We traveled to Hoi An by jeep, up the coast of Vietnam on Highway 1. The scenery was beautiful, crystal clear beaches, rice paddy fields, and mountains. The trip took about 12 hours from Dalat to Qui Nhon, and another 8 hours from Qui Nhon to Hoi An.
Although Hoi An is crowded with tourists, it is a great city to relax in for several days. We stayed at the Vinh Hung Hotel, an old Chinese trading house. Our room on the second floor was filled with Chinese furniture, and had two wooden windows and big double doors that opened out above the street. There were a large number of flying ants in the room, along with the occasional cockroach, but in Vietnam this seems to be common. Directly across the street there was a shop selling rice wine with snakes, scorpions, and birds floating in it!
Turning left after coming out of our hotel, just a few doors down on the right side, was a great Vietnamese restaurant, one of our favorites in Vietnam. It looked like a renovated old Chinese shop-house, and it was possible to eat on the first or second floor, or out on the second floor balcony. The fried noodles with tofu were delicious, along with some very good fruit shakes. This place was not listed in the Lonely Planet, and we never did figure out its name.
It seems that there are more shops per block selling goods for tourists in Hoi An than in any other city in Vietnam. However, the prices are cheaper than in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, and there are some very nice items. Unlike in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, you can often see people making the goods sold in shops either in front of or in the back rooms of the shops themselves. Hoi An is the perfect place to purchase beautiful collapsible silk lanterns, scarves, purses, pottery, and a great variety of carved wooden statues. We bought so many items in Hoi An that we had to buy an extra suitcase there too!
There are also tailor shops on nearly every block, and a plethora of them in a building behind the outdoor market. Soon after we arrived in Hoi An, a woman from one of the shops followed us around until we finally agreed to visit hers. Whenever we’d come out of our hotel, she was there waiting for us. She was very small, like most Vietnamese, and told us that she was taking Chinese medicine so she could be big like us! We had her make a few silk Ao Dai for our family members at home, at very good prices.
Although Hoi An is very close to the coast, we had such a good time exploring shops and restaurants that we never made it there. From Hoi An we took a taxi to Danang and then a train to
Hue.
For information on Hotels, Tours, Flights, and Books on Vietnam, check out the pages below:
Hotels in Vietnam - Recommended hotels in Vietnam.
Tours in Vietnam - Recommended tour companies in Vietnam.
Flights to Vietnam - Includes information about our experiences on different airlines we've taken to and from Vietnam.
Books on Vietnam - Excellent books on Vietnam's history, people, and travel.
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