Don't tell Conor, but I just had an affair. I fell in love with Hoi An. I'm not sure if it was the cute streets, the friendly people, the beach, or the food. Something about this place just made me feel good, happy and peaceful (not that I haven't felt that way this whole trip). We stayed for 4 nights and I was sad to go.
From Nha Trang we took an overnight sleeper bus. I've actually started looking forward to sleeping bus rides over day rides. It's more comfortable and easier to get a little bit of sleep in. We left at 7:30pm and arrived in Hoi An at 7:30am the following day. Thanks to Conor's map skills, he was able to navigate us through streets and alleys to our hotel- Hoa Binh.
We were exhausted after a half sleep from the night before. So after grabbing something to eat we took a 3 hour 'nap'. When we woke up we explored the town for a bit before settling down for some dinner. Originally we were attempting to find a Banh Mi (sandwich) stand that we had seen on Anthony Bourdain's show. We ended up eating shrimp pancakes in a food court of a market. The kind people there showed us how to roll our pancakes up in rice paper and what sauces to use. Vietnamese people always seem to look out for you, especially when it comes how to eat and enjoy your food.
We FINALLY ate Indian food. I have been craving it and Conor was ready too. After an amazing feast, we stopped for a drink on our way back to the hotel. We ended up meeting a young Canadian couple and just hung out with them for the rest of the night. They were great. We all had a shot of "snake wine", which is basically alcohol fermenting in a jug filled with snakes- don't worry, I took a picture.
The next day we rented bikes for a dollar and took a 15 minute ride to An Bang, a nearby beach. It was a beautiful ride through some rice fields- we ended up going back 3 days in a row. At the end of each day when we returned our bikes, the bike lady would say "see you tomorrow", with a big smile.
The beach has about 6 restaurants and you basically just choose a chair to sit in which is in front of the restaurant. The chairs are free; but if you do eat lunch, you're expected to eat at the restaurant providing your chair. One day for lunch we had a seafood extravaganza! We shared clams in tamarind sauce, grilled shrimps, steamed fish and morning glory (basically spinach). It was all delicious, even for Conor, who isn't the biggest lover of seafood. The lady who worked at the restaurant brought us a special pepper/lime sauce for the shrimp. Again, Vietnamese people really want you to enjoy your food. The beach was so relaxing and a perfect way to spend the hot hot days.
Hoi An is very famous for all the tailor shops that line the streets. It was hard to choose which shop we wanted to buy from. On tripadvisor we found a place with good reviews and went there. Conor got a suit made. I went a little nuts and got basically a new wardrobe. It was so fun choosing styles and fabrics, I just couldn't stop myself. And everything is custom to fit my body- especially great for the 4 dresses I had made! The women at the tailor shop were so kind to us- giving is water, not being grossed out by our profuse sweating. Overall it was a great time.
At night we just walked around stopping in different places for appetizers and others for dinner. A wonderful thing in Vietnam is the "fresh beer". It's a draft beer that is brewed here and delivered to restaurants each day. And for whatever reason, it is about 25 cents for a glass. The beer is good too! We also found a self service ice cream place. It had any flavor and any topping you could think of. There were celebrations going on at night for Buddha's birthday. Beautiful lanterns, lights, music and parades were happening. There is a river that runs through the city that was just lit up with floating lanterns. I tried to take a picture, but it didn't come out good.
The highlight of Hoi An was the walking food tour we did our last morning there. A retired Australian man and his wife run this tour. He takes you through markets and backstreets to taste the "real" Hoi An. After, he takes you to two different tasting rooms to try over 40 Vietnamese dishes. It was amazing. I got to try so many things I wouldn't have ever though to try before. My only wish is that we had done this tour earlier so we could've gone back to some of these places! We heard of this tour from the Canadian couple we had met, and even extended our Hoi An stay a little to be able to do the tour. Neville, the man who ran the tour, was so kind and passionate. I was so glad we got to experience all of the foods he showed us.
Hoi An was a perfect balance of beach and city. It's hard to explain in words why I loved it there so much. Like I said before, just the feelings I had being there were so good and positive. I can't wait to go back and continue to build my wardrobe, try more foods and ride to An Bang again. I love you Hoi An, never change!
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