Cobblestone Chronicles

When you think of deserts, the first things that come to mind are the famous Arabian deserts that have given us so many childhood classics, and the sprawling Sahara, a vast, uncompromising chunk of sand famed for being the largest hot desert in the world, encompassing millions of square kilometers. On the contrary, when you think of Vietnam, your thoughts take you into the densest of rainforests, and the famous or infamous (depending on whose side you’re on) Guerilla Warfare tactics that took advantage of this very ecosystem, that even the mighty United States of America couldn’t lay a finger on. Never in your wildest imagination would you merge the two pictures that I’ve just painted in your brain, but what if I told you that you actually can? A 5 hour drive from the Cu-Chi tunnels of Saigon, the epicentre of the Vietnamese war and Vietnam’s secret weapon lies the coastal town of Mui Ne. A fishing hotspot on the South China sea, this little town has become a popular to...

Home to the country’s third largest populace, Da Nang is the temperate town that boasts sumptuous cuisine, and stunning beaches coalesced with verdant mountains, without all the hustle and bustle of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh! It is quite difficult, and onerous for some travellers too, to envisage a vacation in Vietnam without dealing with the chaotic traffic of Hanoi or the brimming streets of Ho Chi Minh. These two cities and their suburbs, ultimately, have come to showcase to the world what Vietnam is. However, it is what they say after all - sometimes, the obvious choice is not always the best one! Long considered to be the sleepy fishing destination lying about in the centre of Vietnam, and home to the country’s third largest populace, Da Nang is the temperate town that boasts sumptuous cuisine, and stunning beaches coalesced with verdant mountains, without all the hustle and bustle of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh! It has been several years since I visited this quiet nonchalant...