After our mixed feelings about Ho Chi Minh City, we were eager to see if we’d like Hội An more. There was ample reason for hope – Hội An is a much smaller town at around 120,000 people, a UNESCO World Heritage site as “an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century,” and a bit more temperate climate than HCMC with highs in March in the 70s (Fahrenheit, of course).

Hội An is also about 30 minutes away from the beachfront city of Da Nang. We debated which of the two to make our hub for our long stay in Vietnam and ultimately decided on two weeks in each since lodging prices were low enough that we didn’t need to rely on a monthly discount. Knowing what we know now, we’d choose Da Nang for a long stay and just do a few fun days in Hội An, but we still had a good experience overall with Hội An.

It was a short flight from HCMC to Da Nang. We chose Vietnam Airlines for all of our Vietnam-related flights because they have a much better reputation than the budget airlines here and are only slightly more expensive. After a big Asian breakfast in the airport lounge featuring a darn good pho, we spent a little over an hour on the plane. Da Nang is a small airport so arrival was easy and we got a Grab to take us to Hội An. Our driver also offered to take us back to Da Nang at a discount so we exchanged WhatsApp numbers to make those arrangements when the time came. 

Our Airbnb (review below) was at a small aparthotel a bit away from the main part of town, on the first floor with its own entrance. Though it was on the small side, it was a good fit for us, though the desk space for Chad was tighter than he’d like. Our first grocery run was a challenge again but we managed to get what we needed between a local grocery store, the expat grocery store called Moonmilk, and a wine store. Then we decided to unwind from our travel day at the rooftop pool, which was small but very enjoyable and featured a view overlooking some rice paddies. Unfortunately, though the street that our apartment was on was pretty quiet, we found the rest of Hội An to be quite hectic with scooters, so walking there was a bit of a disappointment.

The Ancient Town by Night

We wanted to get out to experience an evening in the Ancient Town part of the city early in our stay, so we planned a date night for our second night in Hội An. It was absolutely teeming with tourists, but still very beautiful with hundreds of lanterns lining the streets and on the riverfront in the lantern boats. The streets of the main tourist area are pedestrian-only until 9 p.m. so that gave us a nice break from the bikes and scooters. 

We walked along both sides of the river, had a tasty ceviche and taco dinner that didn’t quite succeed in tasting like Mexican food but was still fun, had a drink at a cute bar called Urban that had live music start shortly after we arrived and became our favorite haunt in Hội An (we returned several times), and took a ride on one of the lantern boats, which was a great experience. There is a set price of 170,000 dong for the boat (about $6.50), plus tipping the paddler if you want to (we did) so it’s a great value for a short ride and beautiful experience to be out on the water with the dozens of other boats.

Excursion to My Son

One of the top things on my list for Hội An was to visit the ruins of the My Son (pronounce “me son” with a long “e”), which is known as the Vietnamese Angkor Wat. Because the extended forecast called for quite a bit of rain, we scheduled our trip for a few days after our arrival. There are many affordable group tours to My Son but we elected to hire a private driver for about $40, which was an option on Get Your Guide (review below). I’m so glad we did because we were able to get to the ruins well before any crowds and our driver was a lot of fun to talk to on the ride there and back. 

We had the driver pick us up at 7 a.m., the earliest option they gave, and arrived at the ruins by 8:15. We bought our tickets (150k dong each) and walked to the ruins complex. Though much smaller than Angkor Wat and less reconstructed, the various temples were certainly very reminiscent of the Cambodian ruins we’d loved so much. Much of My Son was destroyed during the various wars, especially by American bombing, but there has been a great effort to rebuild and restore the ruins. In fact, much of the work seemed to have been done within the past five years. 

There were about six different groupings of temples to walk through built by the Cham Pa people between the 4th and 13th centuries. This site was heavily influenced by Hinduism but we later learned there is a strong Buddhist influence in later Cham culture. My Son was an early capital of the Cham Pa and remained a holy place where they continued building temples even after it was no longer an administrative center.

We had a wonderful time walking around the ruins and taking lots of photos. We were also able to see the first Cham dance performance of the day at 9:30 a.m. After the show, we headed back to the entrance to meet our driver and were back in Hội An before noon. We had an early lunch of vegan bao and green papaya salad then had a normal working afternoon.

The Ancient Town by Day

That weekend, we went out on a sightseeing day to see some of the many old buildings in Hội An and get a feel for the different vibe it might have during the day. Any visitor to Hội An is supposed to purchase tickets for the Ancient Town, which give entry into your choice of five heritage buildings, temples, ancient houses, and museums over a three-day period. Here’s a good guide and explanation: https://hiddenhoian.com/general/hoi-an-old-town-ticket-fees-sites/

We did some online pre-research to pick which assembly hall, temple, and house we’d like to visit. We bought our tickets at the tourist information office and then headed to our first stop, the Ong Pagoda, which dates back to the 1600s. After that, we walked a bit down the road to visit Hội Quán Phước Kiến, a 17th century gathering place for Chinese residents.

Then we took a mid-morning break at an adorable cafe where Chad tried salt coffee for the first time. It is a lot better than it sounds and became his favorite of the three main types of special Vietnamese coffee (egg, salt, and coconut). I enjoyed a pea flower lemonade. After our break, we walked some more and decided to check out one of the ancient houses and chose the house of Tan Ky, which was very interesting.

That felt like enough history for one day and we knew we also wanted to visit the Hội An Museum, which is closed on the weekends. We ended our day out with a very tasty vegetarian brunch from a restaurant called Buttercup, which was excellent. 

We visited the Hội An Museum a couple of days later when it reopened Monday using our same ticket. It was a nice little museum covering the people of Hội An through the years, especially the Cham, and the impact of the war on Hội An. The many Vietnam War markers, memorials, and exhibits we saw throughout our trip were a good reminder of the lasting impact of war when it is on your soil. An important lesson when coming from a country that participates in many wars outside its own borders. 

My Birthday Week

I turned 44 in Hội An and Chad made that whole week feel like a celebration. Early in the week we had a date night that included classic cocktails, dinner at a French restaurant, and of course a return visit to Urban where a very talented guitarist accompanied a local singer. Oh, and we ended that night with a very tasty chocolate crepe.

Then on Thursday we ended our workday a little early and took a Grab over to An Banh beach. We enjoyed walking along the beach and eventually changed into our swimsuits but it was a little windy for swimming. However, we had a lovely time renting a pair of lounge chairs (about $1 each) at the part called Hidden Beach and enjoying a couple of beers while we listened to the waves. 

We also went out after dinner that night because it was the full moon and we’d read online that they turn off the electric lights in the tourist area at 9 to enjoy the lantern light. However, we saw no evidence of that. It was a great excuse to go out and enjoy an interesting dessert though. During our Mexican dinner I’d noticed a couple of street food tours stop at the vendor in the alley that was dishing out some kind of porridge with toppings. We did some research based on the names on the sign including che and xoa xoa and found this was essentially a sweet bean porridge with condenced milk and a jello dessert served with mung bean paste. Since the vendor seemed to be regular food tour stop, it seemed safe to try. It tasted better than it looked, though it’s not something we’d be tempted to get again. 

The next day was my actual birthday. We started the day with a nice walk through the walk paddies and then went out to brunch. After brunch we took a Grab to the part of town with the coconut boat rides. This is another of the “must do” Hội An activities along with the lantern boat and so though it is very touristy, I definitely wanted to do it. We had a great time on our hour-long boat ride. It’s also a great value at just 200,000 dong ($8) plus we tipped the rower. We chose Lang Dua Xanh Coconut Basket Boat Tour but there are probably a dozen companies all doing the same thing for the same price.

We followed our boat ride with a refreshing dip in our hotel pool, then decided to head out to the beach again. I found a restaurant with lounge chairs while Chad went for a run. We had a light snack and some drinks and a really great time. There really no better place to relax than the beach. 

That evening, we went out for a mini bar-crawl and dinner. We started with fancy cocktails overlooking the river at Moon Bar, a speakeasy above another more casual bar. The view was nice but the drinks were just so-so. Then we went to a restaurant with the unlikely name of Art Toilet to feast on grilled shrimp and lobster. That definitely felt like a special birthday meal and we loved the atmosphere from their rooftop. After that we got some grilled corn on the cob (because there were no sides with our shrimp and lobster) and then went lantern shopping. Then we had a beer at the Mr. Bean Bar, because I couldn’t resist a bar with a theme of Mr. Bean. We ended our night at Urban again where the band from our first night out was playing again. In between their sets, a couple of excellent pianists from the audience played. The crowd was very lively that night. It was a very fun birthday. 

Summary

My birthday was actually our last night in Hội An. The next day, our earlier Grab driver picked us up and drove us to Da Nang. We enjoyed our time in Hội An and I’m so glad we visited, but I’d recommend spending a little less time there and focusing on the tourist aspects. Da Nang offered us a much better quality of normal life. More on that next!

In the meantime, here are some other food highlights from Hội An:

My Son Transport Review – We had a great trip to and from My Son with our driver Vinh. He was a great driver, friendly, professional, and spoke English well. Our great conversation on the way to and from My Son made the time pass very quickly on the road. He encouraged us to take our time seeing the ruins and then we just messaged him on WhatsApp when we were done and he was right there in the parking lot to pick us up. This was a great way to be able to enjoy time in a very special place without feeling herded around in a group tour.  

Airbnb Review – My husband and I stayed almost two weeks here. All of the staff were very kind, professional, and helpful. Our apartment on the ground floor was comfortable and the kitchen was equipped enough for light cooking. The rice cooker was a help! It was also great to have a washer and especially a dryer in the room because of the humidity. We loved the rooftop pool. Location is great – walkable to the old town area but feels separated from the crowds of tourists there. The wifi didn’t interact the best with our VPN but the issue might have been on our end.