Hoi An

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This is our fourth day in Hoi An. It is in the tropics on the coast, about 25 km south of Danang. It is now the wet season and we have just decided to book a flight from Danang to Nha Trang for tomorrow morning as both road and rail are blocked due to flooding (and we have no way of knowing for how long). Our hotel is on the outskirts of the old quarter and in no danger of flooding (yet!).

On the afternoon we arrived, we got a lift into the old quarter on motorbikes and commenced a walking tour, using the Lonely Planet guide. On Saturday, we hired a motorbike and visited An Bang beach and Cau Dai beach - both during a tropical downpour. Surprisingly, we were the only people on the beach! We stopped for lunch at a restaurant sitting out over the flooded Hoi An River. We then road to the old quarter and completed our walking tour. In our travels by motorbike, we saw extensive flooding of rice fields and some low-lying dwellings in the farm village areas and along the river. As we explored the city, we were blocked in some streets by varying depths of flooding. Travelling along the street parallel with the river, we could see the flooded river rising up the side streets into the town.

After continuous torrential rain on Saturday and overnight, on Sunday we were informed that our overnight bus to Nha Trang could not leave in the evening due to flooding. Also, our booked tour to My Son had been cancelled due to road closures.

So, we headed out again on motorbike to see what we could see under the very wet circumstances. We revisited the beaches and, surprisingly, we found many locals out along the beaches. They were there, in the main, collecting firewood. The flooded river washed down all manner of rubbish, but also lots of small branches. The waves then deposited these along the neighbouring beaches.

We tried to drive on to the old quarter, but were blocked by thigh-deep flooding across the road near the river. We had to retrace our route and then headed to the city. In torrential rain, we found most of the riverside houses/shops flooded from thigh to chest deep. Those not flooded, continued life/business as usual!

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Photos

Hoi An
Exploring the streets of the old quarter of Hoi An. Rain jacket to protect us from the tropical torrential downpours. Note the interesting architecture. Also, note the water on the road behind me.

Hoi An
Young Ok in front of the Japanese Bridge - built to connect the Japanese community with the Chinese community. Noting that Hoi An was historically a very important trading port.

Hoi An
Young Ok on the other side of the Japanese Bridge. Note the yellow boat in the middle of the road. This was before the flood level got really bad! The river runs approximately parallel with this street about 100 metres to the left.

Hoi An
Bob standing at the side of the Japanese Bridge.

Hoi An
Bob still standing at the side of the Japanese Bridge - from a different viewpoint. The Hoi An River is in the background and, in the middle ground, a small footbridge over the stream under the Japanese Bridge is just protruding above the flood waters. The river bank is normally on the far side of this footbridge.

Hoi An
Young Ok in the Hoi An market. This is of note, apart from the cultural content, as within 24 hours this whole area is flooded and the market is temporarily relocated to the next intersection, about 100 metres further from the flooded river - and life just goes on.

Hoi An
The streets of Hoi An the next day. We had walked through these streets only yesterday, and now they are flooded. We could actually see the water level rising along some of the streets yesterday. With ongoing torrential rain overnight, some areas now had chest-high water in the houses.

Hoi An
Numerous tourists staying in hotels in the old quarter had to be boat-lifted out with their luggage.

Hoi An
Tran Phu Street is one of the main through roads of the old quarter, running parallel with Hoi An River. Young Ok is standing at an intersection with one of the streets running down to the river. Aside from the boats, the depth of water in the riverside houses was more than chest height.

Hoi An
The market was flooded, so people just set up stalls at the next intersection about 100 metres further from the flooded river. The rain did not stop. Life just continues. So we donned our rain jackets, hired a motorbike and saw as much of the town and environs as the flood waters permitted.

Escape from Hoi An!
After an extended stay due to floods blocking road and rail, we decided to move on - by air. Danang was the nearest accessible airport. We took a flight from there to Cam Ranh Airport serving Nha Trang, further down the coast.

Comments

[Jim Thorpe]

Armchair Co-Travellers
Keep up the interesting blogs and pictures. You are certainly getting to see life as the locals live it. You are having an excellent cultural experience. We can't wait for the next instalment!!!