Star Craven TR #3 EMD-BNE-HKG-DAD + Golf

[craven morehead]

Next we headed up to the Lady Buddha : Being the tallest Buddha statue in Vietnam, Lady Buddha Da Nang is located at Linh Ung Pagoda on Son Tra Peninsula in Da Nang which is 9 km away from My Khe beach, or 14 km from Da Nang city centre. Lady Buddha Da Nang statue is inside Linh Ung pagoda courtyard with a height of 67m, the lotus diameter is 35m. Including the courtyard and gardens it's a fairly impressive turn out.

Some perspective on the height of this structure. Note there is a small Buddha on the Lady Buddha's head.

Some random photos of the surrounding courtyard and gardens. Some impressive work on display in my opinion.

Probably my favourite



And looking back down at where we had been earlier with that omnipresent Asian haze

By this time it was damn warm and very humid so we opted for lunch and headed into Da Nang. Most likely to the bus drivers cousin's joint!

 

[craven morehead]

Heading back in to Da Nang for lunch :
Here we go, a restaurant suggested by the tour guide called No kickbacks well I'm not really sure about the translation.

The fixed menu covered all bases

The place was clean and reasonably well presented

No problems with the food it was tasty and no complaints from the group. From memory I think we paid around AUD$14 each including drinks.

 

[craven morehead]

After lunch we headed for China Beach with a stop on way the to get a picture of Dragon Bridge. Not sure what this road was called but could have been Lovers Lane

Then out on to this pier covered in more hearts with a couple having just tied the knot. This was one of these places where all the lovesick lunatics put a padlock with their names on it on the wrought iron maybe that's the Love Boat over the back.

The Dragon Bridge
Only a 15 minute stop here and now heading for the beach through some scooter traffic

My Khe Beach aka China Beach. Fairly deserted to be honest and definitely felt like the off season. We had a stroll around and the obligatory beer which was a staggering AUD$1 it was dearer to sit on one of the sun lounges ........... go figure

After this we were supposed to go to some museum but everyone was in the mood to return to the resort and have some pool time before gathering for happy hour

 

[craven morehead]

On the way back to our resort in Hoi An a bit of a bingle had occurred . This was the only accident that I or saw for the week surprisingly. Not that I have been to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City where they tell me the traffic is insane and I would expect more carnage. I imagine it is like Bangkok ....maybe worse .. anyone?

Back to Sunrise Premium Resort, grabbed the laundry and ducked across the road to Mrs Hong. Just ridiculous AUD$2 for 4 shirts & 4 shorts!

Time to chill :

Sitting in the spa looking out to sea

Slipped into the groove for the 5-7pm happy hour poolside. Very relaxing after a day tripping around. Having a G&T for a change after a refreshing swim

 

[craven morehead]

Some quick pictures of Montgomerie Links round number 3 of 4 for the trip and only about 20 minutes in the mini bus from where we were staying : Montgomerie Links



My caddie today : "Snow", good at her job and a great personality.

The Jacuzzi in the locker room

Another good day out, the course was no where near as savage as Ba Na Hills

 

[craven morehead]

Tonight we decided to head a few kms up the road to one of the Seafood restaurants on the beach. We grabbed 2 taxis from the front of the resort 6 in each. Got to the restaurant and the fare was VND16,000 = AUD$1 so we gave old mate VND100,000 job done
Green taxi similar to the one we caught. We had a good driver and a nice and cleanly presented vehicle.


The beer was cold 500ml bottles

Looks like the food will be sans clothes tonight

Nice enough setting on the beach. Not very busy at all tonight. The other restaurants along the beach were the same.

Even though there was a dozen of us the food was served very quickly

3/4 of the touring party

The place had reasonably good reviews on tripadvisor and everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. I certainly gave it a pass mark food and cost wise but wouldn't necessarily race back. Especially when there are so many to try It seemed to be a family run establishment which is common. I don't think we got there till about 7.30pm but we doubled the crowd when we went in. I'm still none the wiser on peak holiday time in Hoi An but would happily go back at this time of year.

 

[craven morehead]

Today we have a 6.30am start on the bus for an hour and 46 minute trip to Laguna Golf Lăng Cô ( Best Golf Resorts Asia | Laguna Golf Lăng Cô | Faldo Design ) so the resort made up some breakfast packs for us. I thought they were really well done and hit the spot. At one stage we travelled through an approx 15km long tunnel and came out on the other side of a mountain. Obviously some time saving to be had there.

Nifty breakfast packs with a little bit of everything to eat on the bus.

This course was designed by Sir Nick Faldo and is an absolute cracker. I have been lucky enough to hack my way around courses in many countries and this one is one of the most enjoyable I have played at this stage. Certainly one for the golfers on AFF like @JohnK

Driving along in the bus and going through small villages with water buffalo on the side of the road with thick thick jungle on the surrounding hills. Eventually you come around a corner and spy a resort & course seemingly cut out of the virgin jungle and in places skirting along the ocean. Absolutely stunning place at the risk of boring the non golfers here I may over indulge on this occasion with the photos of this aesthetically pleasing course.

I was surprised at the amount of sand and bunkers in Vietnam but then I do come from a 9 hole 18 tee box country course with one bunker

A first for me. A working rice paddy as part of the course. I actually had to play out of the hazard at one stage from the rice paddy

 

[craven morehead]

Laguna Golf Lăng Cô photos part 2

One of the rare times I didn't go in the sand
8th green9th tee block


Displaying yet again my lack of ability to hit the ball straight




Another great day " not at work ! " playing on an awesome course.

 

[JohnK]

Very nice trip report as usual @craven morehead with a nice balance of golf and sightseeing.

The courses look very good. My wife has been asking me about visiting Vietnam and this area looks as good as any to visit. The biggest problem for me would be trying to organise a side trip from Thailand for 3 people and that can be quite expensive.

P.S. I would much rather sand on every hole over water hazards on every hole. I've been looking at a couple of courses to play in Bangkok in a few weeks and saw another course with water in play on all 18 holes. I have played a course just outside of Bangkok with water in play on 17 holes and that was very difficult. Very hard to play a golf shot with the ball submerged in water compared to playing a fried egg in a bunker.

 

[rock86]

This looks great.

My parents go on a golf trip every year with friends and it seems most years are to Thailand. I've shown them you Trip Report to date and they mentioned it to their friends, but a couple of them weren't keen on Vietnam, yet want to go to Thailand again, not sure why (not that Thailand is a bad country to visit at all) .

 

[craven morehead]

This looks great.

My parents go on a golf trip every year with friends and it seems most years are to Thailand. I've shown them you Trip Report to date and they mentioned it to their friends, but a couple of them weren't keen on Vietnam, yet want to go to Thailand again, not sure why (not that Thailand is a bad country to visit at all) .

I've been to Thailand probably 9 times and love it. This was my first foray into Vietnam and where we were based in Hoi An was excellent. The golf courses were outstanding. Even though I only had a quick look around due to the golf format my impression is that the life styles / living standards of the Thais & Vietnamese are very similar but the infrastructure is probably a decade behind in Vietnam. This is a good thing I reckon and I will be going back within 18 months I suspect. Well before Hoi An in particular becomes another coughet which will happen over the next 10 years. The people and food are fantastic in both countries and believe it or not Vietnam is cheaper again than Thailand! Tossing up for next trip a return to Mission Hills in Southern China

 

[craven morehead]

Very nice trip report as usual @craven morehead with a nice balance of golf and sightseeing.

The courses look very good. My wife has been asking me about visiting Vietnam and this area looks as good as any to visit. The biggest problem for me would be trying to organise a side trip from Thailand for 3 people and that can be quite expensive.

P.S. I would much rather sand on every hole over water hazards on every hole. I've been looking at a couple of courses to play in Bangkok in a few weeks and saw another course with water in play on all 18 holes. I have played a course just outside of Bangkok with water in play on 17 holes and that was very difficult. Very hard to play a golf shot with the ball submerged in water compared to playing a fried egg in a bunker.

I am fairly confident you would enjoy the 4 courses we played, fried eggs and all

 

[craven morehead]

Well that's a whirlwind 6 days/nights in Vietnam coming to a close. Time to make tracks back to DAD airport. The wife and I were travelling with another couple separate to the touring party who had signed up for the whole package where they swung in via SIN in Y we of course made pigs of ourselves with J redemptions via HKG. We had earlier flights that the rest but our land only package actually covered us getting separate transfers to DAD airport. So now we start the long trip home with a few shots on the way in.

Check in took all of 5 minutes but getting through security added on another 20 minutes!
Helps with the language barrier if there is any. Just take everything out or off

 

[craven morehead]

Made it airside and had about an hour to relax in the Orchid Lounge before the DAD - HKG flying KA but ticketed as CX5227 :



Some F & B offerings :


Just add hot water !


A fully stocked fridge with cold towels and all.
Borrowed photo for reporting purposes
My usual dogs breakfast ! The green &purple steamed buns I guess you would call them were way too sweet for me. The filling had the consistency of candied honey.

 

[craven morehead]

Some photos of the different seating options available : The lounge was quite spacious



Looked like a 24" tv in each pod

1 in 1 out of service

Laptop bench with plenty of powerpoints

 

[amaroo]

Just caught up. The courses look really good.

 

[craven morehead]

Just caught up. The courses look really good.

@amaroo the courses were fantastic and such a contrast to last years desert courses in Phoenix & Nevada

 

[craven morehead]

Time to start the long trip DAD - HKG - BNE - EMD +100km drive home A321



Sometimes you just eat for the sake of it I'm sure. Having already eaten in the lounge I just had to have more

A nice easy flight of about 90 minutes. I originally tried to get J awards on the HKG-DAD-HKG but there was nothing available. I booked these flights before I learnt the " long sell " trick which I'm using for upcoming JNB-DUR-JNB J award flights. So having paid cash for these tickets I wouldn't stump up the hard earned again for J. The product both soft & hard was excellent but it is a very expensive route for some reason. The $1000 I would save per person between J & Y would give me an extra week in Vietnam next time and I didn't need the 80SC's

 

[craven morehead]

Our sanctuary for the next 5 hours. A lounge very familiar to many AFFer's


My work station for next few hours and a good chance to get up to speed on the TR. Real time reporting is virtually impossible with our golf format. First time ever in an International lounge without an alcoholic beverage passing my lips. Still suffering from the previous nights presentation dinner and 4 hours of sleep next leg will be QF98 HKG - BNE

 

[craven morehead]

Well that's all folks! Looks like I forgot to take any photos on the last 2 legs. A good flight home to BNE bags out quickly but had to wait an extra 10 minutes for golf clubs. Through customs in 60 seconds flat. At transit check in for BNE-EMD they told me I had to take my clubs back to oversize on departure level anyway all was good came back down to ground level just as bus pulled up for trip across to domestic. Breakfast and a shower in the J QP was helping with the fatigue. Then the bog standard great leveler of a flight home on the dirty old Dash8 and an hours drive home brought to an end a very very enjoyable 9 nights abroad. The contrast between Hong Kong and Vietnam was massive. We enjoyed both places immensely and have vowed to return to Vietnam in the not too distant future. Now to start putting together an itinerary of sorts for our upcoming trip to South Africa in 11 weeks. Hope there was something of interest for the AFF collective in this TR cheers and thank you for the continued support and advice on this forum CM