From Australia to Da Nang – What Can Go Wrong? Dog Bites & Rabies

From Australia to Da Nang – What Can Go Wrong? Dog Bites & Rabies

[Music] In this episode, I interview Aussie Stewart. He came to Daang for a month to work, relax, and enjoy the beach life. But things didn’t go exactly to plan. Somewhere between the sunsets and the street food, he got bitten by a dog and ended up on the hunt for a rabies shot. We’re going to chat about what happened, how we handled it, and what it’s really like dealing with a medical surprise while traveling in Vietnam. And don’t forget to hit that subscribe button, everyone. It’s the best support you can give me right now. Good day everybody. Welcome to Aussie Nomad Life. And uh we are going to be chatting to Stuart this morning who I ran into at the park after my first exploration of the area. I run into a bloody Aussie. Go figure. So, good morning, Stuart. How are you? I’m well. How are you, Jeff? Yeah, good. So, you’re over here on a um you’re over here on a holiday. Yeah. Well, sort of. Yeah. You’ve come a long way. Well, tell us why are you here? Oh, it’s a working holiday, I guess. Um got a project which has been working on for over a year now and haven’t finished it off. So, I need to get that done. That’s really the main reason. Come over here, peace and quiet. Sit down. No distractions. And yeah, finish it off. So, and how’s that working for you? The no the no distraction part. Uh, look, the first couple of weeks were were hard, but I’m getting into the routine now. And yeah, getting some good days going now. And you came over by yourself? Yeah, I did. Yeah. Left the family behind. I did. Yeah. But they’re very supportive. They were like, “Yeah, yeah, go, go, go do it.” So, yeah. Yeah, that was good. And and I find um especially when you’re running solo, the lads running solo, you always um you always go hard for the first couple of days or at least the first week and then you find your feet and uh Yeah. Yeah. Start behaving yourself then. That’s that’s it. So tell us um is this your first time you’ve been to Daang? Um yes. Yeah, we were here a year ago, but we went to Hoyam um and stayed there for about a week. That was good. And what about Vietnam? How many times have you been here? This is the second second trip. Yeah. And what what brought you to Vietnam originally or this time? Um yeah, originally. originally uh look I think it was the price point um was the main thing you know sort of like where can we go that’s you know interesting got lots of things to look at good price um you know you know I’m just tick tick tick tick everything um you know and did it um did it live up to your expectations I surpassed them for sure yeah Um, yeah. Well, I haven’t been to Thailand, so I haven’t got much to compare it to. So, um, but yeah. No, love it. Love it. What about other Asian countries? Have you? Uh, I’ve been to China, um, Taiwan, Singapore. Um, but yeah, that Well, this is tropical, you know, that that’s a huge plus. Yes. Um, it’s cheaper than China. Um I don’t know. It’s just a fun, vibrant city and I mean place, not city, country. Yeah. Yeah. You know, um what’s not to like? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And what do you think about um what do you think about the beaches and the food? Yeah. Look, the beaches are great. It’s a different every night. Every day I come down in the morning. Um the waves are different. It’s a different scenery, different atmosphere. It’s always always changing. And you went for a swim this morning and I was asking Stuart before uh what the water was like. Oh, it’s I think it’s warmer than outside. You go in to It’s just Oh, it’s magic. Absolute magic. Yeah. It’s a bit of a problem going to the beach in Sydney. You always go in and you get that shiver. Yeah. It’s like, you know, even in West Australia where I’m from, it gets pretty chilly uh depending on the time of year. But even in the summer, I mean, yeah, you’re just not going to get the warm water like you do in the tropics. Yeah. Yeah. No, it’s it’s the best part of it. And the waves, look, the other day the waves were quite big. Today they’re barely anything. But um you know, that’s the thing. It’s just different. But it probably it’s on the quieter side of what Australians would expect or be used to, I think. And and the other surprising thing that I found is 5:00 in the morning, this beach is packed with locals and they’re all down here exercising. You can see them all out there swimming. I mean, it’s just amazing. You I wouldn’t see that in a West Australian. You wouldn’t see a soul park. You might see couple of old retirees uh you know, paddling around in the in the water at this time of morning, but you’ll never see anything like this. No. No. It’s such a community vibe here, isn’t it? It is. Yes. And they’re a healthy bunch, too. You know, they’re out there jogging and um doing their thing. Yeah. It’s actually encouraging as well. And I know myself and the girlfriend decided we’re going to go on a bit of a health kick and you know, behave ourselves a little bit. Um cuz we’re here for the long haul and it’s it’s a great environment for uh staying healthy and fit, lads. Yep. Yep. No, it’s is the inspiration here. You want to do it. Yeah. You know, it’s like, “Oh, I want to do that. I want to go to the beach. I want to do jogging. I want to do this. Get a bike. You hire bikes down here.” Yes. Um, a guy got one. 5 million for 3 months. So nice. Um, that’s a great idea. Yeah. And a nice bike. That could be a $2,000 bike back home. Yeah. Yeah. Really good one. So, yeah. Um, yeah. And let’s segue to one of my most favorite parts of these cultural experiences, and that’s food. M um I’ve got a bit of a cheat sheet where I’ve written down all the the words that you see on the signs and what it compares to. Yes. So that helps you know go okay well that’s chicken that’s noodle that’s beef you know you sort of put something together. Y without that you’re relying on pictures which is hopeless. And have you been um experimenting with different places like actually moving around or do you tend to go to the same place? No, I I just wander wander around and see what I can find. Um Yeah. And you know, that’s that’s the best part, I think, just just finding something different. You know, normally I walk around and have a look at someone’s plate, you know. Oh, that looks good. Have a look at that. Yeah. Yeah. That sort of idea. Um and then try to decipher what’s on the menu. U if it’s English, you sort of go, you know, bit touristy. Yeah. So, I’m actually looking for the ones which haven’t got any English. They can’t speak English. So, yeah. Well, one thing we discovered is um even the even the locals uh where the locals eat, they’ll have English on the back of the menu. So, they’ll have um the local language on the front and then you flip it over, they’ll still have the local language, but they’ll have some English in there. And in fact, we found another nice place um last night cuz we’re always looking at price point. That’s our our our main objective. We I I don’t think we can help ourselves. Um both of us. Um so we found a really nice place last night for very good cost. It was around 35,000 a plate. So yeah. Right. And it was good stuff too. Like um I was talking about the MSG factor in another video. And um actually this um particular um restaurant wasn’t too bad. I didn’t come home feeling like I was um going to over, you know, collapse from an overdose of MSG, which I feel like I get more here than I do in Thailand. Um okay, from my experience, the Thai don’t use um much MSG because they’re masters of flavor as well. Not saying that you can’t get a flavorsome meal here, but um they certainly don’t dump the MSG in there as much as they do here. Have you tried any Thai food here? Um, we there is a place down the road. We’re going to try it. But we looked at the pictures and you know the boss uh had a look at it and she was like, “Uh, okay. Well, we’ll we’ll give it a go. We’ll definitely give it a go.” Have you found any Thai restaurants? Oh, there was this one up here that I saw. It was um Thai food. Oh, Thai street food and beer. Oh, yeah. I thought, “Ah, that might be interesting.” Yeah. So, um I don’t know if it’s good or not, but it was busy. Maybe we’ll have to give it a go. Yeah. All right. We’ve got to hear we’ve got to hear the story um about the dog. So, Stuart was walking around the streets and unfortunately got bit by a dog. Actually, he you were attacked by a pack of dogs. Pack of dogs. Pack of little dogs. There was like three little corgis and some other two other street dogs. Anyway, um but they all belong to a house and they all came running out and I thought, you know, they’re just going to bark and whatever like dogs do. They came out and one of the dogs just goof started biting my leg. Um, blood come down the the the leg and then the owner came out and, you know, he grabbed the dogs, put them in, which was good. And then I asked him to come over and help me and whatever. And he just looked at me and grabbed the dogs and shot them behind him. He’s not getting involved in this. I’m not paying for that. That’s probably what he was thinking straight away. And so, you know, I went back to the hotel and sort of, you know, they saw me come in, oh my god. and they insisted I go to the hospital, which I didn’t really want to do, but so I ended up going to the hospital. Um, so the cost of that was 5 million dong, which is about $300 Australian. Yeah. Um, you know, all they did was just inject me all over the place. And that was with the rabies shot, right? That was the rabies shot. Um, and they said I’ve got to come back every 3 days or something doing that. So, I just get one shot or one set of shots. So, from my knowledge, um, you you you could get away with the rabies shot cuz personally, I wouldn’t have got the rabies shot. Now, these dog bites are nothing to laugh at because I’ve had my own experience with a dog bite. My um my ex-wife’s parents dog bit me. They had this little bloody right one of those little sausage dogs. Um Yeah. Yeah. This thing was mean, man. And it and and it used to always growl at me. And one day I went to pat it and it’s bit me right here. Yeah. Yeah. And what happened? I let it go. I let it go and then a couple days later it started to fester like I was getting blood poisoning in the air. Right. Yeah. So I had my own kind of experience especially I I ended up getting a tetanus shot and then the tetanus shot actually put nearly put me into hospital. Yeah. Right. That that that killed me more than the actual dog bite. But I think antibiotics is definitely I mean if that had happened to me in Thailand, I would have just gone to the local chemist and said, “Give me some antibiotics for this. Forget about the rabies shot and I’ll wait until I get rabies.” because as far as I know, um, if you were to get rabies, you can get the shot and it’ll cure you. Now, I’m not a medical expert, guys, so don’t take Jeff’s advice. All right. I’m just pulling out of my ass right now. I will double check and and cut something into the edit. But tell us about the the rabies shot because um that didn’t go perfectly. And so that was so after a couple of days from that like the actual shot was fine and it wasn’t until about 3 4 days later um you know the whole leg where I got bitten but also they jabbed me in the in the bum both sides and had this big rash come up and oh it was something was going on. So it wasn’t it wasn’t good not good at all. You don’t want to do this. So you had a reaction from the rabies shot. from the shot. When I first met Stuart, you could see it. It had come up on his leg there a bit and um did it looked pretty gnarly. So, your story is a classic situation of you go on holidays, hopefully you might have some travel insurance, and then these really bizarre, unlikely things happen to you. Yeah. And um I know I’ve got um I’ve got some insurance attached to my credit card because I’m again I’m a tight ass and I didn’t want to buy any travel insurance. So I’m covered for 3 months actually. Yeah. Right. Um which is part of my platinum pack credit card which I don’t really use. Yeah. So, it is handy for a few things, but do you think that the Cuz it sounded a bit expensive actually when you said to me, $300 um seems quite extreme. Well, it it was probably extreme because um I ended up going to an international hospital um which is not the the cheap local ones. Yeah. So, it was all for like expats or whatever. But, um so it could have been a lot cheaper, I think. But I did get insurance. I got insurance that morning as I left. You know, I woke up. Yeah, I better get it. So, I got it. It cost me $180 and that was uh who was that with? Budget direct. Budget direct. And the excess is $200 for the the level that I got. I got the top level. I guess I got insurance because I’ve claimed in on insurance on a trip to um uh Spain. Yeah. So I got my uh got robbed and my necklace like grabbed Yeah. ripped off me and so that sort of you know and we claimed that and it was just you know oh good we had insurance you know I didn’t even realize wife worked it all out so it was it was probably that just ah it’s only $200 or $180 it’s worth it if I lose my laptop or phone or something like that they’ll pay not the full amount but they’ll you know 80% of it. And what’s ironic is you’ve just said that you got robbed in Spain. Now, from my experience, I’ve been to some of the biggest cities here in Asia and Southeast Asia, and I can say that I felt safer. I feel safer in Bangkok than I do in some places in Australia, even in some suburbs in my own city. Yeah. Yeah. Which is ironic, isn’t it, that um these places are Not really. I think it’s it’s testament to the um just the the way they are culture. Yeah. Yeah. Well, they’re they’re not at a position where, you know, they’re starving for money or or food or, you know, so they don’t they’re not desperate. So, the desperation’s not part of it. Um I don’t know. They’re just Well, I’ve seen they’re just honest good people. Yeah. Yeah, look, I’ve seen um some pretty desperate people in Thailand and I it just goes back to a cult. I think maybe it’s a cultural thing. Regardless of what situation you’re in, you wouldn’t Yeah. sort of put someone else in that equally bad situation. Um Yeah. Right. You know. Yeah. No, it it’s a very very safe. Daang is very safe. Yeah. Like I’ve seen nothing. Yeah. But then the other thing is I haven’t seen any police, you know. This is very true. And same well like you might see the occasional traffic you know car go past. Yeah. But as far as you know police walking around like they walk around in Australia. Jeez. Nothing. It’s a different respect level I find isn’t there? I mean the culturally um they’re probably lean very more on the conservative side which kind of um suits um my values as well. That’s why I’m attracted to these locations and also the women as well. I find that they eb on the conservative side. There’s a different respect for men um and there’s a different respect for age and having experienced a lot of age discrimination in Australia. You just don’t get that over here. It’s a totally different story. Yeah. Yeah, it’s true. So, you got a couple weeks left and you’re heading back. Yep. And would you come back here again? Yeah. Well, it’s um it’s a little bit of a you know, put the toe in the water, try to find out, you know, the lay of the land cuz I really want to move here. Um and if I finish this project, everything goes to plan, then that puts me in a position where I can live anywhere. Yeah. And yeah, this is top of the list. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. And um looking back at uh your experience, what advice would you give someone thinking about holidaying in Daang? uh shop around for hotels with your feet because what you see online, you know, it’s hard. You know, you don’t know what you’re getting. Uh you don’t know if it’s clean or whatever. The big thing for me was internet and there was a lot of places with bad internet. So, yeah, the first week, I guess, I sort of hopped around a few different hotels and stuff and yeah, ended up finding this apartment one. So, it’s a hotel apartment. Mhm. It’s got a kitchen. Um, big fridge, good cooker. Um, it’s got a washing machine. Lots and lots of storage. Yeah, it feels like a little mini apartment for sure. Yeah. Nice and clean. Um, I’m paying is it $32? Maybe $32 a night. I know it’s not your bargain price you can get, but I’m only here a month and it’s I’ve been hammering on about that fact that I think um you need to get your feet on the ground. And I actually the video before this one um we made a big point of, you know, get out of Facebook. Don’t be lazy. Walk around and start um looking at firstly look at places and areas that you like and then there’s tons of accommodation. And you’re right, check it before um yeah, you go in there cuz we ended up with some pretty gnarly uh hotels um that we thought was quite funny, but um you know, yeah, there’s some spots that you sort of don’t really want to be even though it looks pretty cool as a photo. Yeah. Um no, I like sort of the the spot where we’re at where it’s you know, very close to the beach, but it’s you know, it’s a little bit amongst the the locals. We got that beautiful park. It’s great. It’s a great spot. Yeah. Yeah. So, well, thank you so much for your time, Stuart. Um, I hope your leg heals up well. It looks like it’s almost it’s on the mend. It is. And, um, it was awesome running into you. Like I said, I I we got out of the tourist and expat area, but who was the first person I ran into? Bloody Stewart. So, and we’ve been out for some beers to the goat restaurant, which we’re going to feature on Friday night. Y and um yeah, maybe uh you can come along to that and we’ll get on it again and um we’ll see how the locals party hard and we’ll share that experience with you. But thank you so much and I wish you the best and um I hope to see you move out here and um you know enjoy your retirement mate and um we all deserve it. We all deserve the break and the opportunity and um it’s great to see more and more people discover that there’s more to life than um you know there’s more to life than our home countries. Um I won’t say too much about that but um you know each to his own and it’s a big world out there people. Yeah. No, it’s great here. Thanks Jeff. Cheers mate. Thank you Stuart. Cool. Stay tuned for the next episode and do us a favor everyone. Hit that subscribe button. It’s the best way you can support us right now. And if you want the updates on the latest releases, hit the bell button there for the notifications. [Music]

What was meant to be a peaceful working holiday by the beach turned into an unforgettable story! In this episode of Aussie Nomad Life, I chat with fellow Aussie Stuart, who came to Da Nang, Vietnam to relax, focus, and enjoy the tropical life — until a pack of street dogs decided otherwise. 🐶

Stuart shares how he handled getting bitten by a dog in Vietnam, his experience at a Da Nang hospital, and the unexpected side effects of a rabies shot abroad. We also dive into what it’s really like to live, eat, and stay healthy in Da Nang — from finding authentic local food to joining the early-morning beach fitness culture. 🌅

Whether you’re a digital nomad, a traveller exploring Vietnam, or planning your first trip to Southeast Asia, this chat offers an honest, funny, and eye-opening look at real life in Da Nang — the good, the bad, and the unexpected.

🌏 Real Travel. Real Stories. Aussie Nomad Life.

⚠️ Disclaimer
The content in this video is for entertainment and storytelling purposes only. We are not doctors or medical professionals, and nothing discussed here should be taken as medical advice or instruction.
Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for any medical concerns, vaccinations, or treatment decisions. We’re simply sharing our personal travel experiences and what we learned along the way.

📍Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
00:42 – Meet Stuart: Working holiday in Da Nang
03:30 – Why Vietnam over other destinations
05:00 – Beach life, food, and staying healthy
09:10 – The dog bite story 🐕
11:00 – Rabies shot & reaction experience
13:00 – Travel insurance and lessons learned

#AussieNomadLife #vietnam #danang

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Have you ever had a travel mishap abroad? Drop your story in the comments!

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