Hoi An

     The ancient town of Hoi An, 30 km south of Da Nang, lies on the banks of the Thu Bon River, on the coast of the South China Sea of Central, Vietnam. It is home to approximately 120,000 people. The ‘Old Town’ is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. In 1999, the ‘Old Town’ was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in recognition of the city’s architecture which displays a unique blend of local and foreign influences.

A great way to get from Hué to Hoi An is to travel by car or train along the coastal road. We hired a car and driver ($60 USD), and it was beautiful, however, for someone not comfortable with heights, parts of the road were nerve-wracking, particularly the Hai Van pass, which we chose over the tunnel. The Hải Vân Pass ("ocean cloud pass") is an approximately 21 km long mountain pass. The twisting road on the pass has long been a challenge for drivers traveling between the cities of Hué and Đà Nẵng/Hoi An. The pass has been the scene of at least two of Vietnam's most serious rail accidents and at least one plane crash, however, since the completion of the Hai Van Tunnel in 2005, traffic flow and safety have improved.

We stayed at the Hoi An Beach Resort. 

Our room at the resort had a beautiful view of the river.













Between the seventh and 10th centuries, the Cham (Malayo-Polynesian people) controlled the spice trade and the harbour town at the estuary of the Thu Bon River was an important Vietnamese trading centre. Later, in the 16th century, Hoi An emerged as one of the major trading centres of Southeast Asia when Japanese and Chinese traders built a commercial district there. The city possessed the largest harbour in Southeast Asia and by the 18th century, Hội An was considered by Chinese and Japanese merchants to be the best destination for trading in all of Southeast Asia.

However, with the triumph of Emperor Gia Long in 1802, the French, who had helped the Emporer establish the Nguyen Dynesty, were given exclusive trade rights to the nearby port town of Đà Nẵng and Hội An's importance as a trading centre began to diminish. By the end of the 18th century with the collapse of the Nguyễn Dynesty, (see post: Hué), Đà Nẵng had become the new center of trade (and later French influence) in central Vietnam while Hội An was a forgotten backwater.

Poolside

Lots of water sports at the hotel's private beach

Today, the town is a tourist attraction because of its history, traditional architecture, arts and crafts such as textiles and ceramics. It has a Chinese atmosphere with low, tile-roofed houses and narrow streets. You can still see houses made of rare wood, decorated with lacquered boards and panels engraved with Chinese characters and pillars carved with ornamental designs.

The hotel beach was across the street, but the road was never too busy and the walk was short.

Hoi An has become a particularly popular destination in recent years because of the proliferation of bars, hotels, and beach resorts, from luxury to budget. There are beautiful beaches and dining options and Hoi An is a great place to purchase custom made clothing at very reasonable prices.

Our visit to Hoi An was at the end of our two week holiday. As you can see, we didn't spend much time taking in the ancient architecture - we were there for the beach!


We did eat at some great restaurants: Bao Han had great food and very reasonable prices.

I had 2 silk dresses and 2 short ao dai made and Paul had 4 cotton dress shirts and 2 pairs of pants. We were only there for 3 days! We went to Bi Bi Silk and found the prices and service very good.

the Resort restaurant

dinner out: our server

carved pillar in the 'old town