Hoi An
Days Seven & Eight - Vietnam - 2019
Two days in Vietnam’s most photogenic city, Hoi An.
Map Credit: OpenStreetMap
Editorial Comment: Throughout this page, I use Vietnamese characters in the spellings of place names whenever possible; however, some Vietnamese characters are not compatible with some of the fonts used throughout this website, and -in those cases- I have used what I can determine to be the most common English language transliteration.
1. Hoi An Ancient Town #1
Hoi An’s city center became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
The following morning, we boarded a bus for Hoi An. First, we stopped at a coffee shop near Lang Co before crossing the Hai Van Pass. For better or worse, we didn’t stop on the Pass for a photograph, so that’s a memory I can only share with myself and those in my tour group. After crossing Danang and passing the Marble Mountains, we arrived in Hoi An. First things first, we went to Banh Mi Phuong, another restaurant brought to popular consciousness by Anthony Bourdain, for some bahn mi. The bread, I thought, was fantastic; however, the filling left something to be desired. Nonetheless, a worthwhile experience.
Later on, we took a brief walking tour of Hoi An, navigating the maze of humanity and tourist shops that is the Ancient Town. There were so many people (strange, I thought, during typhoon season), it was hard to really enjoy the city for the beautiful place it obviously was.
2. Electrician’s Nightmare Corner #1
Hoi An is visited by over 1.4 million tourists a year.
Passing by the multitude of shops…
3. Electrician’s Nightmare Corner #2
First introduced to Hoi An in the 16th century by the Japanese, silk lanterns are now believed to bring good luck.
…and, yes, the hundreds of multi-colored silk lanterns…
4. Hoi An Ancient Town #2
Hoi An’s past bad fortune is now its boon - the regional focus of trade was moved from Hoi An to Danang by the French in the 19th century, resulting in Hoi An’s ancient city center being left virtually untouched for nearly 200 years, just in time for international tourists to discover it.
…we worked our way southward…
5. Hoi An Ancient Town #3
The Thu Bon River was important in Champa culture, resulting in the establishment of a city near present-day Hoi An nearly two millennium ago.
…arriving at the riverfront.
6. Cau An Hoi Bridge #1
The Cau An Hoi Bridge’s nightly illumination has earned it the nickname, “Bridge of Lights.”
Heading eastward, we passed some of Hoi An’s best known attractions. Completely and totally overwhelmed by the number of people, particularly at the Japanese Covered Bridge, I decided it best to head back to the Ancient Town the following morning, right after sunrise, and try and capture these wonderful sights without wall-to-wall people. Nonetheless, that was a tomorrow problem, and we still had lots of walking to do today.
7. Hoi An Ancient Town #4
Some more lanterns.
Photographing upwards, however, was not an issue.
8. Phin Coffee
Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporter of coffee.
We made a quick stop at the pleasant Phin Coffee (definitely a recommend to get away from the masses!), before making a quick stop at the Quan Thang Ancient House and a really, really quick stop at the Chinese Assembly Hall (they were closing when we arrived).
9. Electrician’s Nightmare Corner #3
Hoi An has experienced at least one typhoon per year in recent years.
We had a generous amount of free time to explore the city before meeting up for dinner. I wanted to visit a custom tailor in town, and my guide steered me there; on the way, I snapped a couple extra photographs…
10. Electrician’s Nightmare Corner #4
This electrical pole is so well-known in Hoi An, it appears on merchandise in tourist gift shops in the town center.
…to include one more of what I am calling “Electrician’s Nightmare Corner” (I am not actually sure what it is called).
11. Hoi An Ancient Town #5
And, more lanterns…. Oh, fun fact: Hoi An has over 400 tailor shops.
I settled on Yaly Couture, a custom tailor in the Ancient Town, to make my smoking jacket (something I had wanted to purchase for many years!) Yaly seemed to have a pretty extensive selection of velvet fabric from me to choose from, and my tailor assured me that, while smoking jacket orders were pretty rare, they did have experience making them. I had my custom fitting (to include a 3D scan), and I selected my fabric (red, black lapel, black buttons - classy!) before being told I needed to return the next day for my first fitting. I was skeptical they could have this tailored velvet coat made in under a day, but nonetheless agreed I’d swing by in the early afternoon. Having only about 20 minutes after my consultation before dinner, I made a quick trip around Hoi An with the other shutterbug in the group to snap as many nighttime photographs as I could.
12. Nighttime Waterfront #1
And even more lanterns, these ones on boats….
We made our way to the waterfront. While lanterns on boats were plentiful, there weren’t yet any floating lanterns on the water. The next two photographs are also from the blitz photography session.
13. Nighttime Waterfront #2
Even more lanterns on boats….
14. Nighttime Waterfront #3
You guessed it….
Enjoying what you’re seeing?
Consider a follow on Instagram.
Now back to the travelogue!
15. Lantern Town
This … is not a lantern. But it was eaten at a restaurant called “Lantern Town”, so….
Meeting back with the group, we had a pleasant dinner at a restaurant in the Ancient Town (Lantern Town); at the recommendation of the tour leader, I ordered the duck, which was pretty delicious, although admittedly a bit undercooked by western standards. When in Hoi An….
16. Electrician’s Nightmare Corner #5
You were worried there’d be no more lanterns, weren’t you?
The following morning, I managed to make my way to the Ancient Town as I had desired, before sunrise and before the masses descended. You will see that many of the photographs pair - this one matches photograph 3 above. Thirteen additional photographs from this walk follow.
17. Hoi An Ancient Town #5
Seriously, any idea how hard it is to come up with facts about lanterns?
18. Hoi An Ancient Town #6
No?
19. Hoi An Ancient Town #7
Okay, here’s one: there is a lantern festival in Hoi An every lunar month.
20. Hoi An Ancient Town #8
I’m going to focus on the boats here, and not the lanterns….
21. Hoi An Ancient Town #9
Same thing here….
22. Hoi An Ancient Town #10
Anyway, that’s twelve lantern festivals a year. Twelve! And some years may even have thirteen!
23. Cau An Hoi Bridge #2
Look at this completely unlanterned bridge. Seems almost naked.
This photograph roughly pairs with photograph 6 above.
24. Japanese Covered Bridge #1
Same with this one, the Japanese Covered Bridge…
Finally, the Japanese Covered Bridge, all to myself!
25. Japanese Covered Bridge #2
...Which was built in 1593 to connect the Japanese and Chinese neighborhoods of Hoi An…
26. Japanese Covered Bridge #3
…And which was restored in 1986.
27. Hoi An Ancient Town #11
Okay, back to the lanterns…
This photograph pairs with photograph 7 above.
28. Hoi An Ancient Town #12
There is one fact we cannot dispute about lanterns, however….
29. Electrician’s Nightmare Corner #6
…And that is lanterns do help make Hoi An Vietnam’s most photogenic city.
If you want to see Hoi An for what it is -one of the most beautiful city centers in the world- you must make the early morning journey into the Ancient Town a priority. It is totally worth the effort.
