It can be said that I am forever making excuses for failing to update this blog and you would be correct once again. Recently, I have faced certain distractions and have therefore only posted to the Instagram page. I am spending more time in the gym or walking around than I ever am reading or writing; this may not necessarily be a bad thing but it could also be representative of deeper underlying issues. Mainly a very affectionate girlfriend that is clingy, but in a good way.
My departure date is now set and I currently seem to be in a rush to enjoy all of what else Da Nang has to offer at once. Although I do not believe that this represents the blog’s finale owing to a planned return next year; I shall be gone for a few months. The diaries will temporarily be on pause until Da Nang and I meet again.
The long term stay in Da Nang has not been everything that I expected it to be yet I still leave with a very positive impression about the city and will it dearly while I am gone. It is however in a state of flux; construction work is constantly ongoing everywhere. People come and go as well; nothing is ever static, it seems.
The more irritating foreigners that you see on Facebook can now enjoy a choice between complaining that the city is an undeveloped mess or complain that the local authorities are actually doing something to make the city a better place to live. Why they choose to pay extra for the privilege of living in Crackertown when it is subject to far more sudden power or water cuts is totally beyond me. The Westside of the city is a far better place to live in my humble opinion.
Likewise, dating local women may make you wonder why you would ever want to bother with worn out, ugly fempats. Good local food at reasonable prices may make you wonder why you would constantly feel a need to pay over the odds for Western style specialities on a regular basis. Regardless of what you may think of all of the above, the fact is that we do have options.
Getting the best out of Da Nang may mean that one has to avoid certain things and people, for it would be wasteful to allow them to influence you or drag you down. Did they partially inspire my move towards teetotalism? Well, there were certain sorts of people that would require one to drink in order to make them seem more interesting. Drugs? I have a feeling that the authorities aren’t going to tolerate all those stoner yoga enthusiast, fake English teachers forever; which is a good things. Vegans? Unfortunately, they’re opening up all their own places and growing in number. Hopefully they’ll face a clampdown too.
You could complain about these people, but cutting them out of your life is even better. It may be difficult and I’ll admit that I did not make huge numbers of close friends here, yet I can’t say that I made many real enemies either. This brought a strange unexpected kind of peace to my inner world, as psuedo-spiritual as that may sound.
Something that I genuinely fear is that Da Nang won’t quite be the same when I get back. When I came in December after previously visiting a few months before; it had already changed a lot. One or two previously visited cafes and restaurants had gone; new ones had opened up. There’s a lot of people moving from Thailand and China and the dynamics of the non-native population may change.
As the economy grows, rent prices will increase. Not all businesses will be able to survive that, even old local favourites with a sizeable customer base. Some modern, shiny new things will come along and old-timers and annoying hipsters alike will complain about the place losing its soul. People will still buy all those Watermelon or Banana shirts, I think.
The rainy season is coming and I have an inkling that my temporary departure will be well-timed. Sadly, I will miss the mid-Autumn festival and will return home when it is starting to get colder. Maybe I didn’t write everything that I possibly could for this diary, but less may be more.
Đà Nẵng Diaries 