We arrived in Hoi An early in the morning. Getting off the train in Da Nang just after 6am and walking the short distance to get the public bus. Most Hoi An accommodation will offer to pick you up from Da Nang for a fee of $15-20 but the #1 public bus is a much better option at 30,000vnd ($1.50) per person. Note that that price is more than a local would have to pay but an argument about that won’t get you anywhere so just suck it up! Get the bus from here…
And it drops you here…
Once we got to Hoi An we walked down into town. It was nice and peaceful as there was nothing yet open and not many people on the streets; a world apart from the Vietnam we were used to! We got a decent English breakfast at one of the few cafes which was open for business and then walked onwards to our accommodation. We booked into the Sunflower Hostel on recommendations we heard in Nha Trang. Maybe we were spoilt by the friendliness of our hotel staff in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City but the staff there definitely lacked a personal touch. The room was ok though and the breakfast buffet was excellent so it was still a decent shout.
Monks in the early morning. Hoi An, Vietnam.
Hoi An itself is a lovely place. The old centre of town is a UNESCO world heritage site and cars and motorbikes are banned from the central streets! You can buy tickets in town which get you into a number of historical buildings ($6 for 5 tickets). They were OK in parts but there was nothing particularly grand or impressive on the menu.
Friendship Bridge, Hoi An, Vietnam
Monkey Statue, Hoi An
Chinese Meeting House, Hoi An
Dragon Wood Carvings, Hoi An
Merchant Wood Carvings, Hoi An
The first evening there was more of a treat. It was a Saturday night and every Saturday they put on entertainment and games in town. The streets were lively and we saw people playing a Vietnamese version of bingo and a game where you have to try and smash a hanging pot whilst blindfolded. I had a go and was miles off!
Bingo! Vietnamese style!
Blindfold Pot Smashing, Hoi An
Hoi An at night is a very pretty sight
Everything in Hoi An shuts down pretty early in the evening, barring a couple of bars blasting out terrible EDM tunes. We needed an early night though as the next day was our guided tour of the countryside starting bright and early at 7.30am.