendline looks positive for more manufacturing opportunities because Chinese wages have risen. Soon we may be climbing higher up the value chain and entering a new paradigm of prestige by buying at larger scale the high-tech electric vehicles made by a national champion conglomerate. Vingroup. The auto manufacturing subsidiary, Vinfast is expanding overseas operations including an auto assembly plant in South Carolina; Vinfast stock (VFS) is already listed on the NASDAQ. I received several taxi rides in Vinfast cars and was favorably impressed by the technology, the sleek designs, and the smooth rides. Success in the United States market is certainly possible, especially with very recent news about plans to launch a $20,000 EV SUV in North America, which would be the first one of its type ever to be mass produced at that price point. Vinfast’s cars, SUVs, and electric scooters were far more prominent on Vietnam’s roads than I was expecting. Detroit better take notice.

How did the population move past its past? This topic is worthy of a book, not an essay. I believe a single phrase by a Vietnamese cab driver I struck up conversation with says it all. In answer to my question of how Vietnamese people could be so kind, helpful, optimistic and welcoming to foreigners after the terrible things done to them, he said with a smile, “We love everyone.” Perhaps Vietnam’s secret sauce is as endearingly childlike and basic as that, though there’s the real possibility he oversimplified his thoughts due to limited English skills. But it tracks with my general observations around ‘Nam. Among a large majority of the many Vietnamese people that I met I discerned a quiet ambition, seriousness and industriousness that drives them along with a deeply embedded sorrow just below the surface, hidden behind a mask. That could possibly be attributed to the extreme hardships nearly all families must have faced before things started looking up in the last few decades. But their ambitious drive is not tainted by nefarious methods to advance. I conducted a large amount of business in Vietnam, from clothes shopping and hotels stays, to tours and restaurants, to drivers and masseuses. To a fault they always conducted transactions with honesty, which is not the case in some other parts of Asia. (To any and all readers of Vietnamese background or knowledge: please let me know your thoughts on this topic. I made generalizations and admit I may be way off on some observations.)

We must pay attention to what happened next after the embers of the 20th century conflagrations died down. There are valuable lessons to be learned by us outsiders, both as individuals as well as societies, from Vietnam. Even in places where the prospects for peace and success and healing seem impossible and naive. Could there also be hope for the future of Gaza, Ukraine, or the Sahel region of Africa where irreconcilable differences and violence intersect today? Can Vietnam help show us a replicable, if challenging and long roadmap toward renewal and reconciliation? 

These questions were largely what drove me to escape to Vietnam for three weeks in the cold and dark winter of my own personal health ordeal while assessing the many potential sunny holiday destinations across Southeast Asia and elsewhere in January. Vietnam always struck me as unique from the outside. Not hurting the cause: the endless miles of pristine beaches, several hot springs and mud baths, warm and humid climate during winter, healthy local food I was already familiar with, safe and bustling metropolises to explore, world-class tourist services, breath-taking mountain landscapes, exotic fruits, flora, and fauna, and beautiful manmade religious and spiritual destinations. All of these I knew about beforehand. Unique and colorful traditions of pleasing art, architecture, clothing, and music. Throw in the must-see, indescribable majesty of Ha Long Bay.

I went with a longstanding desire of wanting to get to know Vietnam. I came away from this adventure rejuvenated and restored, recognizing that in the grand scheme, my problems are child’s play compared to the endless stories of hardship to be found inside the War Museum where I barely even scratched the surface of the carefully curated exhibits. I now stand both greatly humbled and healed. Thank you, Vietnam! My pilgrimage to sacred Vietnam was a resounding success. If you have not done so already, you should begin planning yours immediately. I will share what I did below, but please note there is vastly more to the story, as I only scratched the surface while moving at half-speed to protect my well-being.

Da Nang. Just like so many US GIs in the 1960s and 70s, my first port of entry into ‘Nam on the first days of the new year was the spectacular beachfront urban oasis of Da Nang. This modern city hugging the heavily disputed South China Sea lies smack in the center of Vietnam’s long and winding Eastern seaboard. Crystal-blue waters lap gently against endless shorelines marked by tropical palm trees, clean and soft sand, a bustling port, fishing boats, fresh seafood and fruit, and brand-spanking new hotels and resorts all overseen by ranges of lush green cliffs on both sides of the bay. On one of these seaside cliffs towers a stunning giant white Lady Buddha statue standing guard over it all from the Son Tra peninsula. With a population of over 1 million and well-appointed facilities, much of them new, Vietnam’s third largest city after Saigon and Hanoi makes for a classy and affordable playground or working space drawing in middle class to wealthy families, backpackers, surfers, business magnates, and digital nomads alike from Vietnam, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, and the West in a new form of friendly, peaceful, modern and high-tech colonialism. 

Unlike every inch of Thailand beach I saw in 2012, Da Nang and the rest of the beachfront cities I passed through did not feel over-run by tourists, possibly as it’s yet to fully recover from the dramatic lull of COVID-19, partly because January is off-season due to some rain, and partly because it’s not yet as well-known globally. In any case the local culture stands strong despite all the transients and transplants. Go inland from the beach area a bit and a river runs through a bustling part of town populated on both sides 7 days a week, day and night by both locals and tourists coming out to stroll, work, play, shop, or slow down at a sidewalk cafe. Many outsiders understandably have never left the glow of this city, some of them even marrying locals and settling down. I felt right at home in Da Nang from end to end and to my delight could feel my health, my skin, and my energy levels improving steadily day by day. Daily fantastic herbal massages by the talented and strong masseuses at Oani Spa, just around the corner from my excellent and reasonably priced 4 star hotel Sunny Ocean, did not hurt the cause one bit. Da Nang is a great microcosm of what the world could be like under the right conditions. 

I spent a relaxing and slow solo week there to perform a deep dive into this thriving and aesthetically pleasing metropolis. Over the first week of January it was pleasantly warm with several days of rain, and expenses reduced because it’s off-season. Da Nang was a worthy introduction to the wonders of Vietnam. I aimlessly walked along its many beaches and inner alleys, nooks and crannies for delightful hours on end, exchanging happy smiles and greetings of “Xin Chao” with countless local strangers of all ages. Life can be damn good in Da Nang, and the streets are inordinately clean for urban Asia standards. To my surprise you won’t find a single pan-handler or aggressive tout anywhere, another refreshing departure for a touristy Asian metro- and from my most recent prior vacation in Cartagena. Although Cartagena is also a beautiful beachside city, it is significantly less clean, and a quiet and peaceful walk in any direction is nearly impossible without multiple pan-handlers, touts, hookers, drug dealers and rogues swarming you from morning to night to sell something you don’t want. And the locals aren’t too shy to invade your personal space or even follow you to make a sale. To be fair Cartagena’s economy is not at Da Nang’s level.

From luxe high-end to dirt-cheap low-end, Da Nang in every direction offers thousands of massage parlors, eateries, gyms, cafes, yoga studios, Buddhist temples, shopping centers and a thriving nightlife. Every one of these businesses are run by honest and hard-working people who are plenty welcoming, hospitable, and well-staffed enough to relax the most stressed-out minds of visitors from near and far. As of early 2024 English dialogue with locals is hard to come by in most of Vietnam, however, so come armed with a translation app as I did to bring it all together unless your Vietnamese is workable. Getting to workable is not easy at all though; after several earnest sessions on the Duolingo app trying to learn basic Vietnamese in advance, I gave up. It is too different from any of the numerous other languages I have some knowledge of, and the pronunciation is difficult. 

My vocabulary was limited to “Xin Chao,” or hello, and “Cam on,” or thank you. When doing a transaction it was universally understood if I pointed at an object and said “how much?” with my wallet full of dong out. Helpfully, the letters and numbers everywhere are in English, including on the money. Speaking of the currency, everyone can be a millionaire in Vietnam, where 1 dollar is about 24,000 VN dong, a sum that’ll fetch you a fantastic hot or cold coffee, a fresh coconut full of cloudy cooling water, or a tasty street food snack on just about any block you land on. It’s a great if irrational feeling to carry a few bills labeled one million of any type in your wallet after every ATM visit. You need to experience this small pleasure at least once because it’s as good as it gets! It’s also reassuring to do so in a country that’s so incredibly safe at all times of day or night you need not worry for your personal security anywhere you end up, within reason.

The crowning glory of not only my Da Nang experience, but my entire Vietnam vacation experience spanning 9 major cities from the top of Vietnam to the bottom was completely unplanned and entirely unexpected… the ultimate icing on the cake of my whole three week spiritual and healing retreat in Vietnam, every day of which was sweet, came several weeks later when I returned to Da Nang for my last two days in Vietnam with my cousin from India, the uniquely inimitable Anup Pai, who joined parts of my itinerary so we could hang out for the first time since 2021. His presence helped turbocharge my trip to the next level with our deep conversations and interesting adventures over several days in Saigon and Da Nang. 

We made the spontaneous decision to at least pop in and check out a popular Da Nang nightclub on a whim, well past my usual bedtime. It ended up being the most perfect way to spend our last few waking hours in Vietnam because it encapsulated the rich set of experiences that we encountered into one uplifting experience at the right time- just hours before our flights out. [[SCROLL TO THE END: BONUS SECTION TO READ MY LONG FORM NIGHTCLUB REVIEW; I’M SURE THIS IS NOT OF INTEREST TO EVERYONE]]

Just on the outskirts of Da Nang are two day trip destinations that are a must for visitors: Marble Mountain and Son Tra Peninsula. Both feature spectacular views, and a plethora of beautiful artistic local religious and spiritual architecture and sculptures showing off Vietnam’s rich heritage. My read on most Vietnamese people is that they are less rigid in their religious beliefs than other Asian countries, such as Indians, and more spiritual, except for a Buddhist minority. At Marble Mountain and Son Tra most of the visitors were tourists as opposed to hardcore pilgrims or worshippers. However, I took full advantage of the opportunity to utilize numerous quiet and peaceful spaces throughout the temple complexes to meditate and contemplate. In these moments I felt a great deal of power coursing through the walls and caves within which thousands of others had purposefully raised their minds toward a higher level over many years.

The gigantic 30-story gleaming white Lady Buddha, one of many in Vietnam, majestically towers over Da Nang for a moving tribute to both Buddha and the sacred female form, ties that have bound Vietnam to nearby India for centuries as both the birthplace of Buddha and Buddhism, and the fountain of countless Hindu Goddesses. Sitting some distance in front of her is a fat male Buddha statue, a form which is much more traditional and easier to find in other parts of Asia. But the Lady Buddha is more unique, as this brand of feminism is not celebrated in such an overt way by most world religious traditions, and I love this about Vietnam. I was so emotionally moved after being close to her for over half an hour that I later treated myself to a high-quality white marble replica statuette that now stands in my bedroom in Madison. I feel reassured with my Lady Buddha being on night duty watching over me as I sleep every night.

Marble Mountains is in another part of town, and equally stunning as the Son Tra peninsula. It was so beautiful I would not be averse to one day going back. It’s in an area where a series of hills come together, and was used in the past as a real marble quarry, since decommissioned. Today the marble is mined from other parts to supply a still active trade in marble sculpting, much of which is for export. There are numerous dealerships and shops selling elaborate and beautiful sculptures of all colors, sizes and shapes in the foothills. One can purchase animals, various forms of Buddha, human figurines, and even replicas of famous statues from ancient Greece and Rome at these businesses around Marble Mountain.

The Marble Mountains boast a collection of awesome cliffside temples and shrines, with the oldest ones to be found inside a series of dark caves both large and small connected by tunnels and grottos. I found space after space in the marvelous complex that I loved just being in for a few moments, despite the crowds, so serene and pleasant was the architecture, art, flora, the views in every direction, and overall design. These welcome spiritual moments were to be steadily found throughout my time in different parts of Vietnam, and helped make this not only a vacation, but a pilgrimage. Religious influence from ancient India, both Buddhist and even Hindu, are to be found in the cliffs and caves. There was even a 400 year old Shiva Linga built for worship inside one of the caves by the Champa or Cham tribals to my pleasant surprise. I was not aware of the inroads Hinduism had made all the way to the East Coast of Vietnam. Hundreds of sculptures, one more excellent than the other, are everywhere. One of my favorites is of two old chess grandmasters, chiseled from pure gleaming white marble, locked in intense battle on the board between them.

The foremost tourist attraction in Da Nang is probably Ba Na Hills, a giant amusement park featuring French colonial architecture, the longest cable car ride in the world, and the pedestrian Golden Bridge supported by two gigantic hands overlooking an epic cliffside panorama. This might be the selfie spot capital of all selfie spots. I decided this particular excursion wasn’t for me as I’d be seeing similar attractions elsewhere.

Hue. North along the coastline from Da Nang is an extremely winding road that goes through the Hoi Van Pass, one of the best scenic points in all of Vietnam with a plethora of green cliffs framed by the South China Sea below. Further along the route is Hue, which Anup and I easily did as a day trip with a car service we booked in Da Nang on our. last day in Vietnam Hue, also known as the Imperial City, was for many years the seat of the Vietnamese royal families that ruled most of the land, and is a must-see for history buffs. The Vietnamese are fiercely proud of this former capital city and the fantastic architecture making up the massive campus of palaces and forts, and the many beautiful Buddhist temples and monasteries dotting the town. The main palace compound reminded me a bit of the Forbidden City in Beijing, my favorite point in a grand tour around different regions of China. Legions of Vietnamese visitors were also there on the sunny day we visited, many dressed in colorful Vietnamese outfits and taking copious amounts of photos. Side note: Vietnamese folks, and women in particular, are completely in love with selfies and photo shoots of themselves, often going at it for half an hour at the same location to find the perfect shot. If I were to guess, if there was a collective database of all the photos taken by Vietnamese people, it would be a gargantuan treasure trove of digital images.

Unexpectedly, for me the best part of the Imperial City palace grounds was the empty cafe and its patios and gardens on the edge of the campus, where Anup and I were the only patrons at the time. I enjoyed a delicious coffee in this perfectly designed little establishment that was simply pleasing to the eye and made for a completely relaxing chat session.  I’ve shared pictures here but again, these will not do justice to what it feels like in person.

Hoi An In the other direction, less than an hour’s drive South of Da Nang along the coastline, after passing by an endless row of gigantic high-end 5 star resorts jutting into the South China Sea is a very different type of little city unlike any I’ve seen anywhere else. This place feels truly special. Popping into Hoi An is an absolute must, and must be experienced after dark to imbibe the full festive cultural effect. Despite the ridiculous crush of tourists you can be transported several centuries back in time to a vibrant commercial village scene abetting both sides of the gently flowing Bon River, with inklings of Japanese and Chinese architecture, all of which has been pristinely maintained. Enjoy shopping for artisinal crafts or clothes in the thriving night market, musical performances, cultural shows, sips of coffee at a cafe, fine local dining or cheap street food. Hoi An at night is simply magical… and I noticed an interesting phenomenon: everyone who happened to be there, both Vietnamese or foreigner, could not help but smile and laugh in this joyous little part of the world, and the hours I spent walking through its streets and especially along the riverfronts were unforgettable.

Hoi An is brought to life by bright colors and lights, including thousands of traditional lanterns on that are released onto the river, or hang from the trees lining the streets and the decorative boats gently floating downstream. Charming Hoi An is not to be missed.

Quy Nhon Next stop after the week in and around Da Nang was two lazy days in the smaller beachfront haven of Quy Nhon, several hours due South along the gorgeous coastline. For all intercity travel throughout Vietnam I used a highly dependable company, Vietnam Drive, which provided English speaking drivers and air conditioned SUVs. We passed by various towns and villages along the way in my private car, and the scenery between the cities is nothing short of spectacular, with beaches and bays on one side, and lush green farmland or hills on the other.. Quy Nhon as a town did not feature anything compelling I felt the need to do, so I stayed within the resort property the whole time. Perhaps these were the two laziest days of my life– and when it comes to lazy, this may have been as good as it gets. I did nothing in Quy Nhon except lounge in the luxurious Avani Resort grounds, including massages and whiling away long and quiet hours on the spectacular private beach speckled with oddly shaped rock formations jutting out from the sand and crystal clear waters. 

There was not another soul in sight whenever I went to the Avani private beach for a dip. It was like having the pristine beach all to myself, like a deserted island, which was a bit eerie and calming at the same time. It was very quiet except for the waves gently lapping against the shore. I was one of only a very few guests at the large resort for those two days in this off-season, which also made the brief stay at this spot friendlier to my budget. I spent some time in my room, putting the finishing touches and edits on the latest draft of my techno-thriller novel centered around rival artificial intelligence assets engaged in surveillance and combat on the South China Sea itself as I looked out on that same water body. It doesn’t get better than that, but admittedly this experience was not a unique one as it probably resembles an inclusive beach resort experience you could find in many parts of the world. Those travelers seeking something more unique to the soul of Vietnam could skip this.

Nha Trang. Nha Trang is a number of hours further South along the same coastline. I once again enjoyed the spectacular views from my private car every moment along the way. This theme would hold for all of my intercity highway journeys. At this point as I approached closer to Nha Trang, I was finally out of the middle of the country and deep into South Vietnam. Nha Trang is a much larger and more dynamic beachfront town than Quy Nhon, with more amenities, tourists and attractions, though smaller than Da Nang. This would be the last leg of my journey focused on being close to the ocean, which as hoped for was doing wonders for my constitution, and completed the Da Nang- Quy Nhonh-Nha Trang triangle of seaside delights before moving inland and into the mountains. Just as in Quy Nhonh, I had booked a room for two nights at the 5 star resort right on the ocean called Sunrise. This newish property was easily the best hotel of my entire Vietnam pilgrimage, with yet another breathtaking ocean view from my room.

My main purpose in visiting Nha Trang was the I-Resort featuring a nice collection of hot springs and volcanic mud baths I had identified months in advance, and I couldn’t wait to bathe my skin in the soothing wet warmth on my second day in town. This was all part of the healing process. But first on the evening I arrived I spent several hours at a cafe near Sunrise Hotel, alternately watching the waves lap against the sand and gawking at the endless wave of high-speed traffic rolling by on the intersection. In other words, just sort of watching the world go by in solitude, something I had to make an effort at all along this trip as my restless nature makes it hard for me to sit still by myself, even with a luscious beach in front of me. During these hours I exchanged messages with Anup, who would be joining me in Saigon in a few days from India, and we locked down our plans to meet up. After 10 days of solitude in a foreign land, I was looking forward to having a fellow traveler to take in Vietnam with and compare notes. The evening was completed with dinner at the Sunrise Hotel’s front patio restaurant featuring local food.

I spent the better part of the next day soaking at the hot springs and mud baths of I-Resort after a cab ride across town. I had also done some mud and hot springs soaks at Hot Spring Park in Da Nang, but the one in Nha Trang was better overall. Both were surrounded by beautiful scenes of nature, but I-Resort had superior facilities and service. I decided to splurge on the VIP package at I-Resort for 1 million dong. It was worth every dang dong, and included a private full body massage, a foot massage, and soaks in mud baths, herbal baths, hot springs, and swimming pools, with friendly staff escorting me from station to station, activity to activity on electric golf carts . A meal and beverage at the end were also included. The whole time, my belongings including clothes, cell phone, wallet, credit cards, and passport were sitting in a locker at the entrance. Stripped of these items for an extended period of time I felt completely naked, without identity- and free, spending hours roaming around a water park in this foreign socialist country in nothing but swim trunks, where I didn’t know a soul, couldn’t communicate with anyone in English, and was cut off completely from the outside world. Water parks, I realized, are the great equalizer as now I was outwardly no different from the hundreds of other guests in nothing but swimwear. It was a new feeling, exhilarating and liberating, and after a bit of discomfort with the situation I learned how to just bask in it- quite literally when it came to the mud and hot springs.

Da Lat Historically Da Lat has been a leading getaway for Vietnamese royalty and tourists alike, looking to escape the scorching hot climate during most parts of the year at sea level. Nestled far inland from the South China Sea on a mountain range with a much cooler climate in the central highlands of Vietnam, Da Lat is a hill station 5,000 feet up, full of tea and coffee plantations, beautiful parks, and several truly bizarre attractions. The dramatically winding road uphill from Nha Trang was filled with one majestic scene after another at different altitudes, and I may be repeating myself but pictures and video could not hope to do justice. I was favorably reminded of some of the fantastic mountain drives I did by rental car in New Zealand with my parents, also featuring untouched natural beauty. I planned to spend just one night in Da Lat, partly because it was on the way to Saigon, and partly to get a taste of life up in the Vietnamese mountains. 

Two of the unique oddities of Da Lat, and major tourist attractions, are the aptly named Crazy House and Maze Bar, a local drinking establishment painstakingly constructed into the form of a treacherous multilevel maze within a giant cave full of strange artwork and sculptures. I decided to skip these, as they were not my cup of tea, and I only had about 24 hours in town. So I spent the limited free time I had in visiting the Truc Lam Monastery, a sprawling Buddhist enclave nestled in the mountains that offered exactly what I was looking for.

The enormous monastery grounds are still under development. The main structures, like every single other Buddhist temple and monastery I had been through or passed by in Vietnam, was truly beautiful, from the architecture to the paintings and sculptures inside and outside. There is a general pattern these temples follow, with high ceilings, wide open entrances in front, idols toward the center and back of the rectangle, and indoor and outdoor walking paths surrounding the bank of idols. Perhaps because of its close ties to Hinduism, and having visited hundreds of Hindu temples in India, I felt entirely at home in every Buddhist space I passed through in Vietnam. And then across the street from the monastery I was able to enjoy a leisurely cable car ride with great panoramic views of Dalat and its surroundings.

In Da Lat I stayed at a notably beautiful resort, the Mercure. On the newer side, the lobby was the most striking of any of the hotels I stayed at in Vietnam. I also enjoyed a fantastic high tea with a nice pot of Earl Grey and delectable finger foods in the lobby’s lounge.

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City As a city government employee my entire adult life and a lover of aimless wandering through giant cities, I set aside 4 nights and 5 days for Saigon. This was also the first rendezvous point for Anup and I. Additionally, my Vietnamese-American college friend John who I had not seen in years had moved to Saigon two years ago and now calls it home. I was looking forward to hooking up with both in this beating heart of Vietnam.

Saigon like other giant Asian metros is frenetic and chaotic, especially the bruising and poorly managed roadway traffic. On the long drive in from Da Lat, the most exhausting of this vacation, it was after dark when we crossed the Saigon border and I was eager to check into the Grand Saigon Hotel in District 1 to rest up. But we got stuck in a gnarly traffic jam that lasted for an agonizingly long time just a few miles away from the Grand Saigon. But I finally made it.

Simply crossing the street almost anywhere in the dense and lively central neighborhood of District 1 with the crush of mostly two-wheelers and some four-wheelers, all speeding, honking and braking in furious bursts, at first feels like the old-school video game Frogger, where you are happy just to have made it across alive. Being a pedestrian here is without exaggeration an adventure and an adrenaline rush. It constantly feels like you will might get run over. But there is order in the chaos, and my New Yorker instincts kicked in. I figured out the magic formula for Saigon pedestrian survival soon enough after what felt like a brush with death on my first crossing. Calmly face the speedy oncoming traffic as you cross, do not dare to run or stop (completely counterintuitive), and somewhat miraculously, nobody will smack you.

Anup arrived at the Grand Saigon the following morning, we joined forces, and our Saigon adventures commenced right away with our first long stroll and scary road crossings. Our loose plan for the next three days and nights was to have long walkabouts interspersed with air-conditioned resting spaces, largely spontaneous and without aim except to engage in conversation all along the way, in motion or at rest. Saigon is perfect for this, with endless options. For the most part we just walked into restaurants, cafes, bars, and shopping centers if they looked good.  Due to its bizarre layout of streets and blocks seemingly thrown together without a plan, confusing or no signage, and nothing close to resembling right angle intersections or a grid system, it’s easy to lose your bearings and get lost in Saigon, even after passing by the same landmarks multiple times. At first I joked that we may end up walking in circles, and as it turns out we repeatedly did walk in circles without intending to throughout our stay, shocking ourselves at how bad it got. We struggled to find our hotel at times at night though we were just blocks away. Google maps only worked on either of our phones when we had WiFi. But losing our bearings constantly and the cycle of disorienting and reorienting without consulting our phones was good fun in itself. We didn’t have much of an agenda except to soak in the city and I was determined to not get bothered by lack of progress if we had nowhere we had to be at particular times anyway.

The only planned tourist destination in Saigon we ended up visiting was the War Museum I mentioned earlier, and depressing as it was, I am extremely glad that we agreed to put it on our itinerary. Before going I had no idea how gnarly it would be inside. But the unspeakable horrors chronicled within must be widely known, and never forgotten. In accomplishing that, it’s a great and well-organized museum. Like my visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC in the late 1990s, I will never forget the gut-wrenching exhibits and how they made me feel ill. I do not want to forget. 

On a happier note, we ate some great food and enjoyed some cold craft beers thanks to pure alacrity and spontaneity. For example we randomly walked by a Hong Kong restaurant called A Ma Kitchen and decided on a whim to test it for lunch. After nearly two weeks of mostly Vietnamese food I welcomed the prospect of variety. The fare at A Ma Kitchen was so surprisingly delectable, especially the roast duck, that we went back to the same joint for more the next day. The ambience was spot on and more importantly, it was easily the best duck I’ve ever tasted anywhere, even outstripping the super Peking duck in a fancy Beijing restaurant and my favorite haunts in NYC’s vaunted Chinatown. Perfectly roasted, perfectly seasoned, a lot of time and effort obviously put in to make it just right…yes… As good as it gets. Who’d a thunk it- that we’d find the best Cantonese roast duck at an immigrant restaurant in Vietnam? The country was full of pleasant surprises.

On that very first walkabout we randomly passed by a small craft brewery tap house called Heart of Darkness, decided to make it our first air-conditioned pit stop on a hot day, and enjoyed our brief visit so much that we went back there again for more one of the next few days. The music was awesome, the craft beers were extraordinary, the vibe was cool, and we struck up an interesting conversation with the attractive bartender who was a local college student. Saigon had slightly more English speaking locals than any of the other cities I visited. Heart of Darkness’s founder happens to be an American who spent time in NYC, John Pemberton. We were glad to see that this brewery was highly decorated with international awards. Other unplanned but noteworthy pit stops included dinner at the 5-star Rex Hotel’s open air rooftop lounge offering wide city views, a talented live cover band, and a fresh coconut water that hit the spot for me. We decided to go up based on a sign on the entrance below. Happily our own hotel had an even better and much higher outdoor rooftop lounge, with even better views, and we spent plenty of time relaxing and talking up there as well. From that height Saigon is very pretty at night, and the chaos below is hidden and unheard. Finally, yet another stellar microbrewery we stopped at to cool off was EastWest Brewing, occupying a large warehouse type space with stills in the back. Saigon’s brew game is definitely strong, as there were many other spots we passed by but didn’t have time to sample. Beside fantastic beers, they served up some very good raw oysters, fresh on the shell.

We also discovered a long, wide, and lively pedestrian plaza near the Rex Hotel, populated at night by throngs of happy people of all ages: kids playing, families picnicking, young adults dressed up and on the hunt for romance, old men drinking on a bench, vendors selling their wares, and wide-eyed tourists walking through. The best part of this plaza is being able to have a long walk without jousting with scooters and cars. The second best part is its cleanliness. This plaza, walking distance from the Grand Saigon, reminded us a lot of Las Ramblas in Barcelona. A completely different, more adult walking plaza a few miles away is Bui Vien Street, an famous and aggressive nightlife district of Saigon, filled with a seemingly endless line of nightclubs and lounges, thumping music, professional dancers, and shiny bright lights. This scene was way too loud and touristy for my liking and we didn’t stay long, but I’m glad we had a look at how Saigon does debauchery. If I were in my 20s I would have probably gallivanted up and down Bui Vien Street all night, in search of romance and a party.

Much more my speed was a rooftop speakeasy called Memento in a nondescript, quiet and poorly lit neighborhood not far from the walking plaza. Getting in involves knowing what you’re doing like most speakeasies: in this case, walking up four flights of stairs in an old apartment building you would not expect a bar to be situated in, no sign on the facade, and pulling on a bookshelf at the end of a hallway that doubles as the bar’s front entrance. The entire process was very cool. The bartenders in this cozy spot make high-quality bespoke cocktails in a supremely chill environment highly conducive to talking and catching up. If I lived in Saigon as a single, I could picture this being my first date place. As far as cocktail bars go anywhere… yes… as good as it gets with a sweet river view to boot. At Memento Anup and I joined forces with my old college buddy John Vo and his crew, which included the Vietnamese-American venture capitalist proprietor of Memento who hails from the Bronx. Both of these Vietnamese-Americans guys, around my age, chose to spend time back in the land of their ancestors and reconnect to their roots. And they seemed happy with their choice to live in Saigon for an extended period. This made me think, as I have for years, whether I could wrap things up and spend extended time in Asia, perhaps India. Take a break from America and do a deep dive into what it’s like to live out East, which cannot be done from vacation to vacation. Perhaps using my skills to help a developing nation in need of better government. These thoughts are on my mind, but first, I need to get myself cured, as this will open up options and flexibility for me to seriously consider foreign climes for a sabbatical. This is one of the many motivating factors I have to get my body right again. 

Of course throughout Saigon, like every single part of Vietnam, the coffee on sale is fresh and superb without fail, a trait that reminded me of Paris, where every coffee in every cafe was made well. Except Vietnam’s is a very different style, and even better. Vietnamese folks have uncompromisingly high standards and are particularly meticulous when it comes to preparation of food and beverages. Uniformly, no matter where I ordered it, from 5 star hotel restaurants to tiny stalls surrounded by a muddy pool of rainwater off the side of the highway, every single cup of coffee was exceedingly strong and flavorful. There’s notable pride in the prep of every cup. It’s the strongest and also the best-tasting coffee I’ve ever had. These caffeine bombs can be served in a number of ways, all of them delicious. Hot or cold over ice, coffee lovers cannot go wrong, though I prefer hot. 

While in Vietnam I came to crave my next cup of Vietnamese coffee or cafe su-deh almost as soon as I finished the last one. If it wasn’t so strong I would have had more than the self-imposed limit of 3 per day.  The beverage tastes fine black, but is even more delicious with milk, or condensed milk, or milk and condensed milk, or coconut milk, or even raw egg yolks. Also palatable is something called salt coffee, which has a creamy salt in it. Seriously. Viet egg coffee was in fact quite delicious and the most luxuriously creamy of them all. A spot of condensed milk became my favorite mixer. But beware tough guy, the coffee in this country is typically so strong it’s like a punch to the face with a boxing glove made out of pure caffeine, which can cause a different sensation in comparison to other coffees. Upon my very first taste of a small cup on my first morning in Vietnam I liked it so much, and the amount of liquid seemed so small compared to the coffee we get in America, I made the big mistake of of gulping down two more cups back to back before the first one had really hit me. Three doses in short order. It rocked my world, and it was not entirely pleasant. I was OK, but for a brief period my heart rate jumped, and until my heart rate finally slowed to a comfortable trot after a few minutes and I ceased bouncing off the walls I couldn’t fully relax. There can be too much of a good thing, and I learned my lesson the hard way. Word of advice: no matter your previous caffeine experience levels, no matter your size, never take more than one shot of cafe su-deh at a time, certainly no more than two. 

Before Vietnam, perhaps for decades until January 2024, I would have said the world’s best coffee hails from India, followed by Costa Rica. But no more. We bump those down to #2 and #3 respectively. Fiercely proud as I am of my Indian heritage, I must admit objectively speaking that Vietnamese coffee is… indeed… as good as it gets. There’s something uniquely rich and complex about it, like all coffees are supposed to be and should be. I can’t put my finger on it but Vietnamese coffee hits another note the others do not, bringing all the strength you can handle, somehow without being too bitter, astringent, or burnt to the taste like hundreds of other cups of Joe I’ve had at higher cost.

Overall Saigon was about me and Anup scheming and plotting, as we are always wont to do when we meet in person, especially about his ambitions to run for Mayor of Bangalore and various other projects each of us are working on. We also spent a lot of time discussing and processing the War Museum, Vietnam, and its great people. Anup is a unique character among the people I know, and just could be the right person for the major local government role. The walking and the pit stops were fun sideshows to our conversations, which as always were about ideas. I don’t claim to understand how politics and winning votes in India function, but I still believe I can help the Bangalore campaign, especially on policy and platform. The brainstorming on this commenced in earnest in Saigon, is ongoing, and I hope it continues through to a victory speech by my boy later this year. 

From Saigon I flew to Hanoi Airport where my car and driver were waiting to take me on the several hour journey to Ha Long Bay, while Anup flew separately to Da Nang, a place he had visited 10 years earlier on one of his at least 9 previous trips to Vietnam. I would spend 3 nights in the paradise of towering cliffs and emerald green water before returning to Da Nang for my last two nights in Vietnam with Anup, back at the comfy Sunny Ocean Hotel again, where he’d be staying in the meanwhile. I invited him to join me in Ha Long Bay, but he elected to spend that time in Da Nang instead to get some work done. (I doubt he really did much work there, LOL- it’s hard in that place!)

Ha Long Bay. I spent one night at the D’Lecia Hotel in the city of Ha Long Bay, not far from the docks I’d be heading for the next morning to join the luxury 2 night, 3 day cruise navigating throughout the bay and its islands on gentle emerald green waves. That night I enjoyed the best Korean meal of my life for dinner at an authentic Korean restaurant around the corner from my hotel, yet another unexpected and unplanned surprise. Yes, as good as it gets. Planning ahead too much just might be overrated. The patrons were mostly Korean, and perhaps that was what kept quality high. It was one heck of a bargain considering I was treated to enough food to fill two people. Particularly noteworthy was the wide selection of spicy and perfectly seasoned “banchan” they served, including kimchis, marinated daikon, and turnip salad. These paired perfectly with the protein barbecued right on the table in front of me and served with rice, sauces, tofu and egg stew, raw garlic, and greens. I’d had all of this spread many times before, but this Korean joint in Ha Long Bay was next-level. The flavors were divine, the service was impeccable, the Korean owner was overly hospitable, and they brought out as much “banchan” as I could handle, replacing the empty little dishes of food as I finished them with fresh ones, without my asking, and even gave me extra banchan to take out at no charge, which got woofed down in my hotel room before bed. Koreans were all over this town, just like in every town I went to especially near the ocean, and they seemed to swarm in with large groups for tourism or business. I wondered what locals really thought of the massive influx, and when I asked one of my English speaking Vietnamese drivers about this he shared his sincere opinion, “Koreans are very good people. They bring money. We are glad they are coming.” This is in contrast to another driver we met on our last night in Vietnam who informed us, unsolicited, that he did not like China and he wanted America (pointing at me) and India (pointing at Anup) to fight China. Very interesting. But let’s hope nobody wants to fight anybody in the Asia-Pacific, as there’s more than enough deadly conflict in other parts that are threatening to wreck the global economy and world peace.

I had heard a great deal about the Ha Long Bay cruise experiences, and so booked my suite on Doris Cruise way in advance, and could not wait to get out on the water when I woke up the morning before setting sail.  The cruise commenced just before lunchtime, and the entire boat was beautiful and well-maintained, including the sweetest suite I’ve ever had the fortune of sleeping in when I wasn’t off on excursions such as kayaking and bicycling through a local village. Or eating excellent Vietnamese food in the ship’s restaurant. Or happy hour on the sun deck where guests got to mingle. Doris Cruise offered the best Vietnamese food I had overall on the trip. Most importantly, Ha Long Bay did not disappoint. In fact, it blew my mind. The Bay was dramatically better than I hoped, and I expected a lot. So here I must admit my dilemma, as a writer who takes pride in his ability to manipulate the English language to a higher, more rarefied plane worthy of not just conjoined word sequences being called fine writing, but to a level where the written word is recognized as art form: I’m at a complete loss to find worthy adjectives for what the many parts of Ha Long Bay look like. It’s not nearly enough to call the views from my cruise ship suite’s windows or the open air sun deck such things like epic, or magical, or tear-inducing, or life-changing, or otherworldly, or soul-shaking. I’m not even sure if heavenly or Godly are sufficient when it comes to any of a thousand frame worthy scenes I saw in front of my face, every frame somehow even better than the last, the pattern playing out over and over again.

I’ve thought about this a lot and I don’t want to say this lightly, especially after a breathtaking two months traversing many different parts of New Zealand and being flabbergasted by the natural beauty I witnessed back then. But upon reflection, I have no qualms declaring that Ha Long Bay has the most spectacular scenery I have ever been fortunate enough to see in my life. The cruise was easily the highlight of my trip when it came to natural beauty, and another aspect of Ha Long Bay in its favor is that the scenery is more unique. As good as it gets indeed. Though Vietnam’s pristine beaches are sublime, there are comparable ones in many places around the globe’s tropics. As far as the green hills and mountains, coconut trees, rice paddies, or coffee plantations, these actually reminded me a lot of my tropical home state of Karnataka in India or parts of Sri Lanka which I visited in 2023. Thailand for that matter has most of the above. I haven’t seen parallels to Ha Long Bay elsewhere though, and I’m not sure if there is one. As an added bonus, as I know many cruise lines are plowing through the bay every day to serve the tourists who have been coming for centuries, the 2-night, 3-day itinerary on Doris Cruise turned out to be a top notch way to traverse the bay with excellent accommodations, food, and service, and I’d 100% recommend both Ha Long Bay and Doris Cruise. (If you are interested, reach out to me before booking about a worthwhile 15% discount) 

I flew back to Da Nang after the car ride to Hanoi Airport from Ha Long Bay, which dazzled and energized. The highlights from the last two day and nights in Da Nang were dinner with Anup at the spectacular and high-priced Intercontinental Hotel on Son Tra peninsula, probably the nicest resort I’ve ever had the chance to be in, let alone eat at… no doubt as good as it gets…and… as promised, I describe in detail my one and only nightlife experience from perhaps the last few years. Read on to find out how the trip ended with a BANG!

***BONUS SECTION: UNPLANNED, SURPRISINGLY EPIC LATE NIGHT OF UNEXPECTEDLY LEGENDARY DEBAUCHERY ON FINAL NIGHT IN VIETNAM***

I only took a chance on a late night outside of my comfortable hotel room bed because I had Anup’s company the second time I set foot in Da Nang, which was my port of exit as well as port of entry. I knew what awaited me immediately after were long flights in uncomfortable coach class seats and long airport layovers, all to be followed by jetlag and immersing once again into the bitter cold and snowy Wisconsin climate during peak winter. With that comes the dry air inside every building once again irritating my skin after its noteworthy improvement in the Vietnamese climate, paired with my body’s constant temperature regulation problems. Also awaiting were piles of office work and house work which is familiar to most vacation goers, and a battery of medical appointments and tests in my case. All this loomed back home when I returned. So… a night out for a final celebration at a trendy nightclub was on the table, after some years in my case, though I had no idea what such places in Vietnam would be like.

Honestly, for all my solo travel time in Vietnam before Anup joined in, no part of me aspired to be that guy- the loser lurking in the corner by myself and staring at strangers in a bar or club long after nightfall, all alone, as if I had no friends. Somehow being seated alone at cafes and restaurants, which happened many times throughout my trip, did not strike me as so pathetic, although this distinction is actually pretty dumb now that I think about it. More importantly, even if wanted to visit a club by myself and wasn’t ashamed to, I literally could not have mustered enough mental or physical energy for my entire first week in Da Nang to be out of my hotel room past 9pm- which is an uplifting testament to how much my energy levels improved from my first day on Vietnamese soil to the final one three weeks later.  The improvement in the fatigue effects that had plagued me every day for many months before this vacation was so dramatic that it cracked open the window of opportunities and possibilities. 

I had also thought my clubbing days were permanently behind me at age 44. On top of that my compromised health condition had me in bed by 10pm every night, no matter where I was in Vietnam, exhausted from early morning starts to the day and long walkabouts. But never say never. I had a willing partner in crime this time in Da Nang, and we both knew there were parties happening every night of the week. The fiesta-seeking seed was planted in our heads following a confident recommendation earlier that same night from Oani, the lovely and hospitable owner of the aforementioned Oani Spa whom I had befriended since Day 1 in Da Nang when I fell in love with the spa and its massaging staff. We chatted with Oani, for awhile following the unforgettable trance-inducing body and foot massages that Anup and I enjoyed that night in adjacent rooms, the final one in my case, bringing an end to my fantastic streak of daily high-quality, forceful, low-cost Vietnamese massages. Oani’s services were definitely superior to the ones I received in all the other cities during the two weeks in between leaving Da Nang and returning to it. All things must come to an end, and sadly that included my glorious massage streak which will be a challenge to even come close to replicating in any country outside of this one, though I aim to try. 

Thanks to Oani’s timely advice about where to find a good party with lots of people on a Monday night, we decided to try to implement one last adventure in our supremely relaxed and happy post-massage state, both a lark and a wild card.  So as the final stop on the Vietnam itinerary, Anup and I ended up spending an epic evening at New Oriental Nightclub (“New Phuong Dong”) on the other side of the river in Da Nang from the Sunny Ocean Hotel, which was just a short cab ride away. It was a surprisingly sublime dance club experience late into the night, despite our low expectations and my low energy.

We arrived a bit after 9pm on January 22nd at New Oriental/New Phuong Dong with an open mind and the optimism we’d gained from being around the Vietnamese. When we were politely escorted into the main area in front of the huge stage and near the bar in the middle, this establishment was already packed to the gills… on a Monday night… and without exaggeration, as cool as any club I’ve been to in any one of many legendary global nightlife cities during my younger days. Yes, I hereby proclaim this club is as good as it gets. Anywhere. The list from my old dancing shoe days includes Miami, Montreal, Mumbai, London, New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Cancun, Costa Rica, Chicago, Brazil, Bangkok, Barcelona, Bangalore, and more. None of these are chopped liver when it comes to hard partying. How does a Da Nang dance club even hope to hang with some of these other cities brimming with fabulous international cultural icons leading the world in fashion, music, modeling, acting, sports, etc. who like to go out at night to play? I’ll happily explain the winning New Oriental formula, which more clubs should follow instead of predictably doing the opposite and losing business because of it.

It all starts out front.  We arrived at the main entrance trying to decide if we wanted to go in for sure or move onto other nearby nightlife options. We chatted with the bouncers on the sidewalk to get a little intel. Clubbing took place between the hours of 9pm to 3am, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (!!!). That meant it had to offer quite the show to keep people consistently coming night after night. Right?? The New Oriental bouncers actually spoke decent English, probably because of steady inflows of foreigners and well-heeled locals with big wads of dong who made up the regular customer base at adequate volumes to keep the joint thriving. The team of four bouncers were fit, well-dressed in black suits, and… disarmingly inviting and friendly to us unlike most I’ve interacted with in various countries. I’m not used to bouncers being nice to me, and at times I’ve suspected racism was a factor in their attitude, unless they were assholes to everyone. Not this time though. They patiently answered our questions about the place without pressuring us to come in. 

We were very casually dressed, including worn sneakers and old cargo pants in my case, but there was no dress code mentioned and in fact there was probably no dress code at all from what I saw inside, as some club kids were in cheap shorts and T-shirts while others were decked out in expensive three piece suits or stylish formal dresses of both Western and Vietnamese styles paired with gaudy jewelry. The scene inside was interesting at first glance, the darkness interrupted by flashing neon lights and lasers blanketing the club from an elaborate AV setup. The club mostly consisted of one giant room. All adult ages were represented among the clientele, from late teens well below half my age, to wrinkled old men in their 60s who looked like local gangsters. Partygoers were assembled in packs of various sizes sitting or standing around a large inventory of tables, almost all guests and all staff looking like Vietnamese, with a few white people sprinkled in along with others of Asian persuasion from nearby nations. There was no velvet rope or cover charge, prices on the menu were reasonable, and the DJs, professional house dancers, and wait staff were uniformly talented at what they did. Every employee was attentive and full of genuinely happy smiles to greet us and the other guests there. This would never end for the duration of our stay. I liked what I saw from the start. They were clearly having fun on the job. 

Speaking of the staff, there was a surprisingly large number of employees on hand, a minor army of men and women watching every corner of the club, ready to assist anyone who needed it in an instant, all apparently engaged in a collective singular mission to make sure everyone present had a good time. I observed this over and over again the entire night. They also kept every inch of the place gleamingly clean despite a large inventory of flesh, food, hookahs, and drinks circulating throughout the massive space that included a large stage, a dance floor below it, and a raised second level full of bottle service tables snaking along the tall walls that ended with the high ceiling way above us. To move around the club wait staff had to carefully snake around messes of people without spilling anything on anyone. 

At one point after we settled in, a group of four young, attractive, and trendily clad Vietnamese ladies sporting bright colored wigs made a point to spend some time dancing and gesturing next to Anup and I, encouraging us to get off our asses and join them on the dance floor, an offer we geezers politely declined with a smile, pumping our fists to the beat in solidarity with them from the comfort of our barstools. They did look like a lot of fun but it was past 10 by then and so I had just enough energy at that time of night to sit or stand for a while, pump my fist to the beat, and visually drink in the scene. The music and people-watching kept me awake and upright, but I certainly had no intention or ability to do anything resembling dance, even with those 20-something sirens and awesome upbeat music pounding through a high-performance sound system bolstered by the giant room’s exquisite acoustics. At first I thought it was too good to be true when this group of girls engaged with us, and I wondered if they were after money or drinks or something, but an observant Anup quickly determined that they were on the club’s payroll, paid to dance around, mingle, and turbocharge wallflowers like us to join the party and have fun. They weren’t “civilian” guests who wanted our middle-age company. After a few minutes the girl gang moved on to another table to try and get the dance party going with other patrons. 

Still, I thought employing these party girls to buzz around the club space and energize customers was a nice touch, and their brief interactions with us defined only by body language and smiles due to the language barrier and loud music laden with nasty bass did not cost us anything. This little squad was in addition to the substantial stable of gorgeous, energetic and scantily clad professional dancers, including males, females, and even a few mysteriously androgynous individuals who rotated on and off the main stage to gyrate around giant metal stripper poles and help the DJs keep the club turned up. This club was the opposite of the norm. Too many club business models, especially in Washington, D.C. and New York, focus on being expensive, exclusive and divisive, manned by staff who gladly treat customers like dirt as a matter of policy, which I never liked. Yet overall New Phuong Dong is far superior to those clubs that aspire to be “too cool” through acting cruel. More should follow the model formula of this club in Da Nang.

I am spending a lot of time on this little tour, writing a mini-case study about some club that we parked ourselves inside for several hours, for this is a fascinating and unlikely story. We were both mentally prepared to make a quick exit after observing the scene and determining it was not for us after all. Instead we kicked back and stayed a while, as waves of new guests kept arriving late into the night and few left. Clubs are no longer in my wheelhouse largely because I cannot tolerate loud music anymore, and prefer to talk to people without having to yell. Same reason I disliked Bui Vien Street.  In the case of New Oriental that concern melted away as the volume was not excessive. Anup and I got deep into the vibe organically, carried away by the haunting sound, only made possible because the EDM music was downright bumping with a fine balance of luscious beats, melodic tunes and heavenly voices. The adept DJs knew what they were doing, mixing internationally recognizable crowd pleasers skillfully with the latest local Vietnamese dance hits, which kept the large audience into it, including us. That is a DJ’s only job, yet very few are good at hitting the right note for the audience. The floor to ceiling screen visual programming and laser light show rounded out the frenetic ambience, as beautiful people, some in exotic Vietnamese dresses, eventually filled every corner of the large hall, nearly every patron looking happy to be out and about and celebrate being alive. 

Absolutely heroic volumes of booze flowed through the hall like the churning river a block away and was consumed by our fellow revelers, par for the course in Asian nightlife as much of the continent is known for legendary alcohol sessions among both rich and poor. But at one point, I witnessed something shocking I’ve never seen at any club anywhere before. I could hardly believe what I saw: the house’s security team were treating multiple over-served clients like royalty, physically propping them up by the waist to escort them on trips to and from the bathroom, between sections in the club, or on their way out of the club as these dudes were pretty much falling over, barely able to walk on their own without help. But it gets better.

Several times, I saw security guys patiently propping up and gently rubbing the back and shoulders of utterly wasted red-faced gentlemen as they puked their guts out into trash cans being kindly held in front of them, wobbling on their chair and struggling to stay upright, a scene that played out several times around our area. In every other nightclub I’d ever visited, such patrons would be summarily shown the door if not kicked onto the sidewalk without any sympathy, despite the fact the club handsomely profited from people drinking themselves sick. This place simply operated on a higher level, offering a softer, empathetic, and more humane way to treat customers who should have controlled themselves better but used poor judgment. I was on the watch for, but did not find a single hint of animosity or bad vibes anywhere in the joint. No patrons messing with other patrons, or any shred of friction between patrons and staff. Too often in confined spaces the crush of dance music, money, men, women, alcohol, hormones, and machismo merge late at night into a bad cocktail of arguments, broken friendships, fistfights, customers getting booted by bouncers, or women being molested. Despite the tight quarters shared by a hefty crowd, I did not see any instance of a man making an unwelcome advance on a woman, or initiating a confrontation with another man, despite the copious volumes of alcohol intake I saw.

Not this time, not in Da Nang. The hall was coursing with nothing but good vibes, and it was palpable and infectious. The giant digital screen behind the stage flashed warm greetings such as “Welcome to our friends from Korea!” and “Welcome to our friends from Taiwan!” or “Happy Birthday to X-X-X”, each paired with freshly shot digital photos of groups of happy clubbers present that night.  Beach balls bounced around the airspace, homosexual clubbers were free to be open if they wanted, and once again in this little time and place Da Nang shows the rest of the world a better way forward. Everyone mixed seamlessly and was respectful. When I made a move toward the restroom a staffer was standing by to escort me all the way there, waited for me to finish my business inside the immaculately clean facilities, and brought me back to my seat, all with a gentle arm around my shoulder. This was definitely overkill, as I was completely sober and could have easily found my own way, but it still felt nice to get this level of service, as in my prior life such attention was unheard of to me. And it never ceased throughout. Any patron needing their cigarette lit would have a bartender or waitress within feet away at the ready with a lighter to do it for them instantly. Or speedily refill a drink, replace a bottle, or provide an escort, or mobilize the puke can for a sick guest while nursing him with compassion. These little touches are the definition of top-shelf service. This is the formula on how to have a good time, all people from everywhere! To conclude, several hours at New Phong Dong nightclub was a delightful experience that is a purely distilled example of how the Vietnamese approach hospitality, even if this example was a high-end one that the vast majority of Da Nang residents couldn’t afford. I have never seen such a high level of service and joy anywhere else before at any price point. But we witnessed it in all types of establishments, day and night. This illustrates something special about the Vietnamese people.

Finally, a word on my travel companion Anup, a serial entrepreneur and no stranger to Vietnam. This was approximately Anup’s 10th visit to Vietnam, as he shuttled back and forth while founder and CEO of one of several incarnations of a successful Indian fintech company selling software to Hanoi-based banks, representing just one of many interesting organizations he has founded or co-founded. (Technically he’s my mom’s cousin but much closer to me in age… not unheard of in giant Indian families with 11 siblings including my late grandmother, among the oldest, and his late father, among the youngest of the litter in Udupi. You can watch our first of hopefully many fascinating and free-wheeling “AI CUZZES” (America-India Cousins) conversational podcasts about US-India relations and other future-oriented topics here. And, now that it’s 2024, another nightmare election year in America featuring the criminally indicted Donald Trump, definitely read Anup’s insightful account of road-tripping across the entire United States and meeting regular American folks along the way just before the 2016 US presidential election, to understand Trump’s growing popularity among Americans as a foreign citizen. He drove from coast to coast over 9 days, conducting business meetings along the way, his lovely family in tow. Anup correctly predicted Trump’s 2016 win well in advance, to my chagrin. And to my delight, Anup will be throwing his hat in the political ring when the Mayor of Bangalore election is called to commence in this very important year for voting and the exercise of democracy around the world.