Since moving to Singapore, we have been exploring
Asia—somewhere different almost every month. Our favorite country has been Vietnam.
We explored Ho Chi Minh City twice and Hanoi/Ha Long Bay last Christmas
and loved both places.
This year Chinese
New Year fell on a Tuesday and Wednesday in Singapore, so add a Monday of time
off and it became a five-day weekend.
Combine these two events with the fact that we had visitors from the US
and the only thing left to deal with was to find a place to go.
Hoi An has been on our list for a while. Located on the coast of central Vietnam near
Da Nang, it was spared the ravages of war because of its history. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and
worthy of a visit. 
What is Chinese New Year in Singapore, is Lunar New Year or
Tet in Vietnam. This holiday in Asia is
all about visiting family. In China it
is the worlds largest annual human migration.
In Vietnam, while a much smaller country, there are still a lot of people
on the move. And our transfer at Ho Chi
Minh City’s airport confirmed it—there were people everywhere in the terminal
and outside. Thankfully our flight to Da
Nang was a little delayed which made our transfer a sure thing.
We finally got to Hoi An after dark and checked into our
hotel, Lantana Boutique
Hotel. This small family run
hotel was just what we wanted. A short
walk to the old quarter of the city, but a little quieter. The rooms were simple, clean, and nice with
balconies overlooking the river. The restaurant
was good and the cocktails better. We
spent lots of time sitting on the veranda just watching the world go by. And yet we could quickly be across the bridge
and in the old town—it was perfect.
What made it even better was the staff. Always smiling and helpful, whether it was
morning brunch, afternoon cocktails, or dinner.
And the spa services were quite good as evidenced by my back to back
massage days. As good as the hotel was,
Hoi An was the star of the show.
We have decided that taking a walking food tour is a great
way to see a place and Hoi An was no exception.
The five of us met at a Bahn Mi restaurant and then headed off to
explore other food places including a “Vietnamese pizza” with a quail egg
instead of cheese. We ended at more of a
proper restaurant near our hotel called Nostralife
that we hit again the next day. The cool
thing is that you get to eat at places you would never stop at unless you were
a local. A great way to see a place.
The Old Quarter of Hoi An is a wonderful place to shop. The narrow streets are lined with ochre
colored buildings that are highlighted with strings of brightly colored
lanterns, many hanging from arched bamboo staffs. There are art galleries, souvenir stores,
coffee shops, and restaurants. Just
places to hangout and enjoy watching life go by.
New Years Eve saw fireworks at midnight. We are used to fireworks that go off in a
measured manner then end up with a finale for about a minute. But in Vietnam they start fast and keep
going. It was almost a 20-minute
non-stop fast paced display. And we were
able to watch the whole thing from our balcony.
Not bad!
The next day was one for just walking around. About half the shops and other sites were shut
down, but there was still plenty to enjoy.
And that really sums up Hoi An.
It is not a place to go to if you want to do something, it’s a place to
just be and experience.
