Hoi An is my favorite town that I am always happy to come back to. I can say about my feeling when I was there exactly in three words – “peace in mind”. That is when I walk along its narrow streets on a full-moon night, take in the smell of incense, the lights from lanterns and the quietness from the dark wooden houses. Somewhere, an old woman sits on a stool in front of her house and looks far away, children play on streets, street venders sell pancakes, steamed fresh corn or grilled sweet potato in a trolley.
That is when I ride a bicycle from the town to its surrounding villages, pass through picturesque rural scenery of yellow rice carpet, lush green gardens or vegetable fields, secluded village alleys, and the blue Thu Bon River reflecting pastel sky and green water and coconut bushes wildly growing up by the river banks.
I find some similarities between this town and Luang Prabang in Laos. Both feature quiet narrow alleys, small traditional wooden houses with gabled tiled roofs, and a slow pace of life. However, Hoi An has more advantages – the town has both a fertile delta with rice, vegetable fields and white-sand beaches.
CLASSIC SIGHTSEEING
Hoi An has many things to offer. You can come to the town, find an isolated hotel/village resort for relaxation, get rid of stressfulness of busy life and work. With the combination of both sightseeing and beach, you can stay here for 3 nights up to a week or more.
If you come to the town for sightseeing only, you can spend at least 2 nights. The charming ancient town of Hoi An itself will take you a half day to explore – its Japanese Covered Bridge, Chinese Assembly Hall, Chinese old houses dating back to the early 19th century, house of a artisan making lanterns, a local market and many more.
One night can be not enough for Hoi An as you never feel bored with this town, even if your time is only spent wandering around streets, sipping a coffee at old-style coffee shops and looking at the daily life of local people, or tasting local street foods.
Your other half day can be for visiting Hoi An’s countryside. You can take a bike and ride to its surrounding villages, stop at a local family to learn how to be a farmer by working on the field with local people, cultivate herbal or water rice, harvest, dry rice and make some kinds of cake from rice flour. You can also live a fisherman life on Thu Bon river, row a basket boat and go fishing with a net.
My Son Sanctuary, a Cham ruins complex nestled in a small valley 40km from Hoi An town, will take you another half day. My Son was firstly built in the 4thcentury under the reign of Bhadravarman king for the worship of God Shiva. My Son was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. You can choose to go roundtrip by car or one way by car and one way by boat. Boat will stop at Kim Bong Carpentry village and Thanh Ha Pottery Village before reaching the town.
Cooking class of Hoi An cuisine is also an interesting activity, attracting many travelers. You can choose a half day cooking class with a market visit and boat trip, or market visit and bicycle ride to local village and duck farm.
FAMILIES
Your kids will fall in love with Hoi An for sure. Besides white sand beaches and many water sports, Hoi An is also place for riding bicycles (most of hotels have free bicycles for their in-house guests including children’s bikes). You and your kids can ride bicycles from your hotel in the beach area to the town and back, or to Hoi An’s surrounding villages. The road between the town and the beach is approximately 5km and not too crowded. Village roads are extremely quiet. Ride slowly and on right hand side, it will be completely safe.
Outdoor study activities such as working on a rice or vegetable field, riding water buffalo, rowing and racing basket boat, fishing and cooking class are also popular in Hoi An, and very memorable.
HONEYMOON, RELAXING
Hoi An features many different choices for accommodation. Honeymooners can choose to stay in the town at a riverside resort or on the beach.
Victoria Hoi An resort and its charming special decoration in Vietnamese traditional, French colonial or Japanese style, professional service is a good choice. They no longer have a beach directly in front of the resort after recent high water flooding, but guests can use the very nice beach by the side of the resorts. Rooms are spacious with dark wooden floors and balconies have nice garden or sea views. River view rooms are not suggested as they’re close to the main road and you will be woken up at midnight or early morning by “beep beep” horn of motorbike or bus.
The Nam Hai, now a Four Seasons Resort, is the best choice. The resort is located in the middle between Hoi An town and Danang city on over 35 hectares of tropical gardens and along the pristine shoreline of Ha My Beach. The resort features 60 luxurious one-bedroom villas and 40 pool villas. The smallest one bed room villa is at 80 square meters conferring high privacy and high level of luxury.
Anantara is the best 5* riverside hotel option in Hoi An. The resort is in French colonial style building, stretching along the bank of Thu Bon River and hiding in a lush garden. Rooms are elegant, charming and spacious with tranquil garden and river views. The resort offers a boat cruise on Thu Bon River and candle light dinner by river bank or rice field for honeymooners.
Almanity is a good 4* spa resort in the town center. Their rooms are simple but elegant and comfortable. The resort was built in the theme of a spa retreat oasis. Your stay is inclusive of a daily and different 90-minute spa journey coming with yoga and tai chi class.
FOOD
Many travelers take a cooking class in Hoi An as a must for their holiday. Cooking classes in Hoi come with a market visit, bike ride to the countryside or a boat trip on Thu Bon River. The classes are interesting and full of activities from beginning to end. The cooking class will take around 4-5 hours.
Hoi An is also famous for fresh seafood. If you want to eat the local way, you can ride a bicycle to Cua Dai road. There is a long line of seafood restaurants (opposite to Sunrise Resort). Live seafood is contained in big plastic basins. You can choose and they will cook for you – grilled, steamed or sautéed with cheese and tamarind…Seafood is also offered at many good restaurants in the town but at higher prices.
There are many good restaurants in Hoi An. You can walk and find a small restaurant hiding behind a narrow gateway covered by trees and flower vines. You can spend from 1.5$ for a noodle bowl up to 10$ for a set-menu with 4-5 different dishes.
Street food and fresh fruit juice in Hoi An is cheap and various. They’re delicious as well. You must try a bowl of “cao lau” or Hoi An “banh mi” – Bread with grilled chicken or pork and salad.
WHAT TO EXPECT
If you take a taxi, be careful with a taxi trap. Taxi drivers may take you to Danang and back or drive you around for 30 – 45 minutes, instead of going straight for 5 – 10 minutes.
Despite the inconvenience, Hoi An is still a friendly and welcoming town, and a memorable destination for many travelers.
