Hoi An

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Hoi An

At that point and since, one of our favorite spots in Vietnam.

We were first introduced to its delights when we arrived at 6.30 am after a unique experience on a sleeper bus - upon which we had got chatting to some very nice, good looking, and tanned Australians, but more of them later - no soon as we stepped off of the bus were we met by a hawed of moto-taxi drivers all keen to take us to a hotel they thought would suit our needs, of course absolutely no commission included! But we were already aware of the size of Hoi An (probably the equivalent, for the Bristolians among you, of Clifton high street, or, St Andrews , and perhaps even Dereham ), so we knew that most hotels would be within easy walking distance.

Having settled on a hotel, bartered for the price of the bedroom, had breakfast, washed, dressed and settled in…we decided to move hotels. We had discovered a Hotel 5 minutes away that offered superior rooms, included a buffet breakfast, free internet access, etc. for $2 less, which considering that meals usually cost us that much out here it was definitely worth the change.

Now happy with our hotel we went to discover what Vietnam’s eldest remaining city (despite America’s best efforts) had to offer.

Our first point of call, and the common theme of our stay in Hoi An, was exploring the many various silk shops and tailors. Knowing that this was what the city was famous for, I had already decided that this would be the best opportunity for getting my wedding outfit made (N.B. Alec refers to the episode as the search for “the dress”, silly boy!). Alec was also keen on getting a shirt made, having so far felt particularly desolate without one. So, we had a browse, looked at prices (which we discovered were slightly above normal due to it being Tet, but relative to tailored products at home they were an absolute steel), scanned over the many different kinds of silks and fabrics, and got an idea of what styles/designs we wanted and so on. We finally settled on two shops, one more prestigious and slightly more expensive one for my dress and another cheaper but unknown shop for the shirts. The outcome, collected on our final day after several fittings and further negotiations, was really rather good. My dress was absolutely divine and the shirts, for the price, were good too, excellent souvenirs for Vietnam.

This was however not the only way in which we occupied ourselves in Hoi An. We also spent a lot of our time looking at its many beautiful pagodas, peering around its ancient houses and appreciating its famous monuments. We were also recommended to visit the ancient ruins of My Son, a UNESCO world heritage site (one of South East Asia’s many) in a beautiful location beneath mountains and set in the midst of a Vietnam forest. The site itself, though extremely picturesque, wasn’t particularly engaging, but we couldn’t justify staying in Hoi An without making a trip to see it.

Another day, in fact Tet holiday, was spent at Cua Dai beach (3km down river of the city). It was lovely, one of the best days (weather wise as well as generally) we had in Hoi An. We had great fun hopping on one of the Hotel’s rather rickety and antique bikes and the lunch we had on the beach front was extremely memorable; fried fresh squid, grilled fresh shrimp, and a cool fresh beer, delightful!

This was by no means the only good meal we had in Hoi An, in fact some of the best meals we had in Vietnam (known throughout South East Asia for it cuisine) were in Hoi An. We enjoyed many delectable meals by the river, extremely cheap, tasty and generous ones opposite our Hotel and were able to drink many tasty glasses of freshly brewed beer at the extortionate fee of 4000 dong (20p) a glass.

Yet, despite all this, what we will remember most about Hoi An was Tet. Although, as previously stated, the timing meant that things were slightly more expensive than they would otherwise have been and it also meant that a few of the sites were closed… it was definitely worth it. As it meant that we got to view Hoi An’s famous Chinese lantern water display, see the city at it’s most beautiful, and experience the exuberant and bustling preparations/festivities of the Tet holiday, seeing the people at their most ecstatic and cheerful. Added to this we were able to appreciate the subsidiary backpacker festivities, which we enjoyed with the Australians we had got to know on the bus. On Tet evening we were on our way to the river, when we were met with a barrage of voices shouting “English, English” from the bar above us. The Australians, inviting us in to join them, introduced us to their rather rapacious drinking habits that Alec and I spent the rest of the evening failing miserably to try and keep up with. The night ended in a very studentesque bar the other side of the river, the drinks there were cheap and we had great fun adding to the graffiti on the walls of the bar (NB the Bristolians of you would appreciate the fact that I discovered a graffiti that said “Brizzle rules” or something of that sort).

Anyway, I think that pretty much sums up our time in Hoi An, next stop Hanoi, a mere 17 hour bus journey North!

Emily

We arrived in Hoi Ann at 6am after our first overnight bus journey (12 hours on a airplane style bed cum chair getting very little sleep, but did enjoy chatting to 4 very tanned and attractive Australians.) Needless to say I emerged from the bus bleary eyed pondering the greater things in life… a cooked breakfast and some ridiculously strong coffee, but after collecting my senses and ignoring the cries of the tuk tuk drivers, we went in search of some accommodation.

We eventually found a place we liked the look of and after unpacking, showering and devouring their banana pancakes we set off to explore Hoi Ann. However, whilst we were walking along in the rain (with Emily claiming, ‘Isn’t this lovely, it reminds me of home.’ - Yes it does and that’s a bad thing when your in a country where we had been experiencing daily temperatures of 25c +) we came across a hotel that looked way out our price range. Emily undeterred decided to investigate anyway under the pretext of seeing how the other half lived e.g. those with a budget higher than $20 a day… it resulted in us getting an amazing room which included buffet breakfast, free internet access and free bicycles for a price $2 cheaper than we were paying at the original hotel. This set up our 4 day stay beautifully.

Our first port of call after the hotel debacle was to explore Hoi Ann’s famous tailor shops.

(For those not in the know i.e. have not watched Top Gear’s Vietnam special, Hoi Ann has hundreds of chaps who will knock you up any fitted garment in about 24 hours - you can choose from almost any style and material and if your still lacking inspiration (Emily!) they have all the latest fashion magazines for you to peruse.)

It was agony for me as I weighed up the cost of an entirely new fitted wardrobe against the effort it would take to hand wash my now dirty traveling clothes. Eventually prudence won over lazyness and I settled on 2 tailor made shirts and a couple of t-shirts.

Emily on the other hand (like so many other woman I saw whilst staying there) perceived this opportunity as her best chance of obtaining the holy grail of the female race - ‘the dress.’ As such we spent the best part of a day wondering around various tailor shops getting quotes (rather hard when the lady in question had very little idea of what dress she wanted) until inspiration struck at on one of the best tailors in town. A price was soon agreed on (although a little more expensive than usual as we had inadvertently stumbled into Hoi Ann over the days of Tet and the first fitting started immediately.

I am happy to report that the resulting garment (after 3 separate fittings) is highly attractive and Emily is blissfully happy with it.

The other major attraction of Hoi Ann for me was the culinary experience it provided. Unlike many other places we had been to and have since explored, the place had 3 or 4 amazing local specialties (Cau Lou Noodles, White Rose and Fried Wonton) which you could buy very cheaply from most restaurants. Added to this (and possibly the most amazing discovery ever) we found out that most restaurants sold incredibly tasty fresh beer i.e. brewed that day, for the amazing price of 4000 dong - 20p - a glass. I promptly took full advantage of this and invariably copied the locals by rarely not having a glass in hand (even at 11 in the morning!)

Whilst in Hoi Ann we also enjoyed;

Tet celebrations: We spent the evening watching the beautiful water show on the river, then went for drinks with the 4 Australians we had met on the bus where they proceeded to show off their admittedly impressive drinking capabilities. The walk home was also very memorable (surprisingly) as the path was lit by all the sacrificial fires and everyone was shouting Chuck Mung Nam Moi to anyone else who came within view.

Cau Dai beach: After the headache inducing Tet celebrations of the previous evening we decided to borrow 2 of the hotels ancient bikes and cycle the 5 km to Cau Dau beach. The cycle ride itself passed through some incredibly picturesque countryside and the beach was postcard perfect. Consequently we spent a lovely couple of hours sunbathing and reading and had a rather good fresh fish lunch (washed down by fresh beer obviously)

And finally My Son (the ancient ruins of a Cham city) where we spent a couple of hours exploring the ruins which were interesting, but nearly as spectacular as we had believed with Emily taking pictures of the ruins and me, trying to be different, taking pictures of the tourists (there were rather a lot of them.)

All in all our stay in Hoi Ann was a lovely experience. When we first arrived we did not think the place was jaw droppingly beautiful, or the food and drink that special, but by the end of our stay we came to see it as one of the most picturesque (cue endless photos) and relaxing places we had visited and have since visited.

Next stop was Hanoi.

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Photos

Drunken Antics
Aussies we celebrated Tet with

Comments

[Alex]

Have I missed something?
Hey, Glad to hear you're having a great time and all, but is there a specific reason that Emily felt the urgent need to get 'the dress'?? Just seems like a strange thing to carry around on a packpacking tour for no particular reason..... And Emily, you shouldn't let Alec influence your spelling! Alex