An Afternoon in Hoi An

Had a lazy morning, went for breakfast at the hotel then a bit of a walk to the beach - we had booked a car and driver to take us to Hoi An at noon so had a bit of time to kill. Hoi An, once known as Faifo, has more than 2,000 years history, was the principal port of the Cham Kingdom, which controlled the strategic spice trade with Indonesia from the 7th to the 10th century and was a major international port in the 16th and 17th centuries. (It is also the second Unesco site we have visited on this trip, the first being Ha Long Bay). Our driver, Tri, picked us up right on time for the 40 minute drive to this fun little tourist town. We stopped along the way to look at the Marble Mountains, and also the beautiful marble carvings and statues close by. Would love to bring one home but there’s that darn weight restriction on the plane - and I think having it mailed would break the bank! 🤣🤣.

We arrived in Hoi An around 12:45 and were in awe of all the shops and stalls on every street! Everything from leather to silk, to ceramic knick knacks and everything in between! One of my reasons for wanting to go was to have a silk dress made. Met a lady named An at one of the stalls who insisted on taking me to her store, where she introduced me to her dressmaker, Thien. There I was given a couple of books with different dress designs, and fabric samples, got measured up and bingo bango, they will deliver my dress to our hotel tomorrow! We left there, wandered around a bit, then went for a light lunch at a cafe overlooking the river. Dave had pondered having a suit custom made, and decided at the prices they were asking, it was well worth it! We went back to see Thien and he got measured up for a wool/cashmere suit and silk shirt for about 1/8th of the price back home, which will also be hand made and delivered tomorrow! 😳

We walked around some more checking out stores, then decided to rest with a nice glass of wine while we waited for the night market to open at 6, and the Lantern Festival on the river at dusk - all while listening to a Karaoke singer down the road who would totally benefit from a singing lesson or 50! 🤣🤣. We watched the vendors set up for the market, then took a stroll through, where I picked up a few nice items to bring home. We watched a man chopping and spreading fruit ice cream on a cold slab, then spreading it thinly and making it into ice cream rolls!

We went back down to the river at dusk to view the Lantern Festival - dozens of boats beautifully decorated with lanterns, and people buying cardboard lanterns with candles inside to float down the river - very cool! By this time we were getting a bit tired so we messaged our driver to pick us up and headed back to Da Nang after a lovely Hoi An afternoon. Freshened up and went out for a bite to eat then back to the hotel to rest our weary bones!Læs mere