The clearest water I've ever seen is not in the
maldives, the most gorgeous rice terraces in the world are not in Bali, and the best coffee
culture is not in Italy. We're Madison and Ivan and this is Vietnam. Good morning Vietnam!
We are so excited to be in Vietnam, we have made it here to Da Nang, the fourth largest city in
the country full of so many beautiful mountains, beaches, people, food ,culture. We've actually
already gotten to experience some of that, we started off the morning at the beach for
sunrise and it was so beautiful and full of locals relaxing, exercising, and just starting
off their day in such a stunning way. It is an ungodly hour for the beach
to be this packed this is insane! 5 a.m. y'all this is not normal waking
hours. Vietnam has actually been on the top of my must visit ASAP list because it's developing
so fast, so it's like if we don't go sooner rather than later it'll be a whole separate
country. I want to experience that country too, but I want to get a taste of Vietnam as it is
today as well. I've technically been to Vietnam before, I came here a few years ago when I was
working behind the scenes on reality TV shows, but because I was working I only had
the chance to leave the hotel one time, so I got like a tiny little nugget of what it
is like to be in Vietnam and it wet my appetite, like I am so excited to be back finally
actually taking a bite of what this incredible, beautiful country has to offer.
Speaking of taking a bite, let's get breakfast. I am starting the day off with Mi
Quang the symbol of Da Nang. Mi Quang is this rice noodle in a like a turmeric broth. I got
the fish, Madison got the beef. Lots of herbs, put it all together, add some peanuts on there
for topping and crunch and you got Mi Quang! You have Mi Quang any time of day but this restaurant
closes at 11 a.m. so this is a a breakfast joint. That's something I really like about Vietnamese
cuisine, there's not really like different foods that you eat for breakfast, pho, breakfast food
mi quang, breakfast food, banh mi, breakfast food. This light mellow flavor coating beautifully
beautifully cooked noodles, tender tender fish, it's a white fish, it actually reminds
me a lot of the the Bengali Indian style cooking that I grew up with because
of the rich turmeric because of the soft white fish kind of take makes
me very nostalgic for for my mom's cooking. what a delicious way to start the
day. transportation is super easy here, we just hopped in a Grab which is basically the Uber
of Southeast Asia and we're on our way to one of the top attractions in the city, marble Mountain.
the land is flat and beachy and then all of a sudden out of nowhere these beautiful mountains
appear, it's no wonder it became such a spiritual destination. we have made it to the marble
mountains which is one of the top things to do in Da Nang, and the translation in Vietnamese
is actually the five elements Mountain. Metal, wood, earth, water, fire. not the same five
elements that you think of when you think of avatar The Last Air-bender. each Mountain has its
own individual element, there are five mountains so this one that we are on right now that most
of the exploration occurs on is water Mountain, which is home to the largest cave of
all of the caves here. So stunnning and beautiful. I think it's official, I think
we have to become morning people because this is so incredible and beautiful we basically
have the whole cave to ourselves right now to just like slowly take in. it is stunning. so this
mountain is actually full of caves, they're not naturally occurring they were actually made by
miners, but they've been used to make Hindu and Buddhist shrines so it's so special to be like
exploring these cave structures and seeing the absolute beauty of the religious iconography and
each individual cave is so unique and beautiful. it's so cool to see different artistic choices
made in each individual cave. there's so many faces and stuff everywhere just like a woah I
wasn't expecting that, like that one's just. it's so quiet. you can hear moisture from the cave dripping
to the ground. that's the only sounds and our footsteps. this is so cool, way way
cooler than I even thought it would be, but it is so hot. even in a cave! I am sweating
so much, but worth it, man this is so cool. [Music] did we pay 60 cents a person to
take an elevator in this heat? absolutely. oh yeah, that was so worth it. from
down there to way up here. this is like such a cool place, I did not hype it up enough
in my head but it like it reminds me of so many places we've been before, but like the most
beautiful perfect combination of it all. reminds me of the Batu Caves in Malaysia because there's
beautiful temples here in caves, it reminds me of the architecture of Gaudi in Barcelona, beautiful
intricate details put into all the architecture. It reminds me of the pagodas we saw in Japan, like
it's it's just absolutely stunning to be reminded of so many beautiful, incredible places. you can
go in the caves, but then there's also so many beautiful temples and pagodas here above ground
as well. there's just so much to take in, so many different unique pieces, it's so cool. feels like
in a video game like you have the temple and if you sneak around behind it you see like the Easter
egg like in the Fable Series this is where the talking gate would be and you answer a riddle
to get inside. wow very spiritual babe. just so Serene, like there's some big tour groups that
come through but overall, maybe we're just having a lucky day, but overall it's relatively calm,
you can definitely get a time to yourself in each place and it's just so fun to be able to let loose
you know. you're like exploring. the largest cave here was actually a military Hospital during the
war, so it has a lot of religious significance, but also some historic military significance as
well, so it's very unique and beautiful to see. [Music] [Music] this is just unbelievable. highly recommend, such a special place. I could stay and explore
this place all day if it weren't so incredibly hot. to cool down we're headed to one of the
hottest cafes in the city Son Tra Marina. We desperately needed a refresher, so we are here
at the marina with beautiful views, a beautiful building, I feel like we've been transported
to like Santorini. It is so gorgeous here, and we have a nice cold beverage. this is a
salted coffee which started here in central Vietnam. salt foam on the top and then the very
strong Vietnamese coffee here at the bottom, and one of the first things we noticed about
Vietnam literally on the drive from the airport to our hotel was the massive amount of coffee
shops everywhere. Coffee and Cafe culture is a huge part of life here. Vietnam is actually the
second largest exporter of coffee in the world and the first largest exporter of Robusta coffee.
so this is a Robusta coffee here at the bottom it is twice as strong and caffeinated as arabica
coffee which is the coffee we typically have in the United States and Europe, which is why this
massive amount of salt foam is going to come in handy. salt foam mustache. it is so incredibly
good salt and coffee might sound like a strange combination to you, but like you have
to try this. the salt almost brings out like the sweeter more delicious notes in the
coffee and on a hot day like this like it's the electrolytes that you actually desperately
need because we' been sweating so much. the nice delicious like foamy texture with the salt,
this is one of my favorite coffees in the world. what a beautiful place to be enjoying
it. now that we've enjoyed a cool down, we're a quick drive from Linh Ung Pagoda, another
can't miss destination if you're in Da Nang, because you literally can't miss it. you
can see the lady Buddha statue that's here watching over you from anywhere on the
beach. I knew we were going to see the incredible lady Buddha statue here, but I
didn't realize how beautiful the rest of this place would be. there are so many stunning
bonsai trees. I like that they went like more Lush with it it looks like a bonsai but that
brings in like the Vietnamese side to it. Legend has it that they found this statue in
the sea and the local villagers brought it over, erected it, and ever since they erected
the statue the waters have been calm and therefore they renamed it to the Buddha
Beach. yeah but also the signage said that originally it was specked to be built
at 32 meters but somehow became 67, but did they find it? I don't know. What the.
67 meters tall that is a 30 story building, and inside it's actually furnished as
stories and at different stories like you can pray to like different incarnations
or different specializations of lady Buddha. it is now the evening and it is time for
dinner. We, before this actually had the opportunity to participate in this local custom,
local tradition a nap. naps are actually like such a popular thing in Vietnam. you see people napping
constantly at their street food stall waiting for the next customer, delivery drivers napping
on their scooters, even in office jobs we've heard that people actually like have pillows and
different supplies to have a proper nap at work, instead of a 9 to5 It's actually an 8 to 5 to
allow for an hour of napping throughout the day, so we were so lucky to have the opportunity to
participate in that because it was so hot that we seriously needed a refresher. but now we're ready
to take on the day starting with dinner. we love finding like Local hole in the wall restaurants
when we travel, but sometimes you also have to go see what all of the hype is about. we are here
at Madame Lins which has over 8,000 reviews on Google. Starting with the fried fish spring rolls
a rice paper wrapping on the outside with a fried fish on the inside and then all sorts of delicious
vegetables, and we have this nice sauce to dip it in. that is delicious the combination of fresh
and fatty flavors. I think there's Dill in there giving it this like really nice delicious
herbaceous taste. sour acidity of the sauce that you dip it in. you can tell that there was
like a lot of thought put into how the particular flavors were going to pair together. already see
why this place would be so highly rated, plus this is an incredible atmosphere out here by the river,
the beautiful lanterns in the Courtyard. lovely. man this is our pescatarian episode. okay guys,
yeah we're by the beach. can you tell? can you tell we're staying on the beach? I barely need an
excuse to order a beautiful whole fish like this. it looks amazing. this is madam lan's signature
Char grilled fish. we are eating a lot of fish here but it's the thing you just got to do being
next to the beach. and rivers too, like we got it all here. take some lettuce and then you break
some of the fish roll it up a little lettuce Taco there. wow. fish needs a good marinade and
they are delivering on all cylinders on this one. comes with two flavors you got the
red nice spicy good amount of heat in that one and this side very herb forward, very very
nice, like a chimichurri sauce. great crisp, this great texture, that crispy skin on
the outside that's the best. so so good. I know you're probably thinking, you're eating
fish, you're eating this mi quang, what about Banh Mi? what about Pho? like those are the
things we think about when we think of Vietnam, that street food, those sandwiches. we have
that covered in the most unique way in our next spot. will you go get us a banh mi? where do you order? I don't know. here let me order it
then. oh my gosh what?! oh my gosh! We came here to get started with a very
special Banh Mi, a banh mi cocktail. we're going to eat plenty of more typical banh mi while
we're in Vietnam, trust me, but we had to give this unique cocktail a try. it has cilantro,
cucumber, chilies, lemongrass, vodka and lime. wow it really kind of smells like a banh mi. like
all the delicious vegetables that you get on the top. that's really good. Mmmm that is just a delicious combination
of like tart and savory. it is so good. the spices going on in here are phenomenal.
there is coriander, there is mint, green chilies like on top, which are very
very spicy, proceed with caution. honestly you never know what you're going to get when
you order something so unique, but wow this is outstanding. A delicious way to
have a banh mi. We came here to the night market and we are getting some banana pancakes. this is so good, it's basically
like a crepe with banana in it, condensed milk over the top, and they get the perfect
little like charred crispy bits. This Night Market is just like so fun, so alive. it's
like a little mini carnival or fair that happens every single night. the energy is
high and I think it's about to get even higher because the show is about to start.
what show you ask? Maybe here's a hint. [Music] we have made it to Dragon Bridge and the crowd is
Wild. on the weekend Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 p.m. is The Big Show. I thought okay
Sunday night that's got to be the least busy night. it's work night, it's a school night, um
that is not what's happening here. these crowds are still massive, but I'm so excited because this
beautiful bridge is about to put on quite a show. [Music] [Music] yay. such an epic start to our time here
in Vietnam. already from the food to the sites to the people, everything has been even
better than we had ever imagined. I'd say the only things that are harder than we expected
are the heat and crossing the road. I think we'll get used to it though, because we
are so excited to be spending some time exploring this beautiful country. so please
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