Lanterns and Rice Paddies- Hoi An, Vietnam

When we were in the planning phase of this trip, I wasn't sure I wanted to go to Vietnam.  I was nervous about stories I had heard about crime, health and safety, crowded buses, etc. and I wasn't really sure how comfortable I would be taking the kids to this country.  After doing some research, I came across some information about a small town called Hoi An and  decided this might be a great place to spend some stationary time- soaking up the culture, enjoying cheap food and doing some school work.  So that's just what we did.  We spent 10 lovely, low key days in Hoi An, Vietnam.

One of many flower displays along the river

A calm town in the morning

The famous Japanese covered bridge

Hoi An is a town of about 120 000 people.  It used to be a major port- for the Champa kingdom from the 2nd to the 10th centuries and then, after the 15th century, it was one of South East Asia's major ports.

The Old Town of Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage site and apparently looks as it did several centuries ago.  To make it even more alluring, the Old Town is closed to motorized vehicles for several hours every day, making it an ideal place to explore by bike or on foot.

Flowers and lanterns everywhere

Most buildings are painted yellow

Hoi An was a perfect place to chill.  We had blue skies almost every day and the temperature was a comfortable 22-26 degrees.

It also helped that for the first half of our trip, we shared our hotel, located a couple of kilometers from the Old  Town, with only one other guest-  an ambitious 20-something living out of the hotel since May 2019 trying to continue to grow his online business.  His goal is to be a billionaire by the time he is 30 years old!  Interesting guy to talk to!

The rice paddies in behind our hotel

One of the resident water buffalos in the fields

A farmer working hard

We took advantage of the peace and quiet of the surrounding rice paddies to get school work done, exercise and enjoy the pool.

Private pool

School work at the hotel

Transportation in Hoi An is an interesting phenomenon.  Roads are full of cars, huge tour buses, taxis, scooters and...cruiser bicycles!!  Every hotel in the area seems to loan out bikes to tourists.  It is a great way to get around but I truly think we took our lives in our hands every time we set out on our bikes!!  No helmets and poorly working brakes were the least of our concerns trying to navigate beside, around and with honking cars, scooters and tour buses.  Sidewalks were a non-option as these were often crowded with food stalls, garbage and fires burning in canisters.  They were also popular parking spots for scooters.  That said, we used common sense and took our chances!  We learned to find some back alley ways or paths through the rice paddies to minimize our time on the roads whenever we went into town.

Biking through the rice paddies

We made it!

Nathan and Parker rode on the backs of our bikes

The beauty and quaintness I had seen in pictures was exactly what we experienced in Hoi An.  I absolutely loved it!  We learned that the Old Town was quiet in the mornings before the tour buses arrived.  We loved wandering the narrow streets, peering in shops and picking a café/restaurant where we could spend a bit of time doing some school work and eating lunch.  Stay tuned for a post about all the food we tried (and didn't try) in Hoi An!

An alley in the Old Town

School with a view

School with an even better view!

There is a night market every night and, similar to both Thailand and Cambodia, we sampled street food (in this case- banana crepes!) and browsed the stalls.

Can't go wrong with a fresh crepe

Wandering the streets

Hoi An is located near the ocean.  Mike and I ventured out one morning to run the 4km from our hotel to the closest beach.  Unfortunately, this run was not a pleasant experience.  I truly felt that all the cardiovascular health I was attempting to improve with this activity was negated by the amount of scooter fumes I inhaled on uneven sidewalks or trying not to get hit by scooters when we had to switch over to the roads!  Upon arriving to the beach, we were sorely disappointed, too.  The beach was not very pretty to look at and the water didn't seem too inviting.  Due to problems with erosion, most of the length of the shore was made up of large sandbags.  After the picturesque beaches in Phuket, we decided we wouldn't even plan for any beach time while in Hoi An.

Public "beach"... not exactly eye-catching!

A coconut vendor arriving for a day of work

Hoi An houses over 200 spas and 400 tailor shops.  The massages weren't quite as cheap as Thailand but pretty close.  Chelsea was the only one who partook in any spa treatments.  Stay tuned for her birthday post!

Spas and tailor shops lining literally every street

Rickshaws are another way tourists get around the Old Town.  Check out these drivers sleeping and relaxing!

We timed our trip to Hoi An in order to experience its famous Lantern Festival.  It did not disappoint!  It was actually much less crowded than we had anticipated.  The vibe was fantastic!  There were vendors selling candles to set afloat in the river, live music, tourists taking boat rides in beautifully lit boats and, of course, thousands of Chinese lanterns lighting up the night.  Unfortunately, Mike wasn't feeling great so the kids and I ventured out on our own on foot to grab dinner and enjoy the evening!

Lanterns on every street

Beautiful

Boats adorned with lanterns, too

Candles for sale to set sail down the river 

I couldn't get enough of the beauty of the lanterns in the night!

The town was alive!

Now don't get me wrong, there was plenty of noticeable disarray, chaos and garbage in Hoi An.  We just learned to see past this and find the more esthetically pleasing spots to hang out!