Chùa Cầu

Today we continued on our journey towards the town of Da Nang. I have fallen in love with the Vietnamese coffee which is very strong and sweet, and I was obliged to have two this morning after the waiter at breakfast misjudged my “no” for a “yes”!

We arrived too early at the nearby train station for our next train trip but to be fair, we weren’t totally convinced that the printed sheet we’d received was a legitimate train ticket to ride. When we were driving towards the station, we saw a huge park we’d noticed when we’d arrived and had forgotten to explore, so Ted went and got some photos whilst I looked after the bags in the station.

During boarding, we found our carriage easily and we ended up with a sleeper cabin for just the two of us. It was somewhat dirty but it was otherwise fine for the two of us. Our journey was about 2.5 hours long and unlike the last train, gave us a good opportunity to see the scenery. The only really tricky part is trying to stand and use the bathroom whilst navigating the movement of the train!

When we arrived in Da Nang, there was the usual assortment of drivers asking if we needed a taxi, but like most places here, we’d arranged a pick-up before leaving Australia. I still can’t get used to seeing drivers who both drive and send text messages, whilst dodging motorcyclists at the same time! We only saw a few sights of Da Nang, such as the dragon bridge, as we’re actually staying in nearby Hội An instead.

The outskirts of Hội An weren’t that appealing and to be honest, the place wasn’t what I was imagining (Ted said it was what he was imagining). At check in, the receptionist asked if we would mind changing to a smaller room for a lower price. To be honest, we think she may have overbooked but we took the smaller room which was located on the very top floor (4th). The receptionist also tried to promote some tours to nearby sites which we didn’t commit to, but said we would think about!

After leaving our bags, we headed into the Old Town to get some lunch. There weren’t a lot of people about which was probably due to the heat - it was stifling! We found a street front Asian restaurant which had amazing food and which Ted said was one of the best meals he’d had so far. Whilst sitting out the front though, we were bombarded by plenty of locals trying to sell us everything from paintings to nuts. One good thing is that they aren’t overly pushy or persistent here.

We then wandered through the Old Town to look at the shops but, being the middle of the day, it was unbelievably hot. I was suffering big time and despite Ted’s best efforts to help by buying me a fan and hydrating water, I was fading very quickly! It was a massive relief when we finally reached our room where we could shower and relax again.

When evening rolled around, we headed out to have dinner. Once we reached the centre of town, it was easy to see why Hội An is on the list of “must see places”. The town was absolutely magical, lit up by lanterns that were either on the buildings, or attached to the small boats sailing down the river. The population of the town seemed to quadruple too, as tourists were everywhere. It didn’t distract from the appeal of the town though, as the sight was amazing.

We stopped for a beer at a street-side bar with an Aussie couple, and just enjoyed the sights. We have been eating so much Asian food lately that for dinner we settled on a very simple Italian meal, at a restaurant outside of the tourist area. The food was mediocre, but it was cheap and we didn’t mind supporting a family business,

We went to the town’s local, the Woop Woop bar for a drink, which is actually the first time we’ve gone drinking since this holiday started! We befriended an English couple and a Mexican guy who are holidaying here. The English couple actually live in Siem Reap, which is our next destination, so they were able to give some good pointers about the town, and what to see whilst there.

We got back to our room at about 11:45pm, which is our latest night we've had since this holiday started! So far we love Hội An, but tomorrow we will spend more time exploring.Read more