The biggest difference between this trip and what most people would expect from a trip to Southeast Asia is the speed. Da Nang / Hoi An is allotted 3-4 days in most travel guides. I’ve been here for 2 weeks.

Being in a city in such a foreign place for a longer stretch of time is genuinely an interesting experience. I enjoy walking around the city. Pomp and splendour, small quiet oases, ruins. All of it, side by side. At the same time there’s a faint underlying tone of wild nature, barely held back by motor traffic and concrete. The big excursion days are in no way boring or uninteresting, but still feel more like a duty. The city, on the other hand, is an open invitation to everything you don’t plan.

Cafés and restaurants are exciting. I’ve actually managed to visit a new one every day, with only a few exceptions. A couple of times I’ve been mildly disappointed, mainly when I’ve felt like a burger. If you really want classic Western junk food (burger/pizza), either pay extra or expect thin patties and salad. The price is more about whether you’ll be full than about quality. A portion of rice with seafood for 25 kr. isn’t a huge meal, but it hits a fairly good level for a meal, if you’re eating 3 times a day, that is.

Massage is fairly new to me. I’ve had a massage before, but not on a regular basis, and there’s no shortage of options. Throw a stone in any random direction and you’ll hit a spa/massage clinic. Separating the wheat from the chaff has been an exercise, though. I’m probably more into getting actual work done on the body than pure wellness. It hasn’t felt like a real massage until I’ve whimpered a little. I’ve had Deep Tissue massage and Thai massage. It’s not a must-have for me, but it loosens up tension from walking so much. At the same time, it’s insanely cheap. 100-150 kr. for a full-body 60-minute massage. So a massage once or twice a week isn’t what’s going to blow the budget.

City exploring costs steps. My average number of steps per day has crept up to almost 16,000. That’s a good 50% more than since I left Denmark.

And that’s how I spend my days here in Southeast Asia. A bit of café hopping, a bit of walking, a run, a meal and a massage. It might well be that at some point it starts getting hard to tell you anything new in these blog posts. I doubt it, though. The day after tomorrow I land in Da Lat. The travel brochure says: The eternal city of spring. It’s up in the highlands a bit, so no beach, but instead lakes, mountains, waterfalls, views, flowers and nature galore. Yet another night-bus experience awaits me. Wish me luck.

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