I recently found this article on the SMH website and was drawn to it. Typically when reading travel articles on mainstream websites we only get the hot spots. You know the places I'm talking about- New York, London, India, Thailand...the list goes one. Essentially it's the places we've already heard about 100 times...and they authors are scraping for new things to say about them.
But this place, Da Nang, Vietnam, is somewhere I've never heard of. Vietnam has been on my hit list of places to visit for a while, but I've never looked too closer into my options of places to go outside of Hanoi. Sure, if you've been you may have come across it. But as the article leads us to believe it's never been a tourist destination, but a hidden gem that tourist happen to stumble upon on the way from one hot spot to the next. Yet it seems people are now starting to notice what travel surprises it has to offer from culinary to cultural respite.
One of my favourite excerpts from the article is "Da Nang was like the middle child between two over-achieving siblings, who was largely left to do its own thing."
I enjoyed this article not only because it's offering something different and new, but also because it's written in such a way that the reader is able to find themselves at the table with the author. We get to enjoy the powerful flavours of the clam dish, and feel our guts full of tasty treats while staring out at the beautiful sea. A large number of travellers only like to stick to the beaten track.
However, for those of us who like to step off the trail and discover something new, this article is great for that. It's not a cut and dry travel sales article where a tour company is suggested- it's an experiential viewpoint. My few gripes are that if you read the bottom of the article you find out the author was a guest of a specific accommodation & specific travel company. I would rather see authors who have made their own way and formed an objective view of several places to give their own suggestion.
I would have liked several accommodation suggestions, and maybe some pros and cons about the place instead of all pros. But overall I enjoyed the style of writing as well as offering up a new destination.
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/look-whos-coming-out-of-the-shell-20100902-14qc5.html
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