"MEGAAANNN, did you see that?! That old man just tried to pour hot water from his kettle on me"
"Really? Are you sure he wasn't just offering you a drink?"
"Um, no. He put a kettle towards me like he was pouring it, so I pushed him away and ran"
"You pushed the old man?"
"Yes."
And that is how our trip to Hoi An started.
Hoi An was a popular recommendation when I was planning my Vietnam trip, and I definitely agree - it was my favourite of our stops in Vietnam.
We stayed at the Silk Marina Resort and Spa Hotel which was in a perfect location, just a 5-minute walk away from the Old Town. When we arrived we were given cocktails and informed that we had been upgraded as I was an 'Expedia VIP' (I think that just means I spend too much money on Expedia), but it was a great start.
Of all the hotels we stayed in this one was the nicest in regards to space and amenities. After the first night, I did have to request a new room as they had put us next to the noisy bar (probably thinking we were going to be fun party girls - but actually we were more excited about what movie was going to be on at 8pm each night on the one English movie channel).
On our first evening, we were pretty tired but took a stroll to find something to eat. We stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant called Madame Klein which was located next to the night market. We perched on a stool overlooking the market and watched the world go by before having an early night in preparation for a full day of exploring the next day.
The breakfast at the Silk Marina Hotel was the breakfast of dreams. So. Much. Food. I ate about 5 plates each morning - including my favourite - a freshly made omelette. I can happily say they did the best breakfast of any hotel I have ever stayed in and I would recommend this hotel for the breakfast alone.
For our first full day, we decided to rent some bikes to explore (we got our bikes from our hotel). We cycled through the town and along the river. During the ride, we stopped to take some photos of the beautiful buildings on the other side in the Ancient Town. As I was stood admiring the view I noticed a man coming over to me. He stood right next to me and my bike, and he just stared at me. The hotel had warned us to be careful with our belongings here, so I quickly shoved my camera into my bag and waited for him to say something whilst he was there, invading my personal space. But he didn't.
Me: Hello?
Him:
Me: What do you want?
Him:
Me: Are you mugging me? No? Ok. I'm really not sure what's happening here?
Him:
Me: Ok. Sam, I'd like to go now. Let's leave, please
Him:
And that was the time I think I almost got mugged in Vietnam. But I'm still not really sure.
We crossed the bridge to cycle around the Ancient Town, but the place was FULL of tourists and it was quite difficult to cycle (I'm way too British to keep dinging the bell to make people move) so we made the decision to return the bikes and return on foot. On our travels, we spotted another cafe opposite our hotel that sold egg coffee (my fave) so this became our daily pit stop on the way to the town.
In Vietnam, a lot of houses are also businesses, so walking along the street next to our hotel there were a lot of family-run cafes, nail salons, laundry facilities, where you could also just see the family living areas.
The streets of the Ancient Town are lined with numerous leather shops, tailors, coffee shops and gift shops. The town has some amazing architecture including a lot of French Colonial buildings that have been well-preserved. Most of the shops sell pretty much exactly the same thing but getting a tailored outfit is a must in Hoi An. I got a work dress and a blazer made, and apart from the fact it's quite different to what I requested (I showed a picture of a purple Topshop waterfall blazer, and got a bright pink fitted blazer), I was very happy the end result, the fit and even how quickly they made them. I, to this day, have major regrets about not getting more.
For some of the buildings you require an 'Ancient Town Ticket' to enter - one of these being the Japanese bridge (see the very first picture of this blog post), however, we discovered that if you got there early enough it was accessible until around11am as there was no one there checking tickets. During this time, motorbikes and scooters are also not allowed to drive through the streets so it's a lot easier to walk around and explore without being beeped at every 2 seconds.
As well as the lines of shops, there were also plenty of street vendors. Some sat at little stalls and others wandering the streets. I loved that a lot of them were wearing traditional Vietnamese rice hats and some were carrying the baskets of food over their shoulders - Quang ganh.
We sat in a bar drinking cocktails one lunchtime (FYI - happy hour is a thing in Hoi An!) watching the world go by when a street seller came and sat with us and started showing us all his (overpriced) fridge magnets. He was desperate for us to buy one, and even when we told him we had no Vietnamese cash, he was looking at my other currencies to see if it was any use to him (he didn't fancy 10p worth of Indonesian Rupiah, unfortunately). Some can be very persistent but most of them are very friendly. A lot of them ask where you are from as you walk by to try and start their sales pitch, but one of them caught my attention as she said 'Kia Ora' to Sam when she said she was from New Zealand, and then when I said the UK she replied 'ooo Lovely Jubbly!'
In the afternoon, Sam decided she was brave enough to attempt another Vietnamese massage (after the horror of Ho Chi Mihn). I was not, so I went back to the hotel in search of food. I wanted to try some Pho, so I headed to the hotel restaurant to get some as I was still a little too wimpy for authentic street food. Sadly, when it came out and was full of peanuts which was heartbreaking. (I don't like nuts if you didn't know that).
After confirmation that the nearby spa was not as dodgy as the last one, I decided to check it out for myself when the rain arrived. In Vietnam, you have to remove your shoes whenever you enter a spa and put their flip-flops on (even if you are just getting a manicure). This was difficult for me as I had pretty much bandaged my foot to my shoe to help me walk. My massage therapist (who I'm pretty sure was literally a 14-year-old boy, which was slightly weird) was traumatised when he tried to help me get my flips flops on and I almost kicked him in the face. So, we came to the agreement that I could just walk barefoot and I gave him a good tip when I left. The spa was excellent and was a lot more professional that Ho Chi Mihn. So if you find yourself in Hoi An, be sure to check out Green Heaven Spa. They were great with discounts and bundle deals too, so I also had a facial with my massage and paid about $20 total.
As we were in Hoi An a little longer than the other cities, we had planned a day trip to the beach. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side for the beach so we decided to check out the Ba Na Hills near Da Nang - home of the Golden Bridge. We booked a driver through our hotel and the staff looked at us like we were a little bit crazy when we said we were happy to go in the rain. Little did we know the rain was not the same 1500m above sea level.
As we drove towards Da Nang the rain was getting heavier so we asked our driver if we could stop somewhere to buy rain ponchos. He pulled over beside a little shop and told us to wait in the car. He came back with 2 rain ponchos, each costing about $2*. He told us that as we were tourists, the shop owners would have charged a considerable amount more for those ponchos - probably about $7.
We arrived at Ba Na Hills and arranged for our driver to meet us in the same place in 4 hours time (HA, we actually lasted about an hour and a half) The top of the hills were hidden in the clouds, but still, at no point did we think this would be a bad idea.
Before long we were beginning our journey in a cable car up into the hills. We had been given a map that showed all the attractions at the top. There would be two stops - the first would be where the bridge was.
This bit was hell. We sat in silence for a good 20 minutes whilst the cable car continued through the clouds. We were swinging side to side and rain was hammering on the windows. We had no idea how long we had left because we could not see a thing. The plus side was I couldn't see how far down I would be plummeting to my death if it had gone drastically wrong, but it made my trip on the Christchurch gondola seem like a breeze.
When we reached the first stop we were greeted by a lobby full of tourists. I assumed they were queuing for something but it turns out they were just looking out the window at the bridge because obviously, the weather was too bad to actually go and stand out on it.
No, not for us.
We were there for that bridge so we were going to walk across it - in flip-flops.
Within seconds we were saturated.
Makeup down our faces. Clothes wet through. My bad foot even turned purple.
But I have absolutely no regrets.
We walked all the way across that bridge. - even got a couple photos.
This part of our day trip was actually one of my favourite things to do in Vietnam. I mean, if you google 'Vietnam Golden Bridge', you will see the view on most days is, in fact, a lot different to the one in my photo below. But it was still pretty cool to actually be on this bridge! Had it not been raining the views would have been incredible - but also it would have been jam-packed with other tourists.
After a trip to the bathroom to attempt to dry under the hand dryers (didn't work), we got in the next cable car and carried on to the top. When we got there, there was a waxwork museum (not quite Maddam Tussauds) and a large amusement area with lots of rides (reminded me of a larger scale seaside pier).
According to the map we had been given, there was also a French-style village at the top with a castle. In the pictures, it reminded me of the village from Beauty and the Beast. Our reality, however, was an even bigger storm, couldn't really see anything, and genuinely thought as I was wading through the flooded paths that I was going to fall over in the wind and get swept away again.
Again, other tourists were just stood in windows and doorways looking out. I'm really not sure why we didn't do the same. At first, it was pretty funny, but then in typical me style I slipped and hit my (now very cold and wet) bad foot on a metal sign, cried a bit, and decided it was time to leave.
Dramatic as always.
In hindsight, trainers and a raincoat probably would have been a much smarter choice of clothing for that day trip - potentially might have even lasted 4 hours. Live and learn.
We spent our final evening exploring the night market. Hoi An gets even prettier in at night. We took a ride in one of the many boats on the river and admired the magical atmosphere that was created by the street lanterns and riverboat lights. And, even though most safety standards in Vietnam are a little slack, they were adamant that we wore our lifejackets for this peaceful, slow boat ride (obviously, I gladly accepted mine after the number of near-death experiences I had encountered in the previous 2 weeks).
The night market itself was surprisingly small, and most of the stalls sold pretty much the same thing. But it still had a nice buzzing atmosphere. I did fufill my number one Vietnam goal of purchasing a banana shirt - which I still have not worn. After a bit of bartering, I did achieve this at a bargain price of $6 - the market lady did throw it at me in a temper, but overall it was a fairly low-stress experience.
As our time in Hoi An drew to a close we just had one more maniac driver to survive on the way to the airport but we did it! I think we only had one or two emergency style stops, and maybe a couple more near misses with motorbikes.
Next stop - Hanoi, Vietnam
* $ = NZD
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