To Hoi An: The Land Of Lanterns
And so we head to Hoi An, a place about which we have heard so many good things that this will be our longest stay in one place whilst in Vietnam, a full six days. Our original intention was to go by train from Hue to Da Nang and then taxi to Hoi An, but we got chatting to a guy in a cafe on the first morning in Hue who told us he can book a bus which will take us door to door for half the price of the taxi alone. Bargain.
Bargain? Well, yes, but boy does the journey bring surprises. Sure enough, we get picked up from our hotel, settle into our bus seats…and then get turfed off about five minutes later and shunted on to a second bus. This one is a so-called “sleeping bus” which, despite the fact that we are travelling through the middle of the day, has no seats, but a series of “beds” which basically means that everyone climbs into a luggage rack, lays down and falls asleep.
Initially the movement of the suspension makes our upper bunks feel like a rolling ferry on rough seas and we fear the worst, but ten minutes in and the rocking sensation becomes soothing and the experience is an unexpected piece of fun. Lisa, our host in Hoi An, sends her brother Ryan to meet us off the bus, but he turns up on a moped and then calls a taxi, despite the fact that about half a dozen taxis were waiting when the bus drew in – and now they’re all gone. All this simply because our hosts insist on paying for our taxi…we appreciate the lovely gesture but there would have been quicker ways!
“Very touristy but very beautiful” is how everyone described Hoi An to us before we got here – a description which is obviously correct from the moment we turn a corner and see what is before us: we’re not sure whether we’re walking into a jewel of a town or into Vietnam’s equivalent of Blackpool illuminations.
There is indeed a certain type of beauty to the thousands of multi coloured lanterns reflecting in the water, and to the lantern-carrying boats drifting stealthily along the river. But touristy too? Oh certainly, both riverbanks are an explosion of coloured lighting, street hawkers and food stalls, and pavements rammed with awestruck wanderers. Restaurant owners call us in, boat owners offer a trip, tat is available at “very cheap price”. Photo opportunities abound.
Both elements – the “beautiful” and the “touristy” have us grinning from ear to ear as we quaff the local beer (Larue), eat delicious food and listen to the live band playing rock classics….Joan Jett, Guns n Roses, Fleetwood Mac…..and Adele. What exalted company the Essex girl’s music keeps these days. Hoi An is beautiful and ridiculous, charming yet OTT. This Vietnam tour is nothing if not varied and Hoi An represents completely new ground.
The colours, the lanterns, the bars, the music, the boats….magical yet crass, amazing yet cheesy. We don’t even know if we like it or not. Yet we love it. It’s so cheesy that the whole town smells of cheddar…no of course it doesn’t, in truth it smells of jasmine, tiger balm and barbecue smoke, but cheesy it certainly is. Massage, Sir? Toys for your grandchildren? Please find your heart and buy, I sell nothing all day today. You want boat? Taxi? Where you from? Oh, England…lovely jubbly.
Not everything centres around the riverfront, Hoi An has a multitude of quaint, car-free streets winding between the age old buildings, nowadays filled with clothes shops and cafes but originally modest dwellings for a cosmopolitan melange of Asian traders. Both the Chinese and Japanese had significant influence here long before the French threw croissants and baguettes into the mix.
Hoi An’s relationship with water is complicated, one of those locations where the boundaries between the widening river, the man made canals and the open sea are blurred, and where it’s hard to work out which is mainland and which is island. Even a lengthy boat trip doesn’t solve the conundrum, it’s a bit like magnifying Murano, dropping it into an estuary and letting Gaudi design the lighting.
Even though Hoi An embraces modern culture with such enthusiasm, this is an ancient town with a long and fascinating history. As an international trading post in the 16th and 17th centuries, foreign merchants flocked here from around the world to attend the major trade fairs, with Japanese, Chinese, Dutch and Indian traders in particular putting down roots. The influence is evident in Hoi An’s ancient buildings: the Japanese Covered Bridge, Chinese and Cantonese Assembly Halls, pagodas and ancient wooden houses.
With the old town now free of cars and open only to pedestrians and the ubiquitous moped army, Hoi An is wonderfully charming – not least because among the large numbers of tourists, fishermen still throw nets across the water and locals still crowd the central market to buy fruit and vegetables unfamiliar to our eyes.
But it’s at night that the characteristic for which Hoi An is most renowned is at its height: the lantern boats crowding the water, the multitude of lanterns strung along the riverside, the colour and verve of its evening persona. Touristy or not, it is definitely a spectacle. The night of a full moon is usually an excuse for a festival anywhere in Asia and particularly where the Buddhist faith plays a role, and more by luck than judgment the Tuesday of our stay is indeed the night of a full moon. Much play is made of the festival, when we are told that all electricity is switched off and the whole romantic scene is illuminated only by candlelight. It isn’t quite true – sure, the street lights and the bridge lights go off, but nothing else does and the reality doesn’t live up to the hype…except for the lantern boat owners who do even more business than usual and pocket a load of extra dong.
Opportunities to do the touristy things abound here in Hoi An: lantern boats, slightly larger tour boats, bicycle tours, cooking classes, electric open trolley vehicles…..and the basket boats. Oh we just have to do a basket boat. These ridiculous little circular craft are, despite the tourist role they play today, a time-honoured feature of Hoi An and its waterways – with an amusing history. As a way of securing income from the area’s plentiful produce, the French imposed taxes on every boat owner, including fishermen and those gathering coconut and other fruit from the watery plantations. The canny locals made the circular baskets and successfully claimed that they were simply waterborne storage vessels and were not used for conveying humans – the French authorities apparently fell for the ruse.
Hoi An is heaven for a clothes shopper and my patience for traipsing in and out of endless stores wears thin before Michaela has even scratched the surface, so I wander off in the heat for a while to explore the more down to earth parts of town. A little lady in a doorway calls out to me.
“Haircut Sir? Very good price”. As it happens, I do need one.
“Where you from?”, she inevitably asks as she cleans off the number 1 blade for the razor. I tell her.
“England, oooohhhhh”, she says, and adds, “you have lovely bald head. I am single”.
“…………”
“Single and fifty five”.
I hear myself blurting out that my lovely wife is shopping in town at the minute. I think I detect just a hint of panic in my own voice….
30 Comments
Andrew Petcher
Great pictures, love the hats. When you tell people that you are from England they always have a cousin in Manchester.
Phil & Michaela
Ha yes, and everyone in Tunisia last year said their brother had been to Sheffield University. Usually when you say you’re from England, they say “London? Manchester?”, but a few years ago in Marrakech, and you will understand the significance of the timing, it was “Where? London? Leicester?”….
Monkey's Tale
I didn’t know or remember the story behind the basket boats. Sounds like you’re loving the cheesy!! Maggie
Phil & Michaela
Well, Maggie, I can honestly say that we’ve grown to love Hoi An more and more almost hour by hour. We’ve even put it on our very shortlist of places if we ever decide to stop somewhere and put some roots down and settle for a few months.
Monkey's Tale
We loved it too. If you’re still there you should go to the Marigold if it’s still open. I remember it being one of my favourite meals.
Phil & Michaela
Can’t find Marigold, maybe it’s gone….but every meal so far has been delicious
Monkey's Tale
Too bad it was really good!
wetanddustyroads
A (real) sleeping bus … can you believe it! Ho An is certainly a city with colourful lanterns around every corner (even in the trees it seems). Beautiful photo of you guys in the basket boats. And you see what happens when you go wandering around without your wife …
Phil & Michaela
I know. I think someone needs to be locked up and I have a horrible feeling it’s me…
wetanddustyroads
😁
Annie Berger
Perhaps, Phil, you should develop a sudden love of shopping with Michaela or at least resigned acceptance to avoid local women with a wandering eye!
Phil & Michaela
I can’t see either of those happening 😀😀
Lookoom
Hoi An seems to be very tourist oriented and at the same time local life remains dominant with the large number of inhabitants, the tourists are just in addition. I love all the lantern pictures!
Phil & Michaela
Yes, exactly that. We are really warming to Hoi An, it has an awful lot to offer.
Alison
You’re in Hoi An lovely. We do like it there and have been many times, i don’t think we will go back again because it’s just too touristy as you say. Food is wonderful, never had a bad meal in Vietnam. We usually stay in Da Nang I love the beach there. Do try An Bang beach, great service and wifi. Also although really touristy go to Bana Hills. The cable car up into those hills is worth the ride alone. Go into Da Nang one evening to see all the bridges. 🙂
Phil & Michaela
Ah well I think you’ll like my answers, Ali. In the days we’ve been here we’ve absolutely grown to love Hoi An. It’s easy to escape the touristy bit but in any case our evenings in the bars by the river are great fun. Loving this town and could easily come and settle here for a few months. The food is an absolute revelation, every meal delicious. We actually went to An Bang beach yesterday, lovely to chill there for a few hours. And…Da Nang is in fact our next stop, we’re staying by the beach there for a couple of days before we leave the area.
Alison
It’s such a great place and it’s our place to go at least once a year. So laid back.
Toonsarah
Oh this takes me back, you’ve captured the atmosphere of Hoi An perfectly – although it was less busy when we were there because Covid was just taking hold in Indochina, as you well know! If you’re still there and haven’t yet discovered it, do visit the Precious Heritage Art Gallery and Museum near the produce market (https://www.rehahnphotographer.com/en/precious-heritage-museum/). The photography is really good and the info about the costumes of the different tribes is fascinating. And it’s free!
Phil & Michaela
Will try and get there today! Really loving this town by the way….
Mike and Kellye Hefner
Undoubtedly, I would give myself whiplash by trying to see everything in Hoi An at once. Your fabulous feature photo pulled me right into your wonderful post. You have hooked me on Hoi An already, and I can’t wait to see what you’re doing there next.
Phil & Michaela
It’s a great place Kellye and we are seriously falling for it!
WanderingCanadians
Oh my. The sleeping bus with “beds” is a new one for me. Glad to hear it was actually better than expected. The coloured lanterns along the riverside at night look so pretty. I love the basket boat! How fun.
leightontravels
Ah my dear Hoi An, it’s lovely to see you again. In my monthlong travels around Vietnam I never came across a bus like that, kinda cool. I’m with you re sentiments about Hoi An. On the face of it, you’ve got all those things you’d usually run a mile from, but somehow the end result is that it makes you smile and forgive at every turn. I swear I have pictured that precise same lantern stall, ha. As for Delboy, he gets everywhere you know, from Vietnam and India to Serbia and beyond. The Old Town is the real gem of course, not to be missed under any circumstances in my book. Sounds like you got more than you bargained for with that haircut. Great shot of the net-throwing fisherman!
Phil & Michaela
Exactly right, there’s something about Hoi An…it’s no surprise to us that travellers choose this as a place to settle permanently when globetrotting is done. We feel we could do the same.
Latitude Adjustment: A Tale of Two Wanderers
What a charming colorful place. Love the hats!
Suzanne@PictureRetirement
Love the photo of you guys in the basket boat – perfectly cheesy!
Phil & Michaela
Indeed so….in keeping!
grandmisadventures
That sleeping bus is certainly a new mode of transportation- what a wild ride that must have been! The lanterns are amazing! The whole place looks really lovely 🙂
Laura
I am loving following your Vietnam journey- each stop has its own enticing beauty, charm, and personality. This country is near the very top of my personal bucket list, and even more so after reading about how much you are falling for Hoi An. I am jealous just thinking of all of the delicious meals you are consuming there!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you so much, Laura, your lovely comments are very much appreciated. We’ll probably feature food in a bit more detail in our next post, it’s delicious. Vietnam is more varied than we expected, we’ve experienced some very different locations so far.