One of the things that is definitely going to get under your skin pretty quickly about living in Da Nang, which is a lovely city, is that quiet is at a premium. Everything is so noisy here and that seems to be the default. There are rules against noise pollution and I have actually seen police officers stop a car and slap around a guy that was driving around with an advertisement truck that had big speakers on it. This much is good, but I think that only happened because it was a commercial vehicle.
As far as everything else is concerned there are too many people and when you have too many people and not a lot of rules you end up with a lot of noise. I've gotten to the point where I wear my sound-cancelling headphones when I walk anywhere and most of the time I am not even playing and music.
When I got my new bicycle, My primary objective was to find some peace and tranquility away from the noise. It's been a long road but I finally found some.
I didn't know this place was here. I just ride and explore in all directions and when things end up looking like more of the same, I turn a different way. The thing that makes this area special is that it is sill within the confines of the busy city, but there is almost nobody there.
the paved areas were virtually vehicle-free and after going and going and going, with a big smile on my face, it just stayed that way. This entire area is between two large and busy highways and after riding around the entirety of this "island" I figured out why is it so quiet: There is nothing here.
The entire area is gridded, like they have a big plan for this place in the future but I am just pleased that this time has not come yet. At the moment I would say that around 90% of the land isn't being used by homes or businesses and while there is a highway of sorts that goes through it, there isn't any reason for those motorists to leave the highway because the way the neighborhoods are made up, if they did do that, it would actually take LONGER for them to get to wherever they are going. This is a very smart way to set up a "suburb" even though it is still very much in the city center.
I stopped at one point to drink some water and snap a few photos because I was just in awe of the lack of anyone being here. It was glorious! I hooked my ear at one point because I thought "OMG, was that a bird I just heard?" and it was! I haven't heard the sound of any sort of wildlife in the years that I have lived here.
The walkway on the river was gloriously devoid of vehicles to the point where I actually experienced some level of difficulty figuring out how one gets down there. There is no super easy way to get here and I feel like this was done on purpose. In Vietnam, if someone has the physical ability to drive a motorbike on something or park there, they are going to do so. They have made the inclines getting to and from this waterfront walkway too steep for someone to even consider using this as a means of getting around. There are also steps that are built in so that if anyone actually did get a motorbike down here, they would only be able to drive 100 meters or so before they were faced with a dead end. It's a shame that it has to be this way to prevent people from driving where they clearly shouldn't but that is just the way it is here. Signs indicating that you can't put a motorbike somewhere is a waste of whatever materials it took to make the sign.
I am at the point now where I don't really socialize all that often anymore and if by chance some house ends up coming up for sale in this area, I would seriously consider moving to it. But that probably wouldn't be a very good idea for very long. Since this area is almost entirely undeveloped I know that it is just a matter of time before it becomes a construction hell.
I suppose it is best to enjoy it while I still can. Perhaps it is time to strap Nadi to the doggy backpack that I have and bring her down here with me.