APEC SCULPTURE PARK, DA NANG

Every day, a colossal dragon stands watch over Da Nang’s Apec Sculpture Park. It doesn’t fly through the sky; rather it helps vehicles to cross the wide Han River that pierces the city’s downtown area. Known as Dragon Bridge, this 666m-long structure is topped by a yellow version of the mythical beast.

As I found during my March visit to the attractive coastal city, the dragon creates a striking backdrop for this impressive park that has recently been extended. Together with the adjacent Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, which showcases artefacts from a thousand years of Vietnam’s Champa Kingdom, the sites provide a sense of both the deep history and swift modernisation of this metropolis.

Originally, the park hosted just 18 sculptures over 3000sqm, set up for the city’s 2017 Apec summit. After the summit, it was decided to turn the park into a permanent tourist attraction, pouring $55 million into the site and expanding its area to 8,600sqm. The money was well spent, it seems, as the park was brimming with local and foreign visitors when I arrived.

Many people were posing in front of the park’s chief attraction, its unique photogenic dome, the perforated roof of which resembles a giant kite. This striking design, and the unique way sunlight filters through it, have made this structure a social media hotspot.

HOAN KIEM LAKE PARK, HANOI

 I’m peering through a glass cabinet at a lifeless turtle that’s massive, famous and supposedly magical. This preserved, 2m-long creature, called Cu Rua, is a curious attraction at Hanoi’s historic Ngoc Son Temple, which owns a memorable location on an island in Hoan Kiem Lake Park. Cu Rua lived in this lake for a century, up until her death in 2016, and is thought to be the incarnation of a mythical turtle from Vietnamese lore which helped thwart a Chinese invasion.

About 700m long, 200m wide and ringed by sublime gardens, Hoan Kiem Lake is the hub of Hanoi’s tourist district. I find it’s not just a peaceful respite from the city’s ceaseless energy, but also a great base for my daily explorations. Directly to the park’s north is the Old Quarter, a warren of narrow streets lined by heritage buildings. To its east lies Hanoi’s popular Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre and magnificent Opera House.

South is the fascinating Vietnamese Women’s Museum and the former POW camp turned museum, Hoa Lo Prison Relic. And to the lake’s west you’ll find millennia-old Ba Da Pagoda, bargain shopping street Ly Quoc Su, as well as the towering St Joseph’s Cathedral.

THANH HA TERRACOTTA PARK,  HOI AN    

In front of me, beneath a cluster of trees in Hoi An, sits the Sydney Opera House, Moscow’s Kremlin, Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia and Paris’s Arc de Triomphe. I haven’t just stumbled upon a trove of stolen landmarks – this is a quiet green space that has been embellished by intricate ceramic sculptures.

The impressive pottery at Thanh Ha Terracotta Park ranges from miniature replicas of iconic buildings to depictions of Vietnamese deities, demons and royalty. Each piece is crafted locally and in traditional fashion. In Thanh Ha Pottery Village, which surrounds the park, I watched artisans hand-shaping ceramics on a pottery wheel and then baking them in a wood-fired kiln.

For five centuries this community in Hoi An’s west has produced fine ceramics. In more recent times, it’s aim is to lure tourists with the park as its chief attraction. This small but beautifully-landscaped area has hundreds of sculptures scattered between ponds, bridges, lawns and groves. At its centre is an informative museum which explains the history of Vietnamese ceramics.

FEBRUARY 3 PARK, HUE

Following hours exploring a grand Imperial citadel, I cross a bridge over the Perfume River and look down at a green space that hugs its southern bank. What I didn’t realise, yet, was that woven into the beauty of February 3 Park is a grim tale.

As I neared the park, I began to read on my phone how its name came from one of the darkest times in the history of Hue. This small city in southern Vietnam was rocked by a bloody battle in 1968.

During February of that year, Hue was besieged by troops from North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, as part of a widespread military campaign that swung the Vietnam War in favour of the north. Covering300m by 70m of land, February 3 park’s monuments and sculptures mark the bloodiest day of the battle. Their aim is to ensure locals and visitors never forget or underestimate the futile destruction of war.

TAO DAN PARK, HO CHI MINH CITY

While Ho Chi Minh City has wide appeal for adult travellers, due to its myriad museums, sprawling markets, night-life and wealth of historic sites, this heaving metropolis is far less suited to kids. This could be why I instantly noticed both the modern playground and crucial shade provided by towering trees in beautiful Tao Dan Park. About 400sqm, it’s small by Australian standards, yet it is still the largest green space in the downtown area. The park’s canopy is unusually lofty, due to hundreds of evergreen trees, some more than 20m tall. And its gardens, decorated by a colourful array of blossoms, hosts several annual flower festivals, the largest of which coincides with Vietnamese New Year.

See also:

5 Vietnamese cities you can't miss

6 things Vietnam does better than Australia

5 big mistakes Aussies make in Vietnam