Hoi An - Vietnam Experience

Hoi An situated approximately 2 hours, or 130KM south of Huế, It took 2Hours by sleeper bus. It was really a brand new experience for myself, i never seen a sleeper bus in Malaysia, but you can find it easily here in Vietnam. Hoi An Ancient Town has more than 2,000 years history was the primary port of Cham Kingdom. It has once become the favorite port for Japan and China to outsource their market into South East Asia, because of this, Hoi An is rich in Chinese and Japanese culture and architecture. 

Arrived at evening, checked in to Hoa My Hotel, I was lucky enough to get free upgrade again, triple bed for myself. There weren't many choices in Hoi An as it's really a small town based on tourism industry. So with $10, you can get a room like this, still pretty good deal. 

 

Address:
Hoa My I Hotel: 201 Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hoi An Ancient Town, Viet Nam
Tel : 84.510.3916582 * Fax : 84.510.3916855
Hoa My II Hotel :44 Tran Cao Van St, Hoi An Ancient Town, Viet Nam
Tel : 84.510.3864267 * Fax : 84.510.3916855
Email : hoamyhotel2003@yahoo.com

After wash up, grabbed my tripod and head outside to get some night landscape. This old town has many Tailor shop and Souvenir shop, they open for business till very late. Walking along the Thu Bồn River River, it was an important Vietnamese trading centre in the 16th and 17th centuries, where Chinese from various provinces as well as Japanese, Dutch, and Indian settled. Somehow i comes to the famous Japanese bridge, it is a unique covered structure built by the Japanese, the only covered bridge with a bud dish pagoda attached to one side.

          Hoi An Ancient Town night street landscape

          Hoi An Signature drawing shop

          Row-full of Shoes shop selling tailored shoes

One of my favorite food in Hoi An is the baguette filled with various ingredients include pork belly, vegetables, chilly paste, eggs, ham, and sauces. Believe of not, i had 5 Bánh Mì as my Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Each cost 10,000 Dong, around $0.50 USD, Yes, thats awesome deal. This could be one of the main reason that drive me back to visit Vietnam again!

Entry to all historical sites in Hoi An is via a coupon system, you have to purchase the coupon cost 90,000 dong (US$5) to enter five attractions: one museum, one old house, one assembly hall, the handicraft workshop (and traditional music show) or the traditional theater, and either the Japanese Covered Bridge or the Quan Cong Temple. Tickets can be bought from various entry points into the Old Town, including Hai Ba Trung Street, and also at some of the attractions, including the Cantonese Assembly Hall. The city requests that visitors to dress appropriately while visiting sites in the Old Town, to show respect to the local culture.

People in Hoi An is relatively friendly, maybe they get used to see tourists everyday, thus have no obligation toward the visitors. You can see the lady posed and throw her smile at me before i press my shutter, then she tries to sell banana to me. Aww..

          My most satisfied shot throughout my trip

In a nutshell, I doesn't really enjoy the trip in Hoi An. Despite it is a very small town, the best thing to do here is to do shopping and tailoring. Since i have no interests in either of these activity, Hoi An seems a little bit boring to me, 2nights is too long for me, i recommend travelers like me to do 1night trip or day trip to Hoi An.

However, there were things that i enjoy while i was here. Firstly, many restaurant offer cheap draft beers, it only cost 3.000 Dong ($0.30 USD). Furthermore, the food is delicious, but if you choose to eat in a restaurant, it might be slightly inflated due to the tourist trade. A papaya salad cost me 60,000 Dong, which allow me to buy 6 pieces of baguette (Yes, Im obsessed with the baguette). 

As for the tourist site, most of the houses have more than 200 years history, but in my own opinion it doesn't worth the visit as most of them were reconstruct facsimiled. Last thing about Hoi An is their beach, undeniable they have a really beautiful beach. I doesn't have the chance to play in the water, but sitting below a coconut tree near the seaside was relaxing enough to fall asleep. Well, i would not wish to come back unless i want to make a really nice tailored fitting suite for myself, somedays.