I forgot to mention anything about our night at Ba Na Hills near DaNang so enjoy this "bonus" content.
Ba Na Hills is this weird hotel/spa/themepark/instagram Mecca that is truly something to behold. While it is certainly an experience, It definitely is NOT my typical idea of a travel destination, I'm kinda glad I listened to my wife and added it to our itinerary. It was just so bonkers, I kinda loved visiting... once.
We got a driver from Hoi An who delivered us to the "basecamp" where you join a million other guests checking in. The process was an experience for reasons I won't go into. We then were directed to the Longest Cablecar in the World up to the complex. The picturesque cable car ride was a great chance to get my blood pressure back down after dealing with the check-in desk. You approach the summit and see a French Chateau, Notre Dame Cathedral, a massive beercan-shaped German bierhall, several Temples & Shrines, a carnival midway, etc etc etc. It's just bananas.
We checked into our amazingly themed hotel (there are maybe five hotels up there) and decided to wander around to take in the Disney-esque craziness of this place. It was hot so we decided to head over to the German Bierhall where live oompah music was coming from a building artistically designed to look like a golden keg of beer partially submerged in the ground. Think the tip of the Louvre Pyramid only it's a golden beer keg. Sure enough, there's an oompah band playing and Vietnamese folks dancing three stories below us...but we can't get there from here. Those escalators are only for the exit... we need to find the down escalators which are in a different building. So we navigate our way to that building where people can cue for tours of the brewery. I have seen countless breweries, I make my own beer, so we steered around the cue and headed down the massive hallway... I honestly felt like we were in some Willy Wonka Beer Factory. That's the vibe. We eventually made it to the place where the band was playing and we could order beer. Thankfully neither of us succumbed to a beer-related death triggering an elaborate song-and-dance/morality lesson.
After lunch, we wandered more. We checked out the miniature Notre Dame, the various shrines/temples and possibly the Worst Wax Museum in the World - Every African American figure had greenish skin, and Donald Trump looked sorta like Boris Johnson. Let's play "guess the celebrity"... is that supposed to be Michael Jackson or Mick Jagger???
Crowds started to thin as the day wore on and daytrippers headed off the mountain. We timed it perfectly as we took another cable car to a nearby peak to see the famous Hand Bridge. We stayed there past sunset; admiring the view and indulging in our own Instagram Shoot ; ). The place that had been swarmed with tourists during the day was practically deserted. We eventually headed back to the main park, had a very forgettable "French" dinner and crashed in our suite overlooking the mini Notre Dame.
We got up and had fantastic breakfast buffet and took the Cable Car down to meet our driver for the Da Nang Airport.
All in all it was a quirky splurge that added a great counterpoint to the rest of our Vietnam trip. I'd never go back but I'm kinda glad we did it. It's like how Disneyland gives you this weird idea of America. It's simultaneously false and accurate. And we do have some great "Instagram" Pics to show for it.
Feel Free to DM with questions.
Part 1 https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/vietnam-trip-report-part-1
Part 2 https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/vietnam-trip-report-part-2
Part 3 https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/vietnam-trip-report-part-3