How Hoi An has changed

By Andrew,

With neither of us feeling well, and our tour of the HaGiang Loop canceled, we had a few days to fill in. We decided to follow the lead of the American Army and retreat south. For us we hoped that this would bring cleaner air and maybe even some blue sky. We hadn't seen the sun since Bangkok, at the beginning of our trip, and we were really starting to miss it. We were visiting some amazing places, but the oppressive smog made us feel like we were making memories in monochrome!

About half way down the coast is a town called Hoi An. I'd visited here about 12 years ago, and had fond memories of the beautiful architecture, and peaceful vibe. Both air and rail transport options from Hanoi deposit you in the city of Da Nang, and you need to transfer to Hoi An from there (about 45 minutes). It was this drive that made me realise just how much a developing nation can change in 12 years. The entire 25km of coastline from DaNang down to Hoi An was just about filled in by a relentless onslaught of resorts and golf courses. It was awful, and had me worried about the former beauty and calm of Hoi An. I realise that it's unfair to resent a nation for developing itself, and this one is probably on me for not doing my homework better.

Thankfully our hotel sat like an island of calm amidst the sea of resorts. Isolated near the southern end of Hoi An's seafront, Angel Garden Villa actually provided a pretty perfect metaphor for the Vietnam that we'd been seeing. It was a new building that had been set up by a local, surrounded by vacant blocks that were still grazed by water buffalo. Outside that were the foreign-owned resorts, quickly encroaching from all sides.

The old town of Hoi An had not been immune from all this change. It was still UNESCO listed, and packed with beautiful old buildings. Now it was packed with tourists, as well! The river, which used to peacefully disappear into the dark each evening, was now lit up like a kind of SEAsian Vegas, with latern-clad boats doing circles in some kind of imaginery carnival. I was beginning to feel like an old man with everything being "better back in my day". Hoi An was still beautiful... but it wasn't peaceful anymore.Read more