The Heritage City of Hoi An
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Hoi An: Viet Nam's Trading Port in the South China Sea
For years I have wanted to visit Hoi An and the desire grew as we heard the stories of friends who dropped into Hoi An each time they visited us in Cambodia. When part of our own family came to visit, I saw this as a great opportunity to go to a really historic region while at the same time enjoying the beaches and the ocean. History and hedonism are an unbeatable combination! So off we went and as all the flights to Danang were full because of an International Fireworks Festival, we flew to Hue and opted for the two hour drive to Hoi An.
When we arrived in Hue, it was a bit foggy and I panicked a little as I had arranged this holiday as a mid winter escape into the sun for our European family. After half the drive, the hint of despair crept in with the fog and visions of a week staring at each other and reading bad novels destroyed hope! So the drive to Hoi An from Hue was very quiet with only my guilt ridden voice justifying why we had to fly there and trying to convince everyone....especially myself... that Hue was a cornerstone in French colonial history and the beginning of the end for the US in that long ago war.
But when we emerged from the long tunnel into Da Nang...the world changed, hope was restored and the sun blessed our Van. My status of family trip hero was accepted once again and the sense of holiday gruntlement took firm hold. We arrived at our beach destination and our spirits soared as we emptied our suitcases and waded into mini-pools right in front of our two VERY affordable own villas. Spirit up, we then rollicked to the beach, praising our collective genius for having chosen a beautiful destination.
Hoi An Memorabilia
Find bargains to collect
Hoi An History
The Commercial Capital of the Champa Empire
Declared a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1999 but hidden by the popularity of Hue and Da Nang, Hoi An in the past occupied a very important role in the powerful Champa Empire. The Cham people had chosen this as a commercial capital and the Chinese and Japanese merchants set up camp in their trading houses wholesaling products that the Cham could then move inland to the Mekong river valley. Most of the old city has been preserved showing the homes, temples and trading houses of the Chinese and Cham traders who lived there as well as the richness in the Cham culture that dominated many parts of Southeast Asia during its pre European colonial heyday. In short, there is a lot more to Viet Nam than just the memories of defeated Empires...although if self disgust is important, Hoi An is very close to Mai Lai.
More pictures of Hoi An
Worth a visit
Want to know more about Hoi-An?
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Hoi An Collectibles
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Hoi An Beyond its Ancient Heritage
A Major Beach Destination in Vietnam
This is one of the attractions of Hoi An for us as it offers not just culture, a fabulous market and amazing jungle walks, but a chance to enjoy the sun and a swim in the South China Sea. Because of this, we decided to stay in a beach side resort and drove to town whenever we felt like as it is just a very short distance through beautiful rice fields and the taxis are easily accessible and quite inexpensive.
More Things to Do in Hoi An
Walking the Old Town
Hoi An offers many things to enjoy in a user friendly environment. The first thing we did was walk through the maze of the city and enjoy the vintage squatty houses lining the closed off streets. Most of the day there is no vehicle traffic so even Newbies to Asia are safe. There is a wonderful guide you can pick up with your ticket at the 4 Old Town booths: 30 Tran Phu, 5 HOang Dieu, 78 Le Loi, and 10 Nguyen Hue. This map guides you to the places worth visiting.
The walk is amazing as you begin to see that Hoi An combines a total dedication to separating you from your money, offering incredible custom made merchandise, with a real engagement with local culture. And the food! Terrific variety, amazing tastes and great prices. The town is clean, it is engaging and it is really fun.
Images simply stick to your mind: old women clad in their traditional trousers and practical Vietnamese hats with their wares straddled on their shoulders and faces that beg to be photographed (ask first!). Temples and assembly halls, usually Chinese, one for each family of traders like the Cantonese, the Fujian, or the Chaozhu, beautifully restored and maintained (and usually with good rest rooms). Stores everywhere with laughing girls, wanting to make you a dress or shoes in a just a few hours and with the latest fashion Mags from which to choose a style. Restaurants lining the riverside and lines of stalls selling the classic bric-a-brac, or fresh fruit or mystery snacks cooked on-the-spot, looking like donuts and tasting like Asia.
We started at the Japanese bridge, where a temple has been built in the middle. You can see the picture above this. There is a good map you can get when you pay the fee (modest) to visit the heritage sites and it guides you to the places worth visiting. You don't have to exhaust yourself on your first day.
Back to the Resort.... enjoy a swim in the ocean and come back to Hoi An for a fantastic...if sometimes noisy... dinner. Make sure you make reservations in the popular restaurants as they get full so fast.
Your Guide to Vietnam
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Meet Hoi An's Beautiful People
Yum Yum, our Friend
We were lucky to meet Yum Yum...a truly Gilbert and Sullivan character. . She has worked at the tiny Faifo restaurant right on the main street for perhaps 12 years....since she was a little girl. When she started, she spoke only Vietnamese, but she had a large tray called The Dollar Box, as everything in it was for a dollar. Each time people come in the restaurant, Yum Yum whipped up with her dollar box, the worlds brightest smile and a giggle/laugh that set everyone smiling with her. She manages the restaurant now and has built a team that makes you feel like a family in your own home. The laugh is still there as is the sense that she loves her life and is supremely self confident. Her little boy is often around after school and he shares the fun. And guess what...the dollar box is still there and out it comes when you've settled in. For a buck you celebrate a small part of the triumph of so many poor children who on their own and with a little luck, fought for and found a place in the world. We enjoyed talking with Yum Yum and after her careful and very experienced assessment of our little family team, became good friends.
Have a feel for Hoi An's culture
Celebrate with the locals of Hoi An
One morning, as we slumped exhausted into Faifo for a restorative post shopping beverage...Al Fresco...our new friend Yum Yum swooped over and invited us to a wedding for one of the girls who used to work in the restaurant. We jumped at the invitation knowing that this was the our best chance to dig deeper into Vietnamese culture as participants and not the classic tourist spectators.
Well, we had so much fun. You can look at our pictures and just imagine what was going on. Indoor fireworks....4 year olds having chicken head fights....Karayoke by the tone deaf...and the warm feeling of a large room of friends enjoying each others company...amazing. After lunch, we excused ourselves and went for a walk in town thinking that the wedding party would stay on to celebrate further. But when we reached town, we saw that the Faifo was open again the indomitable Yum Yum was out of the wedding garb...hair do tied down, in uniform and with the greeters smile firmly fixed, waving in patrons. After the wedding lunch, the whole team ran back to work . Hoi Anese celebrate well but they do work really hard.
Hoi An Collectibles
Interested in something to remind you of your stay in Hoi An?
Some bargains
Shopping in Hoi An
Speedy Tailors
It is fun to shop in Hoi An not only because of the exotic things you see but because they can custom tailor things for you so fast and they can convince you to buy things which never came to your mind when you entered this cultural site. We had clothes and shoes made and enjoyed the very experience of dealing with the shopkeepers. Our 11 year old grand daughter felt safe and happy staying with some of the shop staff and helping with English as we continued on our own in other shops. She felt safe going back and forth in stores on her own and really enjoyed her time. The smells and sounds of an old trading city are all around you but the shopping experience is very familiar.
And remember the food market. It is a classic Mekong wet and dry affair serving local families...so you really step out of the tourist zone for a while.
Custom made dress in Hoi An. How much?
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Pair of Shoes? How much?
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News on Hoi An
Keep yourself updated
- Japanese woman makes second home in Hoi An
- by Hoai Nam DA NANG ? Hirukawa Yuki decided to give up the fast-paced life in Tokyo to open a souvenir shop in laid-back Hoi An 13 months ago. She says she hasn't regretted the decision for a moment. And she is not alone ? she joined a community of at ...
- Fusion Resorts to launch Alya in Spring 2012, Asia's first culinary resort to ...
- Located in Hoi An, Fusion Alya will be a specialised culinary resort, the first of its kind in Asia, and will showcase all aspects of Vietnam's rich culinary culture, offering an array of original and inspiring food experiences included in the room ...
- Free citywide wi-fi in Hoi An
- Viet Nam's historic city of Hoi An, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has become the first tourist town in Asia to offer free wireless access to visitors and residents from any location in town. The VND21 billion (US$1 million) project has 400 ...
- Treasures of Da Nang
- The resort was built on the Hoi An beach based on feng shui principles. There, my travel companions and I (all 18 of us media folks) were chauffered to and fro in golf buggies to our welcome dinner (and what felt unsettlingly like the umpteenth ...
More Images of Hoi An
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Hoi An's Local Market
Sample Local Fruits and Dishes
Great Buys on Vietnam
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Where do you prefer to stay in Hoi An?
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Where to Stay in Hoi An
City or Beach?
Hoi An offers many places of various types and budgets but mostly affordable. Your decision will be whether you want to stay in the beach or the city. As for us, some family members are on their mid winter holiday so we thought the beach would be just the right place. So, off I searched in the internet and found this well rated resort with its own beach and a swimming pool in each villa. Just what we looked forward to.
Le Belhamy Resort and Spa was our home for our Hoi An holiday. With the owner personally managing it, our vacation just became one happy family get together. How did we get to know the owner? One evening, we walked around the property's huge grounds and someone approached us if we want to see the old chapel. We followed her but our son, wondering who this woman was, asked her what she does in the hotel and she unassumingly said, The Owner.
The next morning, our daughter-in-law checked out the spa and she immediately came back to draw me to take the tour of the facilities. It was impressive and the spa manager knows what she is doing so we immediately booked ourselves to try it.
What I like with this place is the attention they give the guests and the setting. One can walk in the beach forever or in the garden as the property is huge. You can cycle, too.
More on places to stay in Hoi An
Choose well
- Asia's first culinary resort to open in Vietnam
- Free culinary events at the hotel include cooking classes in the resorts open kitchen and learning the intricate art of Vietnamese fruit carving from an in-house pastry chef. Regular demonstrations from chefs will explore the different styles of ...
- Table Tennis Championships kicks off
- Chang Hoi Wa, a male team player of Macau told Macau Daily Times that ?we hope we don't have to face China, Japan or South Korea that soon, otherwise our chances would be quite slim (for quarterfinals).? But on the whole, he and his teammates, ...
- Carole Greenwood Pops Up: The Nomadic Dinner-Party Pioneer is Itching to Get ...
- Greenwood's most recent Orange Arrow event was billed as a night of recipes from The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time. The $150-a-ticket event was scheduled to take place at Arlington's Artisphere complex on Jan.
- ART & ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF 7/2
- ... a popular emcee at upscale events in Vietnam who is dipping her toe in the movie industry's water with her first movie role. ?The soldier,? as the film is named in Russian, was shot for three months starting last February in Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An, ...
Here's the debate many Hoi An visitors have in their minds
Hoi An, Worth a Visit?
Some who went to Hoi An think it is a major tourist trap. Others really enjoyed its old architecture and walking in and our of these old houses is an experience. What do you think?
Is Hoi An worth visiting?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byDefinitely worth it
waldenthree.net says:
Hoy An linked to Baltimore Community to Commuity for friendship, trade and prosperity ! Thanks for sharing .
Posted November 26, 2011
nort43 says:
Of course it's for tourists, but there's no trap. Just watching a scruffle of grizzled Aussie retirees scunge along the street in red faced, purple nosed hilarity is worth the price. And the shop keepers are fabulous.
Posted October 14, 2011
No, it is just another tourist trap
Ancient city you can easily visit while in Hoi An
Hue, the Imperial Capital of the Nguyen Lords
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The special angels who left their blessing
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Like Hoi An?
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Lindrus
Jan 26, 2012 @ 6:37 am | delete
- This is such a wonderful place! Though we had some rain and never even went to the beach, we really enjoyed our visit, the shopping, the custom made clothes and the neat architecture. Definitely worth a visit!
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SereneSea
Sep 23, 2011 @ 8:23 pm | delete
- This city has so much of culture and heritage, I am amazed with the time passing by, how valuable it becomes.
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aesta1
Sep 23, 2011 @ 10:54 pm | delete
- UNESCO declaring it a heritage site has much to do with this.
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emerald125
Sep 14, 2011 @ 6:59 pm | delete
- I will be in Hoi An in a little over a month from now... wet season so perhaps I will not be as lucky as you but I am sure we will still enjoy it! Thanks for a great page
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aesta1
Sep 14, 2011 @ 7:33 pm | delete
- Good for you...look for Yum Yum in Faifo restaurant and go to My Son. This is quite close and worth the trip.
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Want to know about the Chams of Hoi An?
Here are books on the Champa culture
The Chams still live in Vietnam today. You can visit some of their villages when you're in Vietnam.
The Art of Champa (Temporis) by Jean-Francois Hubert
From 12 October 2005 to 9 January 2006, the Musee more...0 points
India Seen from the East: Indian and Indigenous Cults in Champa (Second Revised Edition) (Monash Papers on Southeast Asia) by Paul Mus
Paul Mus (1902-1969) - a historian of religion in more...0 points
A History of Vietnam: From Hong Bang to Tu Duc (Contributions in Asian Studies) by Oscar Chapuis
The first work to chronicle the history of Vietnam more...0 points
Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History
This comprehensive and absorbing book traces the c more...0 points
Champa : History and Culture of an Indian Conolonial Kingdom in the far East 2ND.-16th Century A.D. by R.C. Majunder
Book I The Land The Chams and the foundation of th more...0 points
Write your Hoi An Journal
Journals to choose from
Bring a journal with you and keep your own experiences of Hoi An. It is worth going through it when your friends start asking about Hoi An. More importantly, when age settles in and memory fails you, just take out the journal and presto, you have your info right there.
Moleskine Ruled Notebook Large
This basic yet classic Large Ruled notebook is one more...0 points
Small Chestnut Pocket Journal with Handmade Paper
Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markin more...0 points
Red Embossed Heart Leather Journal - Lined
Perfect as a gratitude journal or personal diary, more...0 points
Butterflies Journal (Magnetic Closure) (Notebook, Diary) (Journals) by Peter Pauper Press
Gold foil, gloss highlights, and embossing light up more...0 points
Mead Silhouette Bungee Journal, 160 Sheets (45156)
Mead Silhouette Bungee Journal, 160 Sheets (45156)0 points
Blue Embossed Dragonfly Leather Journal - Lined
Perfect as a gratitude journal or personal diary, more...0 points
Celtic Journal (Diary, Notebook) by Peter Pauper Press
The cover design of this bestselling journal features more...0 points
Markings by C.R. Gibson Brown Ruled Paper Bonded Leather Journal, Small (MJ3-4792)
Think. Create. Record. Genuine Brown Bonded Leathe more...0 points
Green Embossed Tree of Life Leather Journal - Lined
Perfect as a gratitude journal or personal diary, more...0 points
Markings by C.R. Gibson Brown Ruled Paper Bonded Leather Journal (MJ5-4792)
Think. Create. Record. Genuine Bonded Leather Jour more...0 points
Genuine Leather Legends Journal - Hand made in the USA, Saddle
The Genuine Leather, Rustic River Legends Journal more...0 points
Brown Embossed Carpe Diem Leather Journal - Lined
Perfect as a gratitude journal or personal diary, more...0 points
Leather Journal - Blank - "Hand Embossed" 5" x 7" Cruelty Free Leather
Beautifully leather journal embossed with tile designs more...0 points
The Tree Of Life Refillable Leather Journal with Embossed Tree Designs, Ivory Sheets, Lined, 5 1/2x8"
This Writing Journal was made by hand with skills more...0 points
Tree of Life Journal (Diary, Notebook) by Peter Pauper Press
Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life graces this beautiful journal, more...0 points
Markings by C.R. Gibson Debossed Italian Leatherette Journal - Red (MJ16-6118)
Think.create.record. Debossed Italian Red Leathere more...0 points
Markings by C.R. Gibson Debossed Italian Leatherette Journal - Black (MJ16-6120)
Think.Create.Record. Debossed Italian Black Leathe more...0 points
Know Vietnam Better
Make your choice of what to read
The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam War by Frederick Downs Jr.
"The best damned book from the point of view of more...0 points
Goodbye Vietnam by Robert W. Wood
This collection of fictional remembrances of a Mar more...0 points
Blood Trails: The Combat Diary of a Foot Soldier in Vietnam by Christopher Ronnau
BAPTISM BY FIREChris Ronnau volunteered for the Army more...0 points
Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow
Provides a comprehensive look at both sides of the more...0 points
Inside the Vietnam War
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/03/2008 more...0 points
NAM SENSE: Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division by Arthur Wiknik Jr.
An honest tour of the Vietnam War from the soldier's more...0 points
Vietnam War: America's Conflict
Be an eyewitness to the conflict that divided our nation more...0 points
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes
An incredible publishing story—written over the course more...0 points
DAYS OF VALOR: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War by Robert Tonsetic
A nonstop maelstrom of combat action, leaving the reader more...0 points
Vietnam: War in the Jungle
The Vietnam War was one of the worst horrors of th more...0 points
Understanding Vietnam by Neil L. Jamieson
The American experience in Vietnam divided us as a more...0 points
Cherries : A Vietnam War Novel by John Podlaski
It's 1970 - they're 18 years old - drafted and tra more...0 points
The Vietnam War (History Channel)
At a total cost of more than 3.1 million lives, th more...0 points
Very Crazy, G.I.!: Strange but True Stories of the Vietnam War by Kregg P. Jorgenson
AMERICAN BOYS AT WAR IN VIETNAM--AND INVOLVED IN INCIDENTS more...0 points
Dear America - Letters Home from Vietnam
This classic HBO documentary features reenactments more...0 points
Vietnam: Rising Dragon by Bill Hayton
The eyes of the West have recently been trained on more...0 points
Vietnam Stories - Dreams to Nightmares by Ted Pannell
To say, 'War is hell,' is an understatement...war more...0 points
Last Man Out: A Personal Account of the Vietnam War by James E. Parker Jr.
"I WAS AMONG THE FIRST MEN IN, AND I WAS THE LAST more...0 points
BATTLEFIELD - Vietnam: from Dien Bien Phu to Peace with Honor! 3 DVD Set!
Battlefield Vietnam: From Dien Bien Phu to Peace w more...0 points
Outlaws in Vietnam by David Eastman
Ride a Huey with the Outlaws of the 175th Aviation more...0 points
Vietnam War Stories
Vietnam War Stories A UNIQUE INSIGHT TO THE VIETNAM more...0 points
by aesta1
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