Hoi An,

You have captured my heart, my appetite and most unfortunately, my money.

To start with, Hoi An is beautiful. The cobblestone pathways are lined by faded blue and yellow shop fronts overflowing with bougainvilleas and a lingering scent of honeysuckle in the air.The old part of town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and at night the town is transformed, coming alive with hundreds of coloured lanterns lighting up the streets and floating down the river.

Then, we have the food. It was delicious and pretty easy on the wallet. Hoi An has a few famous specialities including white rose; steamed rice paper with shrimp inside and cao lau; delicious flat doughy noodles topped with broth, pork slices and crackling. Oh.My.God. I can unabashedly say that after five days in Hoi An, I have an addition to both white rose and cao lau and happily had a couple of servings every day. Our source of delicious cao lau was a woman down by the river who was selling steaming hot bowls for 20000 dong (~$1). We sat on tiny wooden tables and stools perched precariously by the river as we watched streams of coloured paper lanterns float past.

Whilst out looking for a place to go for a drink we came across a small wooden boat tied to the jetty that was offering beer, coffee and noodles. Intrigued we walked aboard to find a crowded, yet intimate setting of tables and floor cushions. We ordered two beers and sat against the wall watching the water. People came and went amused by the idea of having a drink out on this boat and after a while we were the only people left along with a couple of Vietnamese guys. They had brought their guitar on board and had started to sing a variety of songs in english, starting with the Adam Sandler ‘classic’, “Grow Old With You”. Now, I being the ever generous one, thought I would help them out by singing along with them. I thought perhaps they would appreciate the accompaniment. It turns out they did not and even though I sang louder, they did not reciprocate. Tim offered this suggestion, “I don’t think you should keep singing, it’s just awkward”. Disappointed yet not undeterred I think I really found my footing by the time Ronan Keating made an appearance.

We spent the majority of our time in Hoi An shopping, after all it is the big attraction. Our first obstacle was deciding which tailor to go to, as there are literally hundreds to choose from. In the end we settled on Kimmy’s for Tim’s suit which was excellent and where Tim had four fittings done before everyone was 100% satisfied. For the rest, we put our eggs in a whole bunch of different baskets and had some handmade leather shoes, dresses and blazers made. Long story short, we blew our budget out the window. We spent the same amount for 5 days in Hoi An than what had previously lasted us for two weeks.

Thankfully my currency conversion skills have improved over the last 7 weeks and I was able to spot when I was being overcharged. After successfully haggling $3 off for two dresses (I could’ve gotten $5 if I held out) I went to pay and was given a conversion rate of 21,500 raising the outstanding balance back up to the original amount! I stood my ground and politely questioned the conversion rate and was supported by a fellow shopper who pulled out her phone to quote the day’s official exchange rate. In the end, she allowed me the 21,000 conversion rate and I was satisfied that I was able to retain my excellent $3 discount.

We happily spent close to a week in Hoi An, charmed by the streets, the clothes, the food and the first excellent (read: NOT Vietnamese) coffee we have had since being over here. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far.

Getting there: A surprisingly pleasant 10 hour train trip from Nha Trang to Danang followed by a car transfer to Hoi An.

Staying: Hoang Tring Hotel. This hotel was absolutely fantastic and I can’t recommend it highly enough. The rooms were big and clean, the breakfasts were stuffed with never ending plates of food and every time we returned from a sweaty day out, we were greeted with plates of fresh fruit or coconut drinks.

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