HOI AN-Vietnam’s most atmospheric town

After three days in Hanoi, we got on board of Vietnam Airlines and made it to Hoi An- Vietnam’s most atmospheric town.

Being blessed with impressive well-preserved architecture, history and beaches, Hoi An is a popular tourist destination. I’m still split on whether I actually liked it or not. At first sight, you get more than amazed by the ancient streets with thousands of lanterns hanging above and the view gets only better after dark. It’s exceptionally beautiful and no photo can capture the magic of the place. It’s not only the streets lit up with lanterns but also the river full of brightly lit up boats bobbing on the water and people releasing floating candles for good luck. It’s something you’ll probably never see again anywhere in the world. And it makes Hoi An worth visiting. Although, it feels really touristy and artificial in a way. The face of the Old Town has preserved its incredible architecture of Japanese merchant houses, Chinese temples and ancient tea warehouses, but residents and rice fields have been replaced by tourist businesses. Lounge bars, restaurants, travel agents and hundreds of tailor and leather shops are very much part of the scene here.

What spent some hours browsing Hoi An’s incredibly kitschy Night Market lined with souvenir stalls along the Thu Bon River and food stalls under a roofed market hall. And the food here was better than anywhere else before. Most of the time we went to the same lady called Mrs Thu who cooked for us on the spot whatever we picked from the menu and all was mouth-watering and tastefully plated like in a fancy restaurant. Right after lunch I already started thinking about what I’ll get for dinner. We also tried two restaurants on the touristy track and they were simply touristy. No taste explosion whatsoever, so it proved again that in Asian countries a local market is the go to place for real food.

Since Hoi An is near Da Nang, we took the opportunity to see the Golden Bridge located near Da Nang 1,414m above the sea level. It was only completed in 2018 and immediately became one of the must-sees in Vietnam. The whole place is a kind of a fun park with everything feeling tacky and fake. Apart from the bridge you’ll find there French village, wine cellars, French gardens and Fantasy Park. We didn’t even bother to explore anything except the bridge and I don’t think we missed anything. So if you ever plan to visit the Golden Bridge don’t take any of the organised tours as their itineraries offer just a quick walk along the bridge and 3 hours in the fun fair.

On our last night in Hoi An we came across an Irish pub. Somehow we found the ambience and the live music there irresistible and sat down for a pint and a cocktail and when it came to settling the bill, the waitress told us that the card payments system had gone down and we didn’t have enough local cash on us. Ups! And immediately a couple sitting next to us took their wallets out asking: how much short are you, guys? We were only 100,000 VND short, that is 4 EUR, and they were happy to contribute to our bill. And only four hours later the Irish couple and us were the last customers to leave and close the pub. Such was the craic.

Off to Hanoi for the weekend only. And then find us in Bali.