First of all I know where your heads at on this one and your way off base. There are some rather interesting features of my new apartment here in Da Nang that makes it a bit unconventional especially to be brand new and for all other aspects very modern. I have induction cook tops which is freaking awesome, a pretty large fridge for Vietnam standards, a brand new well functioning air conditioner that really staves off the sweltering heat and a washing machine on the balcony. Ah yes, the balcony, also were the shower is located. In fact the whole bathroom is pretty much outside. Beautifully built, solid glass partitions separating the toilet and sink from the shower, all finished in black and white marble. All, I’m sure, mined from the nearby marble deposits just south of the city. A beautiful porcelain counter top sink, oh and did I mention half of the shower is open onto the balcony. There is a drop down curtain to protect your modesty while bathing but the whole bathroom is open to the elements. Needless to say the bathroom door stays shut. Diễm, unused to air conditioning, had to endure my father like monologues on the importance of keeping the bathroom door shut as I staved of the urge to say 80’s dad things like “you trying to air condition the whole neighborhood” or in this case just the bathroom.
The balcony itself is lined to some degree with sheet metal to further protect your line of sight, so recently placed in fact the protective plastic has not been removed yet, and furnished with a clothes rod to hang your articles after there washed. It’s definitely unique and in some ways it is kind of neat and interesting, except for one thing. There would be nothing better than to sit in the shower in a bathroom baked by the afternoon sun and be doused in cool water by the giant rain mimicking shower head, but cool the water is not. For you see the water to the apartments is provided by stainless steel cisterns on the roof top.
Here is one on the building next door.
To wrap all of this up, what do you think the water does in these cisterns all day? It gets hot as hell, that’s what! With the heat index regularly staying above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it was 102 at 10 o’clock on my second night here some 4 hours after the sun set, it gets a little daunting taking a shower during day light hours. I found rather quickly that early morning before 9 is about the limit of taking even a Luke warm shower. On my first day in this particular apartment I thought the plumbing was either installed improperly or I was losing my damn mind. At the kitchen sink I tussled quite extensively with getting any amount of water less than well, hot. As I maneuvered the single nozzle faucet to the cold end the water seemed to heat up, a turn back to the hot end and there was actually a reduction in temperature, but nothing I would ever describe as cold. Alright Rod Serling, I was beginning to believe I had stepped into, the twilight zone…..queue the music.
Since we’ve been on the subject of the heat, let me elaborate on some rather interesting notes on the locals and this heat wave. This is in fact, and I was thankful to find out, an unusually hot heat wave and by no means the norm. Since I arrived in Da Nang the temperature constantly stayed in the previously discussed range of around 99 or 100 degree Fahrenheit and even at night the heat index never dropped below 103 until just before dawn. Most days in fact, the heat index was a blistering 110 and above. This combined with the humidity meant we didn’t leave the apartment much in the beginning during the scorching period known as all day. I took a walk one morning around 5a.m. To grab a few supplies for breakfast and the half mile walk was already beginning to be quite an undertaking.
The few times we did venture out the streets were practically empty and there was little to indicate that well over a million people lived here. Swings creaking to themselves in the empty playgrounds of the cities many parks and the beautiful beach I convinced Diễm to walk with me to one day at noon, big mistake. The beach is only 5 blocks from the apartment but it was like walking through a lava field. It must have been funny to see Diễm and I leapfrog from tree to tree on the sidewalks and from umbrella to umbrella trying to minimize our exposure to the choking sun. We found ourselves an umbrella at the beach side restaurant, that was ingeniously enough, continually sprayed with water from above. This kept the heat below manageable but made for a bit of a muddy mess at the umbrellas perimeter.
The beautiful beach was relatively empty save for a few westerners and a couple of Chinese surfers. It seemed a pity to have such a beautiful beach underutilized. Oh well, I put on a thick coating of some serious spf, dropped my sandals and headed for the inviting, no doubt cooling, waters of the South China Sea. And then I immediately ran back to the umbrella. The beach was quite long and it was a solid 50 yards to the water and the sand was only maybe two degrees or so away from melting into glass, these sandals were coming with! My second attempt to launch was working out much better and I meandered into the water. It was all of those things I thought it would be, inviting, cool and perfect. I swam and bobbed in the surf alone for a little over an hour. Diễm had no desire to tempt her complexion in the sun and from the looks of the beach no other locals did either. After I had my fill I collected my things and Diem and I played leapfrog back to the wonderfully cool oasis of our apartment.
The next morning I awoke very early as my body was still struggling with the time change. Diễm was still half asleep, but I convinced her to walk with me to the beach to watch the sunrise. Now, it is around 3:30 in the morning keep in mind and as we exited the apartment there was already daylight on the horizon and dawn was coming quickly. As we began the 5 block walk towards the beach I was struck with an interesting revelation. There was in fact people everywhere. The empty playground a block down was packed with kids swinging, climbing and laughing and the streets were filled with swimsuit clad bathers hurrying to and from the beach. The beach itself was about as pact as I’ve ever seen a beach, with yoga and Tai Chi classes high up the sand and the water was filled with bathers. Makes sense, to hot during the day so everyone gets their exercise in before the sun bakes everyone away. I wish I had worn swim clothes I thought as Diễm secured a nice spot in the sand. We sat in the morning light and I couldn’t help pondering life’s mysteries and the important of perspective. You could say I was on a beach watching the sunrise in Vietnam, but you could also say I was watching the sun set in California from a different angle. I meditated on my surroundings as Diễn and I watched one of the most brilliant sunrises I’ve ever seen. 
