Danang, Vietnam–Sun World

I started experiencing motion sickness when I was in high school.  After that I wasn’t able to go to a lot of amusement parks and ride the rides.  As things stand I can barely ride in taxis or on small planes without getting queasy.  However, I decided that visiting Sun World while Ryan and I were still in Danang would be worth the risk, pretty much regardless of what happened.  It was Sun World and it sounded cool.

So one night we loaded up on Dramamine and followed the distant lights of the giant Sun Wheel until we were standing at the entrance of Sun World.  (I’m not going to lie–I was pretty excited.)  We decided that visiting at night when the temperatures were more reasonable would be in our best interest.  Since I’ve gotten to Vietnam, I’ve learned to love nighttime.  Not only is is much cooler, but the lights are pretty impressive around the city and definitely at Sun World as well.

It was fun to see the city from the top of the Sun Wheel.  With less than a week remaining of our stay in Danang, it seemed like a nice place to say goodbye to the city we’d lived in for the past six months.  The Sun Wheel was huge and slow moving and we made it on and off the ride without a hitch.  So far, so good.

I was feeling a little braver so we tried the smaller of the two rollercoasters.  It was exciting enough to ride more than once and then after that we stepped it up a notch.  The next one lifted us high into the air, only be be dropped straight back to the ground.  It was at this time that I remembered that I don’t particularly like heights or fast speeds.  (Oops.)  We were literally going so fast that I couldn’t breath and nothing but a deep, guttural grunt escaped from my clenched jaw.  Still, I’d made it through and I wasn’t feeling particularly nauseous or cautious.

I didn’t have any pictures of us on this ride, so I borrowed this one from the internet. I think Ryan and I were two of four people riding it the night we were there. They made us leave our shoes at the bottom.

This brought us to the Queen Cobra.  The park wasn’t busy so Ryan and I had the rollercoaster all to ourselves.  We climbed into the front car and strapped ourselves in.  The cobra started to move.  Slowly it slithered up the track, higher and higher and I again remembered my fear of heights.  Of course, by this time it was too late.  She took us down.  She twisted us around and around and around, then upside down.  I slammed into my harness (I even had marks afterwards to prove it).  I screamed.  I felt like I was thirteen.  It was well worth the ride, which I promptly took again.

It doesn’t look like much, especially from this angle, but it was impressive. Although it was a short ride, it was fast and furious. (Ryan even agrees.)

Afterwards I got to thinking that my evening at Sun World was not unlike my time in Vietnam.  Ho Chi Minh City was terrifying, but it was also exciting and I thought, “Hey, I can do another city.  A different city.  Let’s go to Danang”  After that it was, “Why not another country?  I can give Thailand a try.”  Ryan and I have been traveling since 2014 and it’s not always easy for me.  There are many aspects of our new lifestyle that are well outside my comfortable zone.  Yet I keep at it because scary as it may be, the thrill of the experience is well worth the risk.  We are on our way to Thailand next.  Once again I’m going to strap myself in and get ready to go on yet another wild ride.  We’ll see what this one brings.  Thank you Vietnam, and goodbye.