Hoi An: Vietnamese Splendour

We arrived in Hoi An after a quick train journey to Da Nang followed by a bus. It proved to be a surprisingly easy connection, if expensive – it was twice the price we’d been quoted – but we were on board within minutes of arriving so it was otherwise stress-free. The main part of town was a short walk away, and we were convinced to stop for a sandwich on the street with a couple of the local ladies, who pulled up chairs and welcomed us to join them while they cooked for us. We promised we’d be back, as it was a great sandwich (though they did get the paté in before we could stop them!). We got some directions and sage advice from the older woman (including being told that we’d just been hugely overcharged for some oranges we’d just bought), which reinforced our intention to make a return visit!

Hoi An is tiny really, and after turning two corners we were at our hotel. ‘Hostel’ isn’t really the word that applies to somewhere with a pool in reception! The pool is pretty teeny but there’s a huge table next to it, so I’d decided where I was working that week! 

The next two days were work days, but we had an hour or so before we had to get back to the pool by three to start UK time, so we took a quick walk around the town and stocked up on supplies. It’s a very quaint town, with the air of a tourist trap saved from destruction. The old heritage buildings have probably helped to keep it from becoming too developed – the whole centre of Hoi An is a historic Old Town, and these buildings signpost a cultural walk throughout the centre. In the evening though it can be a bit overwhelming, with every other person you meet trying to sell you a paper lantern to float down the river (we saw several lanterns littering the riverbanks the next day, which was quite sad) or a boat ride, so although it looks picturesque when it’s lit up at night, you barely get a second to enjoy the view! The central bridge is also illuminated with red Chinese-style lanterns and it is quite a sight in the dark.

After two days in the ‘office’ by the pool, we had two days to enjoy Hoi An, and we used day one to visit some of the heritage buildings in the town. For about £3, you can buy a ticket that allows you entry to five of the sights in central Hoi An, including its temples, assembly halls and preserved old houses. 

Most of these sights are on one street, which connects across a small stream by a beautiful Japanese bridge (constructed in 1593). 

Lining the streets, around the old buildings, are myriad market stalls selling every kind of souvenir made of silk you can imagine – I really wish we’d been here later in the trip, as I’d have had clothes made, bought some cushion covers… I was even eyeing up table runners at one point (not just for me!). But carrying all this stuff round through three more countries would either have ruined our silken bounty or broken our backs (probably both) so sadly we had to walk away from some gorgeous purchases. 

Anyway, back to the old town…

We visited two Chinese assembly halls, and the first (the Assembly Hall of the Cantonese Chinese Congregation) had the most incredible dragon mosaics. Firstly, you make your way through the entrance hall, and are faced with a beautiful and bizarre statue of a dragon and a carp. 

 

The mosaic detail is incredible – we could have photographed it for ages, but it’s a good thing we didn’t as when you go through to the gardens, there is a dragon statue that blows the dragon and carp out of the water for sheer wonder. It’s a medusa of a statue, limbs flailing and claws scratching at the air, and our real highlight of the Old Town.

Chinese All-Community Assembly Hall

The other Assembly Hall we visited was the Chinese All-Community Assembly Hall, which had huge incense spirals hanging from the ceiling like an assault of giant mosquito coils. 

Chinese All-Community Assembly Hall

Tran Family Chapel

Tran Family Chapel

Tran Family Chapel

Tan Ky House

 

With our remaining Old Town credits, we visited a merchant’s house that has been well preserved by the family, and a memorial house and chapel - we also visited Quan Cong Temple. Many of the buildings were notable from the outside for having incredible detail on the roof, including several buildings that would have looked at home in China.

Quan Cong Temple

Quan Cong Temple

Quan Cong Temple

Quan Cong Temple

Quan Cong Temple

Quan Cong Temple

Quan Cong Temple

Quan Cong Temple 

Quan Cong Temple

Quan Cong Temple

It was a great day, but hot work, so we headed for dinner at Café 43 just over the road from our hotel. The food was great, especially the stuffed squid and green curry, but the best part was the ‘fresh beer’ (in other words, draught beer) for 9p a glass (just over half a pint). We had quite a few of these the next two days – and you only have to stagger home over the road too!

The last day in Hoi An we saved for a day trip out to My Son (pronounced ‘Me Sun’, football chantsters), an ancient temple site 50km away from Hoi An. Many of the buildings are in ruins thanks to wartime bombing, but the site is still very impressive (and hot – it’s in a valley so all the hot air just sits there!). 

We had an entertaining enough tour guide, though he did seem determined to quiz people 
randomly so you had to pay attention! One of the interesting points about My Son is that archaeologists have never ascertained for certain how the bricks were cemented together – it seems that they had a unique way of putting their temples together and no theory has satisfactorily explained how. All the bricks are wedged tight together so whatever it was, it was a very thin layer.

After exploring the site, we took a boat back to Hoi An, though this was a bit of a let-down – loads of us squashed onto a boat with a very basic lunch and no room to move. They also dropped us off for a stop at a small village where there was nothing to buy except souvenir carvings – and if I don’t have room for a dress then I definitely don’t have room for one of those! The boat was a nice way to return to Hoi An though – all in all it was pretty good value, if not quite up to the sales pitch for the trip!

We spent our last night having dinner at Café 43 again – yum! More fresh beer (which you can also buy anywhere on tap in Hoi An for a similar bargain price) before we wandered down to the river to take some last photos of the village at night. Then we Skyped home and packed for the next day – a bus to the beach in Quy Nhon!

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