Set for Tet

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.