Bare with us as this is going to be a long post for Hoi An (probably our favourite place in Vietnam)
Sunday 6th December
We arrived around 6pm ish into Hoi An, much later than we should have. We had spent the journey with Alan and Byron, chatting away and enjoying the view. When we got dropped in Hoi An, none of us could really be bothered with hunting a hotel down in the dark, so we literally just bundled into the US$10 hotel that we were next to. The room wasn’t amazing, and the bathroom smelt very badly of damp, but we thought it would do for a night or two!
We were all starving from our journey, so the four of us headed out for some food. Now the receptionist for our hotel had given us some directions. But some how we managed to completely mishear her, and instead of taking the left out of the hotel we took the right! We walked for about half an hour before someone mentioned that we may have gone the wrong way! There was no sign of a town anywhere, just random little shops and a few restaurants.
So we jumped into the first restaurant that took our fancy, and for the only reason that there was another westerner in it.
We all ordered local food which was fantastic. Chris got his first taste of proper wontons!
But the part that made the meal, was when our waitress brought out some kind of shot with the bill. No one knew what it was, all we did know was that it smelt lethal!
Out of respect, we did the shot, Naomi really struggled though (as always). After doing the shot, intrigue set in, and Chris and Byron went to find out what it was. They were confronted with a water bottle full of it. Then the waitress pointed through a doorway to another room, where it was very evident that this stuff was brewed on site. It was fascinating. And it was made from rice!!! We nicknamed it rice water!
On the way to the restaurant, we passed a bakery with some amazing cakes for ridiculously cheap prices. We went back to the bakery on the walk back to the hotel for pudding. And then settled in for the night!
Monday 7th December – Trip to My Son
We got up nice and early today to head out to a place 40km from Hoi An called My Son (pronounced mee sun). My Son is an important temple ruin of the Cham people, which was once a powerful Hindu empire. The temples on this particular site were built between the 7th and 12th centuries. There was originally 70 towers and monuments at the site, but funnily enough, the Americans bombed it as the Vietcong were clever enough to use the temples as munitions warehouses!!! Why would you!?!?
The complex is set in the heart of the mountainous jungle and is very picturesque.
Incredibly, these the tiles and bricks to these towers were never held together with anything, so the remaining towers really demonstrate this incredible feat of construction.
Our journey back from My Son was by boat along the Thu Bon River back to Hoi An. We had an interesting lunch on the boat of rice and vegetables! Really fill Chris up! The journey up river had been described to us as amazing and beautiful, but it wasnt quite that. The boat travelled right up the middle of the river and the river was quite wide, so you barely got to much that was on the banks of it. But it was nice to have a different form of transport!
A naval ship docked very randomly next to someone’s house!?!
We made a pitstop on the way back to Hoi An in a riverside village called Long Son who are renowned for their wooden carvings and use of mother of pearl within the carvings. Below are some pictures of the villagers at work!
We docked back in Hoi An mid afternoon, and we had the afternoon to do as we pleased. We all chose to wander the daily market that takes over a lot of the centre of town.
As we were strolling through the footwear and tailoring section, we got dragged into a tailoring shop by a lovely family. All the daughters were running the front of shop, while the older members of the family were working on the sewing machines. We decided to give them a chance, and put some orders in for some tailored clothes; very exciting.
Chris ordered a dress shirt, a casual shirt, a hoodie and a pair of jeans. As Naomi has her work placement in Australia, she ordered a shirt, pencil skirt, smart shorts and a summery dress. Byron ordered two suits, 3 shirts and a pair of shorts. (Pictures to follow of the clothes).
Getting measured up.
The trip to the tailors took a good few hours. We were exhausted afterwards, so all we did for the rest of the evening was have a meal and head back to our hotel.
Tuesday 8th December
It was our first full day in Hoi An today on our own. Chris, Naomi and Byron decided to take in the sights of Hoi An as there were so many.
They started off with breakfast in a very strange local restaurant. There was no menu, you literally got brought what they were serving that day for breakfast, which actually turned out to be quite like an full English but Vietnamese style and on a hot plate!
Fully charged, we were ready and raring to go with our guide books in hand. In 1999, Hoi An was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a quaint old town and over 800 of its structures are protected historical landmarks. Every other building is something special, whether it be a historic home or a temple. There was a ticket to enter 5 of the main sights for 75,000Dong (£2.50).
So with our map and ticket, we headed off to the first sight. Now everyone had hyped up a Japanese bridge that was in the west of town, so we were all looking to see it. However it was very disappointing. It was built in the 1600s and has a temple within it, but other than that, it was nothing very special. It was what was on the other side of the bridge that was the exciting thing.
It appeared that on one side was touristy Hoi An and on the other side was a wonderful street that almost felt like it had not changed in 50 years. Although there were the souvenir shops, there were no tourists there to buy them. The buildings were all traditional and it was a walking street so there were no mopeds running havoc and making a load of noise. It was great. We sat and enjoyed this tranquil bit of Vietnam for some time. Naomi found a art shop with a particular artist he fell in love with which kept her quiet for a while!
We then walked along the river promenade back into central Hoi An and visited one of the oldest houses dating back to the late 18th century. It is still lived in, but the family welcome visitors. It is a typical Vietnamese French colonial style, very thin but very long with lots of dark panelling and a central courtyard.
In one of the dark corridors and the traditional kitchen.
The central courtyard and the wooden panelling.
We then headed to the Fukian Assembly Hall which is a showpiece of classical Chinese architecture built in 1697. It is all dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea as Hoi An is a big fishing port. Inside the main room were huge spiral incense candles which last for one month. People light them for good luck. (Dad, I would have got you one but it a) would never have made it back in one piece and b) Mark would kill you lol!).
The incense candles and the shrine to the Sea Goddess.
We saw some traditional dancing and music performed in a arts and crafts centre.
And undoubtedly the best part of the day was when we found the tailor that was used in the Top Gear Vietnam special, big Top Gear fans that we are! We didnt get anything from there though as it was well over our backpackers budget!
That night we had lunch on the harbour. The lights were amazing as they all played off of the water. There were lanterns everywhere.
Wednesday 9th December
BEACH DAY :)
It had been a hectic few days, the weather was amazing, and so far on our trip, we had not actually done a proper day on the beach. So it didnt take much persuasion to get us down there.
We hired bikes for the day, as the nearest beach, Cao Dai, was 3km from town. It was a nice ride, partly along the riverside and on the busy, fun roads!
The beach was very quiet. We had thought it would be heaving, but apparently it is the low season here, even though it is over 30 degrees! The surf was good, even though there was a massive under current. It was just a good, all round chilled out day. This place will one day be a thriving metropolis, the new San Tropez, and we feel fortunate enough to have been here before it all changes. Especially as there is so much construction work in progress as we speak!
That evening, we had the final fitting for our clothes. As you can see, Chris’s hoodie needed a bit of adjusting! We said a sad goodbye to the girls of No Forty One as well :(
Thursday 10th December
Our final day in Hoi An, and all we wanted to do was wander around town, and savour all that we had loved and enjoyed about the place over the past few days.
Naomi wanted to go back to the art shop as she wanted a picture to take home with her. Chris had his clothes to pick up from the tailors in the middle of the market.
It was really a day of walking and admiring as we had another 12 hour bus ride at 5pm so we had to be ready and at our hotel for that.
The central market
The harbour and the fish market with all the ladies at work.
We could have written so much more on Hoi An and we could have bored you with so many more pictures. This is the bare basics of Hoi An. All we do know is, we will be back here one day soon, and we highly recommend going here to anyone. Especially soon as it is all set to change and go up in this world as a top resort one day!
Naomi and Chris
xx
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