Perhaps I could have left Da Nang earlier than I did, but I didn't. I had spent the majority of my time staying at the same hotel and visiting the same coffee shops, interspersed with long walks and mostly being powered by banh mi's and matcha lattes. There was the occasional Vietnamese coffee in between, but for the sake of my own health I had decided to keep these treats to a minimum. I wasn't sleeping well enough as it was.
There is an obscene number of coffee shops in Da Nang, many of which look great and will undoubtedly serve a good brew. However I seemed to have struck gold with the hotel that I had stayed in, aptly named as it happened "The Gold Hotel". Its location was not far from the busier, more tourist focussed side of town (more recently becoming a popular destination for Korean visitors in particular), but it was also in close proximity to a decent laundry, surrounded by great food options and had a coffee shop opposite that was close to perfect for what I wanted at the time. The Coffee House was spacious with a relaxed environment, with plenty of good places to sit with a laptop and full of locals doing just that. I spent many hours there over those days and weeks, comfortably working on what I could that would hopefully lead somewhere. Drinking and eating whilst also racking my brain about how I could possibly start bringing an income back in to offset my depleting funds. I have not managed to nail that last part yet. I should have drank more coffee, or maybe I should do less thinking and, like Betty Boo, just find a way of doing the do.
I did briefly consider moving up through the country, maybe going to Ha Noi for a couple of days and then dropping back down to Ninh Binh, but ultimately I decided that I would just sit tight and head directly back to Bangkok nearer the time of my flight back to the UK. A large part of this decision was down to the long overdue realisation that I was no longer enjoying doing these things alone any more, or and also not doing so in the same enthusiastic way as I had in the past (although even then I had been lucky to have spent periods of time with awesome people). There has always been times on previous travels where I have thought how nice it would be if someone else was at the same place and able to experience the moment that I was experiencing. The sights, the sounds and the smells. The changes of temperature at altitude or when the day shifted to dusk and beyond. I have been witness to some truly amazing things, but if it's only me that knows first hand what it was like to be there, then can anyone else ever fully relate to it, past perhaps an imaginative or empathetic response. Any medium that I use to try and paint a picture to cover an event or a time and place, this is all it ever is. No matter whatever merits it may to may not have, without a personal connection, it will only ever be just a picture.
So there.
As I looked back towards Bangkok, the idea of being there over Songkran started to fill me with unease. The temperature there was also sitting at around the 37 degree mark on most days, which when directly compared to Da Nang's 32 degree peaks, further made the idea of heading there early less tempting. My decision to wait until after the festival though brought other implications. The cost of flights between the 2 locations suddenly became much more expensive over the coming days and beyond,with the usual one and a quarter hour flight more quadrupling (or more) from what would usual be a £70 ticket. Eventually though I had to break cover and the price didn't look to be dropping any time soon. Exploring various routes and options (it was actually cheaper to travel to Singapore and then Back up to Thailand on some days), I eventually booked to fly directly back on the 19th April, giving me then 5 days grace in the capital. £170. Ouch.
Apart from the cost, the flight was pain free. Da Nang airport is small enough to navigate quickly and easily with enough shops and coffee places to spend a little time and use up the rest of the local currency. I was the last to board, suddenly remembering that I needed to get some overpriced water for the VietJet air flight, so that's one more off of the experience list. All this meant for me was that there was no space left in the cabins overhead locker for my carry on bag. Instead this now had to go in front of my seat and sun-kissed two-toned legs. A place that was also a little cramped.
At least if we crashed (I thought) I was already positioned in such a way that I wouldn't have to waste anymore energy bracing for impact.
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