I had intended to treat Hoi An as ‘downtime’, booking a hotel outside the city centre with its own beach. It hasn’t quite worked out like that, although having settled bedside the pool on Thursday morning it was really difficult to move my bum and go exploring! My plan for the beach on Friday afternoon was scuppered by a deluge of rain (which I got caught out in, and was soaked), but determined to be able to say ‘I swam in the South China Sea’, I got a quick dip in before breakfast on my departure day… that’s dedication for you! And it was so worth it, even if I had to pack a damp cozzie 😂
After my relaxing morning on Thursday, post-Hue trip, I got a ‘Grab’ (equivalent of UK Uber) into Hoi An centre. The city runs a historical trail, for which they charge the princely sum of VD120,000 (just shy of £4) for a ticket that you can use to go into five historical buildings. From the trail map, you can choose one major attraction, two second tier, and three smaller buildings. Seemed to work well. I visited the Quan Cong temple and pagoda (that was meant to be two majors, but they ran into one another, and no-one seemed to be checking!), the Museum of Traditional Medicine, and several different styles of house; some Vietnamese and some clearly very Chinese influenced. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and the streets weren’t as rammed as they seem to be during the evenings.
At about 5pm I stopped for a salted iced coffee, before heading to a lantern making lesson. ‘Lantern making with Lynn’ was hidden up an alleyway in the old town… She had clearly been busy during the day as there were fabric remnants all over the floor, but when I arrived there was one person putting finishing touches and me… so I had Lynn’s undivided attention for the next hour. She supplied me with all the necessary components to make a bamboo frame, bending the pieces and fitting them into the top and bottom retainers, then passing a thread through to keep them in place. Next I chose a fabric and was shown how to glue it to the frame, cut off the excess, finish the top and bottom and add a tassel. It was really engrossing, and with her pidgin English, Lynn kept telling me ‘good job’, so I assume I must have been doing it right! I was very pleased with the result, and will try very hard to get it back to the UK in one piece.
Feeling very pleased with myself, I wandered back into the now busy hub of old town and chose a restaurant for dinner. I don’t find the currency conversion here very easy… the numbers are scarily big, and dinner was a case in point, when I was slightly panicked about the menu prices… until I realised that my bill was less than £10 for main course, dessert, beer and tip! The streets and the river all lit up with lanterns look really pretty. There are a lot of ‘souvenir’ shops, tailors, leather, silver, clothes… all on repeat and all keen to take your money, but I resisted 😉. I got the hotel shuttle bus back, and settled in for the night.
I had a very early start to my final day in Hoi An, having booked a trip to My Son sanctuary. Billed as a ‘beat the heat and the crowds’ option, pick up from my hotel was at 5:20 a.m., but the trade off was that I’d be back by around 11, with time to do other stuff later in the day. My Son is a UNESCO heritage site of the Champa people of central Vietnam. It’s partly still in ruins after many wartime attacks, and partly under reconstruction. Our guide was excellent, and it was interesting to hear her take on the renovation work – I would have to agree with her that ‘rebuilding’ in a way that looks like a Barrett homes reconstruction of Edinburgh Castle is less than desirable. But the bits they hadn’t yet got to were fabulous. After exploring for about 90 minutes, we were rewarded with a Champa breakfast of noodle soup (of course) and some strange delicacies which I can’t recall the names of.
As promised we were back to Hoi An before 11, sadly to persistent rain… I had a little rest in my room before heading out for lunch and returning soaking wet as recounted above 🌧️ The remainder of my day was enforced relaxation… reading, bath, packing and dinner at the hotel.
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t like Hoi An as much as I expected I would. It’s certainly pretty, with all its lanterns, but is also very touristy and even has the odd Irish bar 😱 And whilst my hotel was in a lovely setting, I think I’d have been better off closer to town so everything was within easy walking distance. Live and learn.
Next stop, Hanoi and Halong Bay… my final week!
50shadesofbrave 