Welcome to the beach!

And so it was high time to head to the pride of Da Nang, namely its beach. Luckily, I had a chance to experience some folklore through participation in sand castles building competition. After the contest, there was a fashion show and some performances of local artists.

Some sand castles and fashion show:

I think that everybody can guess who sponsored that team.

Save the ocean!

Despicable mermaid xd.

A giant crab :D.

The castle that won - apparently the character is very popular in Vietnam.

A little bit scary castle.

Hội An

Hội An is a charming ancient city, situated about 30km south of Da Nang. Even though the ride from Da Nang to Hội An doesn't take long, I am still not used to riding a motorbike and I must admit that my ass hurt a little bit after 30 minutes drive. I believe that it's partly because I have never ridden a motorcycle before and the feeling is still new to me. What is more, most of the time I don't know what to do with my legs or arms as a passenger so as not to disturb the driver. Furthermore, I have some difficulty in wearing a helmet as it usually falls at the back of my head and the straps press on my throat. Sometimes, when I forget to take my glasses the ride may be a bit unpleasant as the wind blows straight in the eyes. Despite those few inconveniences, I must admit that I really enjoy the ride: the invigorating wind and the feeling of freedom is unforgettable. Maybe, I should think about buying a motorcycle when I come home :D.

Some photos of Hội An.

Inside the Museum of Ceramics.

Isn't that lovely? Ceramic carafe for 'Hand made Kentucky whiskey' xd.

The view from the Museum of Ceramics.

Rickshaw.

Riverside of Hội An.

Bridge in Hội An.

Lanterns on a tree.

One of the narrowest streets in Hội An.

The first days

Being in Da Nang not even a whole day, it is easy to notice a few things. First of all, as I mentioned before everybody here rides a motorbike. Now, I know why. Most of all, cars are extremely expensive in Vietnam due to the tax that is imposed on them. As cars are not produced domestically and they need to be imported, usually the importation tariff equals the price of the car. Sometimes, in order to escape this outrageous taxes Vietnamese people import separately parts of the car and then put it together.

Secondly, Vietnamese are very friendly, hospitable and outgoing. Most of them don't have a problem to accost me and ask what my name is and where I come from. And usually, this type of a conversation ends with taking a few souvenir photos.

Here are some of my photos of the Food Festival organised by Vietnam 3D interns:

Chinese booth

Indonesian booth. The flag is very similar to the Polish one.

Polish booth and delicious apple pancakes <3

Malaysian booth, part one.

Malaysian booth, part two.

Mexican booth featuring banana with cream, esquites (salty corn) and guacamole.

What's the story?

My story isn't too complicated. As a part of a volunteer programme, I came to Da Nang, Vietnam. The journey was long and tiring, yet funny. Flying from Warsaw to Da Nang, I had two stops: first in Zurich, then Singapore. Each airport has its own character and tells a little bit about the inhabitants of each country.

And so, the Swiss love nature - even in the train between the gates the passengers could hear some sounds of the countryside like birds and cows with their little bells. And it's definitely less noisy and crowded.

Next, in Singapore the nature can also be observed: there are many places with some fountains, trees and flowers. I arrived there at 6 am, so the airport wasn't too busy...yet it could be seen that people were a bit tired xd. Waiting for my flight, I noticed a funny scene: a little girl was running around the waiting room and suddenly she started hugging one man's leg. Unfortunately, it turned out that it was the wrong daddy which the men happily decided to announce to the whole room xd.

Anyway, when I finally got to the place of my destination I was struck by the hot and humid air. As it turned out, that wasn't the end of surprises for the day. There I was picked up by two Vietnamese: a girl from my internship programme and my host. They were both on motorbikes and I still can't believe that they managed to transport not only me but also my luggage (two suitcases: one big and one small). Actually, a motorbike is the most common of all means of transport in Vietnam. What is more, the thing that never stops surprising me is how they drive in here...for me it's just plain chaos: everybody honks, the rules are not followed only except from the lights, but even that is sometimes ignored! I don't even know whether they need to have a driving licence to drive a motorbike...probably not.

Below some photos of the Singapore airport: