Hoi An, Hoi An, Hoi An.......
I keep changing my mind about how I feel about Hoi An.
Sometimes I just can't stand the insane tourist buy anything all the time attitude. There is little to do in the town of Hoi An itself other than walk around shops and buy things. - at least for me, because I have seen the old houses once and have no desire to see them again.
Othertimes, the nice colourful old buildings and lanterns win me over.
Staying:
An Hoi Hotel
a pool! at $15 a night for a single room!!!! WINNING
Having a pool in Hoi An is a relief, especially from May onwards as the weather is really warming up now! The rates seems to vary depending on the season. But I was quoted $15 for room only. $18 for room and breakfast. To be honest the breakfast looked pretty basic and uninspiring - and would only cost about $2 if you bought it at the hotel separately, instead of 3 if you include it in your room rate.
But the rooms are nice. I would avoid the rooms at the very back of the hotel. The walls are thin and the outside noise can be very annoying it you are a light sleeper. But the pool is lovely, the rooms are very large, queen sized bed, fan and aircon, large tv. The second night when I got moved to inside the hotel (buidling works woke me up at 4am.... but I'm sure that's finished now!) it was very quiet and perfect!
Nguyen Phuong Hotel - 109 Ba Trieu St. +84.510.3916588
This hotel is located out of the old town, which means it is on a nice quiet street! I found them to be very helpful and friendly. A basic single room is $12 a night - aircon, tv, large (and very comfy!) bed with quality pillows! shower . A double room- double bed and single bed, large windows, aircon, tv, bath and shower is $16.
Thanh Binh II Hotel
Located just outside of the main drag this is a large hotel.
Breakfast and a pool are located just around the corner at the Thanh Bihn III. Only about 50 metres away so not really an issue. Breakfast is a buffet with eggs cooked to your liking, pretty tasty and a reasonable range of foods on offer.
Room prices vary depending on room facilities. We booked through booking.com and got $22 a night rooms, breakfast included.
The downside was that the bed was extremely uncomfortable! we could feel all the springs. I would suggest asking to see rooms before accepting the check in process, even if you have booked already - that way it will be a lot easier to change rooms if needed. We did sneak into an unoccupied room, and the bed there was way more comfortable, so it's worth asking them to switch if you find it too hard.
Eating
Hola taco
This meal was amazing! The tacos are soft shells, more what we Aussies would call tortillas. The flavours are amazingly put together, including avocado, home made cheeses, Chipotle sauces. This honestly was the best meal I have had in a long long time, and I love Vietnamese food!
Secret garden
Check the map, this place can be a little difficult to find, but look for the black signs with gold writing and a key hole symbol.
This restaurant was beautiful. It is set in lush gardens with big fans, ponds and plants to keep it cool, and I hear they have an air conditioned room for those really hot days! Food was delicious! Really nice flavours and twists on traditional food. We planned to go back a second time, but never got back sadly. We were a bit afraid that prices would be way high when we walked in and saw how beautiful it was, but meals were around 5 to 7 dollars. Generous serving sizes, we had a shared entrees on 2 mains, and were both stuffed!
Mermaid
The original of miss Vy's restaurants, now joined by morning glory, cargo, the market and a bakery Cafe! Mermaid is small and simple, the kitchen is next to the dining area and open enough to allow you to see in if you want.
Food was tasty, we had pork ribs and squid stuffed with pork mince (amazing!). Potentially make a booking if you are determined, it was empty when we arrived around 6.30 or 7, but completely full when we finished.
Namaste
Ranked 2 in hoi an on trip advisor. I have no idea how! This was absolutely the most disappointing place we ate.
It didn't taste bad per say, but was just so uninteresting. We asked for medium spice, I couldn't taste any! Seriously I have had spicier mild curries in Australia. We got a curry we had never heard of before, which had some nice flavours, but nothing mind blowing. Our other meal was butter chicken - which often works as a good base test for new restaurants.... It is the most tasteless BC I have ever had. Plus the meat was incredibly tough :-(
The honey lassi however was delicious! And we were given complimentary cracker type things and dip.
I was later told by a local that they have always been disappointed here, but always get a delicious meal at ganesh!
Stuff to do
bike riding
My favourite activity in Hoi An was hiring a bike, getting a map (there is one you can get with the surrounding area marked on it) and just riding out of town. As soon as you get out a little way you find people who are amazing and entertained to see westerners and keen to interact with you for fun.... not to demand money for every photo or anything.
Learn how to say hello, and beautiful (dep) and then feel free to walk out into the rice feild and take photos of people! say hello, show them the camera - then show them the first photo you take. Often farmers etc. have never seen a photo of themselves! so they find it really entertaining and will point for you to take photos of other people, or show other people their photo.
If you are in the area for a few days consider going to a print shop - getting some photos printed and going back to give them to the person. especially if you were in their house and can find your way back. It will only cost you a dollar or two for heaps of photos, and will be an amazing gift for people who have never had photos taken before, or only for special occasions.
My Son
Pronounced - Me son, is up in the hills behind Hoi An. It is easy through any hotel to arrange a bus tour up to see the ruins. I would recommend leaving as early as possible (my tour left at 8.30. last time I went I think the bus left at 6ish) Early is cooler, and has less tourists walking around.
I would also check how much an entrance ticket is. Turns out these aren't included in the tour price. I thought it was about 60 000VND. But our tour guide made everyone give him 100K VND.
If you are interested in the history, I would recommend reading up on it before you go. I found the tour guide difficult to understand. And annoying, because he kept repeating himself and giving pop quizzes like it was some sort of school trip. Plus, by walking away from the group I could be a little alone and relax.
Blind massage
one hour, skilled hands, $5.
Need I promote this more! (I will anyway)
Basically, this shop is run by a group of visually impaired people who do great massages. This is a massage to get those tight knots out of you back.... not a soft, useless "relaxing" massage like you often get in the tourist spa type places. Plus, you are helping blind people have a profession that is perfect for them!
It on Cua Dai street, a little way out of town - maybe ride a bike or get a taxi if it's too hot!
Visiting the old town
A number of houses/buildings in the old town have been preserved traditionally and tourists are able to wander through. You buy tickets outside the old town. Basically a book of tickets gives you access to a set number of locations, you then pick and choose which you want to see.
I haven't done that this visit to Vietnam, on a past visit my dad and i did and to be honest we werequite disappointed. So, nang info might be quite old, and maybe it is more interesting now, i don't know. The places you can look at are either functioning homes, or businesses. We found that even when paying to go in, we would be harassed too buy something, which was particularly annoying!
There are however a couple of temples that are free to visit. They are usually signed well! The Chinese temple I visited for free did have a tourist shop at the entrance, but they were not actually pushy at all, so it was a pleasant (though way over priced) shop.
Hoi An Photo tour
Spend a morning or sunset with a professional photographer and Hoi An local getting to know the people, seeing sites you wouldn't otherwise get to and taking great photos!
see m post here: http://travelnamnow.blogspot.com/2014/08/hoi-photo-tour.html for more information!
Diving and snorkeling Cham island
I went diving for a day with Cham Island diving centre. They were professional, friendly and I always felt safe! We were both first time divers, but they gave us plenty of information to make sure we were safe and relaxed and kept it fun. Two dives cost about $90, which included one on one dives, all the equipment hire, lunch on the island and time to snorkel after our dives.
I liked them so much I am returning to do my dive course!
There are other dive centres in Hoi An as well. I know that Cham Island dive centre are also PADI certified. A few of the cheap snorkeling places we saw at the dive site. They had much smaller wooden boats (that would take longer to reach the island, and suffer from high waves a lot more) and instead of providing snorkels and fins to the customers they made everyone wear life vests and stay at the surface in one tiny area. It looked awfully unpleasant - so be wary of those cheap tours booked through hotels or other agencies!
Shopping
Hoi An has plenty of markets, souvenir shops, made in china bulk goods. At any of these I tend to offer half the original price, then walk away. They pretty much always call you back offering whatever you said - or lower. And they always look very happy (or I hear them tell someone else what you paid and that person laughs - speaking a little Vietnamese is worth it!). So don't feel like you are ripping them off too much. But at the same time if the product looks well made, or is actually hand made - think about what you would pay for it in Australia / where ever you are from. People who are actually making things themselves might accept your way too low price because they just can't compete with the made in china junk.
Clothes
Getting clothes made is a very big part of being in Hoi An. No matter how much you try to resist...... the days of walking past tailors wears you down eventually. I would absolutely recommend Xuan. She is a lovely woman and being in her shop will be relaxing and calm, no harassing you to buy anything, or trying to tell you to buy more and more. Her prices seem fair, and the quality is really good. She will absolutely ensure you are totally happy with the finished product. and the zips and stitching is all well done.
The clothes last! I know people who come back to her year after year.
Xuan - 27 Hoang Dieu St, Hoi An 0510 3863 342
remember, you might find things cheaper elsewhere, but you get what you pay for!
More detailed information on tailors can be found here: http://travelnamnow.blogspot.com/2014/08/tailors-of-hoi-getting-clothes-that-fit.html
Scams
Hoi An isn't so much about specific scams, as many many people trying to take your money and hugely inflated prices.
As a basic rule... offer them half of whatever they quote you. then, either they will drop their price or they wont. Walk away..... either they will offer you a decent price as you walk away - or they wont. If they don't, obviously the original price was ok... so just go back 5 or 10 minutes later and buy it! I was told by a local that a hat should cost 20-30K..... when I asked for one they told me 150K I got it for 30K.
Hoi An is more about general annoyances, people constantly calling out to you. Even riding bikes along side and talking at you. I usually say no thanks at first, then ignore them. I do find that some have kept up with walking along and talking or yelling at me. Sometimes until I have snapped and had to tell them to go away!
Just try to ignore them and put your hand up firmly to say no. It can be hard after a few days, but try not to let annoying people ruin your holiday! Personally..... as long as you were polite at first - don't beat your self up too much if you do snap!
Money
Most ATMS only allow you to withdraw 2 million dong per transaction. I have even seen signs in the ATM that state this is law in Hoi An. Firstly, that's a lie - the MB bank on Hai Ba Trung will allow you to withdraw up to 5 million (and with no fee!)
secondly, if you don't want to walk that far your other option is to go into the bank and withdraw as much as you like directly. This only works if the card has your name printed on it (so not for prepaids cards) and I am not sure of the fees involved.
Most banks will have people who speak English, so don't be afraid to just give it a go.
Watch out for carrying too much money on you. And remember that Hotels will not take responsibility for money you leave in your room. I have heard of people claiming to have cash taken from their bags, possibly by cleaners? So either keep it locked up, or hand it in to reception if you are worried.
