Hoi An

We spent three nights in Hoi An, a beautiful old town about halfway up the coast of Vietnam.  It was low tourist season, and the quiet streets were so restful after the constant buzz of Saigon.  Hoi An is located on the river Thu Bon and it used to be an international trading port.  The centre of town, known as the Old Town, is a Unesco World Heritage site, and it’s not hard to see why.  It definitely felt like we took a step back in time: I could gush about how beautiful it was, but I might just let the photographs do the work for me.

We relaxed a lot here: the hotel had a swimming pool, we spent half a day at the beach (this time under a proper umbrella), we enjoyed the best food of the trip to date, and met some interesting people along the way.  I also read a great book which I highly recommend – Audrey Niffenegger’s “Her Fearful Symmetry”.  All in all, we enjoyed Hoi An immensely – this place would be perfect for a honeymoon.

Blue house on the outskirts of the Old Town

Most common mode of transport in Hoi An

Colin, upstairs at Faifoo restaurant – where we indulged, more than once, in hoanh thanh and cao lau

The river Thu Bon – so cute it’s almost twee

At night, the Old Town is magical

Lantern shop in the Old Town

Being a tourist! These baskets were surprisingly heavy, and I am seriously impressed by the size of the loads I’ve seen some women carrying. The woman who lent me this basket showed me the damage to her shoulder caused by years of carrying baskets – there was a big groove that should not have been there, and the leathery skin was stained a deep red-brown. Pretty astounding.