Today was spent walking around Da Nang Beach.

Doing our best to avoid the heat, we headed out early afternoon for a walk along the beach front and onto the famous Dragon bridge, which connects into the main CBD.

Immediately in front of our hotel is a park area leading on to the white sandy beach. Having strolled along the water front for a short while, it became clear that if we were to avoid heatstroke, we should head for shade along the street.

The walk along the ‘promenade’ took us past countless hotels, many strewn with colourful flowers in front.

As we walked we past a number of the made in Vietnam cars, known as Vin – the one below was one of the sporty numbers, the Vinfast. The owner of Vin made his money in pot noodles, before diversifying into car manufacturing as well as residential apartments and you see the name everywhere.

After a 50min/2 mile walk we eventually arrived at the Dragon bridge, which since its opening in 2013 has become a major tourist attraction and is much photographed.

Close by is another bridge called Cau Tinh Yeu, or the love bridge, where people leave lockets with their names inscribed.

After our long walk, we treated ourselves to egg coffee and a mango smoothie before sitting down to watch the boats go by along the Han River. Whilst the mango smoothie was a big hit, we forgot how sweet the egg coffee is, which tastes like there’s a dozen sugars in it!

On our way back, we traversed through the suburbs of Da Nang Beach and marvelled at the general greenery along with the French influence feel to the older buildings.

With our thirst still not quenched, we popped into a Insta style coffee and fruit juice bar on a side street. We were the oldest by a good 30yrs, with most customers being teenagers taking photos or doing Tik Tok videos with the drinks they’d bought!

We decided to go for a passion fruit and grape juice, which was delicious and thirst quenching.

As we neared our hotel, and the main water front, we came across two locals cultivating some mint plants, as well as a lady selling a noodle soup made on the street in front of you. This is the rub with Vietnam, they may all have this new tech and buildings, but there is still room for tradition and the old ways.

As the heat of the day subsided, we saw the locals appear and head to the beach, which by 5.30pm was at its busiest. There were thousands of people playing on the beach and in the water.

After a work out in the gym for some, we decided to head out for dinner at one of the local seafood restaurants. Having found a suitable place, we were shown chairs which were perhaps more suited to the smaller frames of the locals….??!!

After a dinner of local fish, we washed it down with a Tiger beer or two and then sat watching the evening world go by.

We had a very enjoyable evening mixing it with the locals and got a proper feel of the informality of Vietnamese eating out. Even at a restaurant, people prefer to be outside on the pavement throwing their unwanted beers and fish bones on to the floor. At the end of the meal this is then brushed up and new people then sit down.

Tomorrow we are off on a tour to see the Lady Buddha, nearby caves and the marble mountain.

Finally not forgetting the England result in the Euros which we are still recovering from!