As a special municipality of Vietnam, Đà Nẵng is considered by many as one of the most livable cities in the country, with lower costs, delicious local cuisine, and a languid, wholesome pace of life. This, in conjunction with readily available modern services, has turned the coastal metropolis into a magnet luring young professionals away from the chaos of Saigon and Hanoi, and attracting snowbird tourists from Russia, China and South Korea seeking tropical warmth.
Hans-Peter Grumpe, a German academic and photography enthusiast, was one of the earliest international tourists to visit Đà Nẵng, as part of his many trips traversing the length of Vietnam in the early 1990s, starting from 1991. Through his lens, Grumpe captured a version of Đà Nẵng that was nearly devoid of signs of its contemporary development, though the peaceful atmosphere was fully intact.
A view from the hotel.
“Besides Indonesia, Vietnam is the country I've traveled to most extensively. I visited the country during a time of upheaval, when tourism was just beginning,” Grumpe writes on his personal website. “Thus, I experienced a Vietnam that was still quite 'original,' and not yet 'spoiled' by tourism. I documented these travels on 151 pages and with approximately 1,600 photos.”
In his images, some motorbikes exist here and there on the streets, and fairly modern buses are operational to take citizens across the country, but local arts and crafts are on display during visits to local silkworm workshops and carpet weaving collectives.
Thanks to the assistance of a tour guide who previously studied in East Germany, Grumpe was able to travel the country with relative ease. See more of his photos taken in Đà Nẵng below:
Most houses were constructed in the modernist or countryside styles.
A street corner with xích lô, Honda Super Cubs, and bikes.
A quaint neighborhood view.
Terra-cotta roofs were common.
Fixing a bike on the train track.
Workers treating silkworm cocoons.
Most of the work was still done by hand.
Inside a weaving collective. Grumpe was initially denied entry, but the tour guide told the manager that he was a famous textile expert, so he could see the interior.
Most employees were women.
The colorful design of the carpets.
Inter-locality coaches. Air-conditioned travel was unheard of.
Ngũ Hành Sơn.
View from Ngũ Hành Sơn.
An old tank became a very badass chicken coop.
The sparseness of Đà Nẵng from above.
Mỹ Khê Beach.
A stone carver at work.
Local kids sold joss stick bundles on the mountain.
An empty beech without resorts or foreign tourists.
A rudimentary setting to make firecrackers.
Old books were dyed to be repurposed as casing of firecrackers.
Mat sellers.
Only daredevils sat on top.
The sleepy coastal town from the plane.
