Vietnam Travel Information

Hoi An (Hội An) is a beautiful city in Vietnam, just south of Da Nang. The Old Town of Hoi An is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Understand

Hoi An riverside, seen from Cam Nam

Hoi An, once known as Faifo, was a major international port in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the foreign influences are discernible to this day. While the serious shipping business has long since moved to Danang, the heart of the city is still the Old Town, full of winding lanes and Chinese-styled shophouses, which is particularly atmospheric in the evening as the sun goes down. While almost all shops now cater to the tourist trade, the area has been largely preserved as is, which is unusual in Vietnam, and renovation has proceeded slowly and carefully - it's mercifully absent of towering concrete blocks and karaoke parlors.

The main thoroughfare in the Old Town is Tran Phu. Just south of the Old Town, across the Thu Bon River, are the islands of An Hoi to the west, reachable via Hai Ba Trung, and Cam Nam to the east, reachable via Hoang Dieu.

Get in

By plane

The nearest airport is in Danang, which has frequent connections to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and some flights to Bangkok, Singapore and Siem Reap, Cambodia (for Angkor Wat). A taxi from the airport to Hoi An costs about US$15 thanks to the cartel, but only about half that in the other direction.

By train

There is no railway station in Hoi An. The nearest is in Danang, which receives several trains a day from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Nha Trang etc. Most travel agents and hotels can book a train ticket for you.

By bus

Open-tour buses run daily up and down the coast from Da Nang, Hue (4-5 hours) and Nha Trang (9-10 hours).

• Sinh Cafe, 18B Hai Ba Trung Street, tel: 0510.863948/916242. Can handle transfers to Vientiane and Savannakhet in Laos and onward.

By motorbike or taxi

It's easy to take a motorbike or taxi to and from Da Nang via the Marble Mountains (see below), from where you can catch a train onwards.

Get around

Traffic in too-narrow spaces

The centre of Hoi An is very small and pedestrianised, so you will be walking around most of the time. Unfortunately, bikes have not been banned from the center yet, so particularly at night keep an eye out for motorized kamikazes, even in the most narrow alleys.

To go to the beach or reach some of the more remote hotels, it is easy and cheap to hire a bicycle. Taxis are few and far between, but can be called by phone. When busy, taxis may refuse your fare back to your hotel from town if it is too close, opting for larger fares. Arranging a shuttle from your hotel may be a better option. Motorbike taxis, of course, are always an option. You can also charter boats for about US$1/hour.

Almost all hotels rent motorbikes at about US$5/day. It's standard practice for the bike to have only enough petrol to make it to the next petrol station. If you value your money, go to a gas station, rather than the hand-operated roadside pumps, as prices at the latter are appreciably higher. Use the bike to visit My Son, about an hour away, or the Marble Mountains, about forty minutes north towards Da Nang.

See

Old Town

Chinese shophouses and Communist propaganda

Entry to all historical sites in Hoi An is via a coupon system, where 75,000 dong (US$5) gets you a ticket that can be used to enter five attractions: one museum, one old house, one assembly hall, the handicraft workshop (and traditional music show) or the traditional theater, and either the Japanese Covered Bridge or the Quan Cong Temple. Tickets are sold at various entry points into the Old Town, including Hai Ba Trung Street, and also at some of the attractions, including the Cantonese Assembly Hall. The city requests that visitors dress "decently" while visiting sites in the Old Town, as in no sleeveless blouses or skirts above the knees, but there's nobody specifically charged with enforcing the dress code.

First, you may choose one of the two landmarks of Hoi An:

• Japanese Covered Bridge (Chua Cau or Lai Vien Kieu), on the west end of Tran Phu Street. The bridge was constructed in the early 1600's by the Japanese community, roughly 40 years before they left the city to return to Japan under the strict policy of sakohu enforced by the Tokugawa Shogunate, and renovated in 1986. Today, it's the symbol of Hoi An. Entry is one coupon, but it's possible to cross back and forth several times without meeting a ticket-checker. If your scruples are bothering you, feel free to leave tribute for the pig statue or the dog statue who stand guard at opposite ends of the bridge.

• Quan Cong Temple, 24 Tran Phu Street.

The ticket allows admission to one of the four museums in the Old Town:

• Museum of Folk Culture, 33 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.

• Museum of Trade Ceramics, 80 Tran Phu Street. The dusty, unlabeled displays of broken pottery are eminently forgettable, but the house itself is nice enough, and it provides a better opportunity to explore the shape and layout of an old Hoi An home than you'll find at any of the Old Houses (below).

• Hoi An Museum of History and Culture, 7 Nguyen Hue Street.

• Museum of Say Huynh Culture, 149 Banc Dang Street.

There are three old houses that exist in an awkward halfway state between museum show-piece and somewhat shabby residence for the family that lives there. Your ticket allows admission to one.

• Phung Hung House, 4 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, just west of the Japanese Bridge. Traditional two-story wooden house, inhabited over 100 years by eight generations; and the current one attempts to guide you around in hope of a tip.

• Quan Thang House, 77 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.

• Tan Ky House, 101 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. As above, a younger member of the family will provide a cup of tea and a "tour" that doesn't stray from the front room of the house, as you'd need to step over sleeping members of the older generation to go anywhere else. This family takes particular pride in visits from celebrities; look for the two photos of exiled Thai P.M. Thaksin Shinawatra near the front door.

Numerous congregation halls, where Chinese expatriate residents socialized and held meetings, are dotted about the town. They are typically named after the home region of their members, such as Fujian and Canton. Your ticket allows admission to one. Some do not have ticket-takers, so it's up to your conscience if you want to try wandering into a second.

• Cantonese Assembly Hall (Quang Dong), 176 Tran Phu Street. Built in 1885, it has a calm courtyard with ornate statuary. Take a peek at the half-hidden back yard and its kitschy pastel dragon statues.

• Hokien (Fujian) Meeting Hall (Phuc Kien), 46 Tran Phu Street. Built in 1757.

• Chinese All-Community Meeting Hall (Trieu Chau), 157 Nguyen Duy Hieu. Built in 1887. It's near the Fujian hall, also spanning the block.

Finally, you can choose one of the following to get some "Intangible Culture" into your heathen soul:

• Hoi An Handicraft Workshop, 9 Bach Dang Street. Folk music performances are offered at 10:15am and 3:15pm every day except Monday.

• Traditional Theater, 75 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.

Other

• The Hoi An Orphanage is located right next to the Roman Catholic church. The Kianh Foundation works permanently at the orphanage to improve the children’s health, education and quality of life.

Do

• Cua Dai Beach. A place to unwind a few kilometers away from the town centre. A motorbike ride from the town centre to Cua Dai Beach should cost around 20,000 dong. It's also possible to cycle there, which gives you a nice view of the rice farms along the way. Along the beach are a number of mini restaurants selling seafood and drinks. They also provide deck chairs and tables right on the beach. Vendors usually stroll the beach offering fresh fruit. It's a relatively nice beach, but keep an eye on kids, as the tide can be deceptively strong here. There are a number of upmarket resort hotels in the area.

• Cooking lessons are offered at several restaurants around town. If you enjoyed your meal there, it can't hurt to inquire.

Festivals in Hoi An are based on the lunar calendar, so break out your lunar date planners and lunar PDAs to see if you'll be there at the right time.

• Full Moon Festival, aka Old Town's Night - held on the 14th of every lunar month, one night before the full moon, when the Old Town becomes even more festive than usual (which is saying something). Usually starts around 6:30pm.

• Fisherman's Festival - held on the 16th of the February lunar month to pray for a good crop.

• Mid-Autumn Festival - held on the 14th of the August lunar month.

Buy

Lantern shop

Made-to-measure shirts, blouses, dresses, suits etc. are on offer from the renowned tailors of Hoi An. When last counted in 2002, there were 140 shops in the city, and the number is now well over 400. It's one of the few places in Vietnam where the motorbike taxi drivers look positively sedate by comparison. Be careful who you choose to manufacture your clothes. As a rule of thumb, give all tailors 2 days advance to prepare your garment and keep going back until you get your clothes right! Suits should cost around 40USD, if you choose to pay 30USD, beware that you get what you pay for, slightly lousier quality of cloth and problems with workmanship, such as misaligned stripes on the pants and blazer. Shirts should cost 10USD and below. Skirts normally sell around 7-10 USD. Dresses should cost around 10- 14USD. However, prices might change depending on design and detail.

• Cloth Market, located next to the Central Market and looks like a cloth warehouse. Inside are many small tailor stalls that are generally cheaper and more reliable than shops elsewhere. Orders usually take a day or two.

• Yaly, Tran Phu Street, has a great and extensive range of fabrics to choose from and the staff are very attentive and extremely patient. Ignore the fixed price claim! Discounts can be given for multiple purchases.

Hoi An also has a good selection of Vietnamese art, both modern and traditional, serious and kitschy. Galleries can be found all over town but Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St, on the other side of the Japanese Bridge, has the heaviest concentration.

• Central Market, Bach Dang Street, (just before the Cam Nam Bridge) has all of the cheapster t-shirts and bog-standard souvenirs you've seen at every other stop in Vietnam, but it also has plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, seafood, and all of the other stuff they use in Hoi An's terrific restaurants. T-shirts should cost around 20000 VND, and any amount of haggling will not reduce the prices beyond this level. There are shops selling backpacks, around 20 USD for a 100L backpack. However, Hanoi has a wider but more expensive selection.

• Thanh Ha Pottery Village - about 2km west of town, this traditional village has been making pottery for more than 450 years. It was on the verge of extinction until the wave of new hotel construction in Hoi An revived demand.

• Kim Bong Carpentry Village - about 3km west of town.

Eat

Gỏi cuốn fresh spring rolls and cao lầu noodles at Brother's Cafe

Food in Hoi An is, even by high Vietnamese standards, cheap and tasty. In addition to the usual suspects, there are three dishes that Hoi An is particularly famous for:

• Cao lầu, a dish of rice noodles which are not quite as slippery as pho and a bit closer in texture to pasta. The secret is the water used to make it, and authentic cao lau uses only water from a special well in the city. The noodles are topped with slices of roast pork, dough fritters, and this being Vietnam, lots of fresh herbs and veggies.

• White rose (banh bao vac), a type of shrimp dumpling made from translucent white dough bunched up to look like a rose.

• Wantan dumplings, essentially the same as the Chinese kind, served up in soup or deep-fried.

If you are really very adventurous, you can walk to the Central Market, and have a local breakfast. Seating on stools, eating a bowl of Cao Lau with wooden chopsticks, and sipping the ice cold "White Coffee with vinamilk" is an adventure. Beware though, prices will vary atrociously, as shopkeepers swarm over you to sell you things, or even shove plates of food before you. Just keep declining politely and return the food if you don't fancy it. Keep small denominations of VND with you, as you probably won't get change if you give them USD. Also, confirm the prices before you partake of the food. Prices range from about 7000-10000 VND for a bowl of noodles, and 5000-7000 VND for a coffee. The baguette is a nice snack, and should not cost more than 10000 VND. You can point and say no to the vegetables and chilli that they will add. A recommended way to order is to just say "Everything" and say "no" to the chilli. Mineral water is around 10000 VND for a big 1.5L bottle.

Walking along the river at night, you will find a lot of pubs. Beer is around 30000 VND. Cocktails are around 20000- 50000 VND. There are some bar foods available, such as fried prawn crackers for around 15000 VND a plate. Just walk into any pub and have a seat.

Budget

Prices in the very center of Hoi An are generally a little inflated by the tourist trade - cross the bridge over to An Hoi island for a selection of basic but cheap eateries.

• Cafe Bobo, 18 Le Loi. Popular and reasonably-priced. The frappucino-style mocha shakes are great.

• Hoai River, 44 Nguyen Thai Hoc. Terrific food, but long waits.

• Thanh Phuong, 56 Cong Dong (An Hoi island, just across bridge). Cheap and cheerful local eats. A steaming seafood hotpot for two and a large beer will set you back US$3.

• Trung Bac, 87 Tran Phu. 100 years of cao lau and still going strong. A bowl of chewy noodles and lots of veggies will set you back all of 8000 dong.

• White Rose, 51 Hai Ba Trung. The shop that actually makes most of the "white rose" dumplings served all around town. 15,000 dong per serve, and if you ask nicely they'll let you try to make them yourself. Open from 7AM until they run out, usually in the afternoon.

Mid-range

• Cafe des Amis, 52 Rue Bach Dang, close to the central market, ☎ 0510.861616. The signs and the Serge Gainsbourg say French, but the food comes straight out of owner Mr. Nguyen Manh Kim's well-traveled imagination. Diners choose a seafood, meat, or vegetarian set, and then wait to see what turns up at the table, which is usually five or six dishes, one after another. Chef Kim delegates the actual cooking to his assistants, enabling him to chat with diners and trot out his enormous guestbooks. Even if you're on a backpacking budget, a memorable, original meal (and a full stomach) makes this a worthy expense. If you're in town for a couple days, you'll find a (mostly) new set every night, so don't be shy about coming back. Dinner and a drink cost about 96,000 dong per person.

Splurge

• Brother's Cafe, 27 Phan Boi Chau. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Probably Hoi An's nicest restaurant, with a lush landscaped garden in a wonderful riverside French colonial house. The fresh spring rolls (chả giò) are excellent, and priced to match at US$4.50 a plate. The 6-course US$16 set meal for two is a good value though.

• Hoian Vinh Hung 1 Restaurant Cafe, 147B Tran Phu Str. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Drink

• Before & Now, 51 Le Loi Street, ☎ +84-510-910599. Very popular two-level bar and restaurant.

• Tam Tam Cafe, 110 Nguyen Thai Hoc. Cafe, bakery, restaurant and bar all rolled into one. Stylish, popular and not too badly priced.

Sleep

Hotels in Hoi An are fiercely competitive, which means plenty of choice, low prices and generally high standards. Many are clustered around Hai Ba Trung St (formerly Nhi Trung Street), just north of the Old Town and within easy walking distance, and also along Cua Dai Street, off to the east and a bit of a hike away.

Many of Hoi An's high-end hotels are located not in town itself, but by the beach some 5 km away.

Get out

• My Son - ruins of the ancient Cham empire, in the jungle a little over an hour from town

• Several tour companies offer day-trips or overnight trips to Cham Island, which may include snorkeling or scuba diving (US$25-60)

• The Marble Mountains, 9km short of Da Nang, are well worth a morning or afternoon trip from Hoi An

• Hue - the former imperial capital, a few hours away by car or train