Unwinding in Hoi An, Vietnam

Hello! Or xin chào as the locals would say. Welcome to Hoi An, Vietnam.

This is the first part of a larger story about travels to Hoi An.

The first time you come out of an airport in southeast Asia from Europe (or by our best guess, any place stamped as western), there is going to be a reaction. It's inevitable. Everything is just too different not to spark some kind of mental feedback. Some will probably feed upon it and go "wow!", while others might tell themselves (without admitting it of course) "what have I done?"

For those in the first category, well you will do fine on your own. For those that think they might fall into the second category: Relax, you're going to migrate into the first category sooner or later. We hope that with this honest travel story, that if you land in Da Nang International Airport, it will be sooner rather than later. And for the "wow" crowd: Who knows, you might find this interesting as well.

A little disclaimer right from the get-go. We were there in July. If you didn't already know, that's its own weird fetish. "We who like to bathe in our own sweat". It's a rather moist crowd, but here we are. Let there be no doubt that a lot of our impressions would be different if we visited in another season, but that is for us to speculate and you to find out. Oh yeah, while we're talking about season. Any prices we mention are for July 2019, but maybe apart from places to sleep, our impression is that there's not that much of a seasonal fluctuation.

So without further ado...

We were staying in Hoi An for the first part of our trip to Vietnam, so we decided to pre-book transport from Da Nang International Airport to Hoi An. Our opinion is that it's well worth the cost. It's a 21 hour trip from Norway, and foresight is tricky that way. We could be everything from pretty tipsy to walking zombies. We stayed at a homestay-style villa, so they fixed everything for us. For shorter flights in, or a tighter budget, you would take the bus. Personally, we would look towards the tourist bus for some sliver of comfort over the local bus. But hey, if you are turning every dime on your travels, the local bus is around 20.000 Vietnamese dong or about 80 Euro cents, and it gets you there. Make sure you have a 20.000 bill ready though, or you might not get any change back. In some ways that's just the way Vietnam works with gullible tourists.

You're going to pass stalls that sell sim cards at the airport, and chances are your roaming expenses are pretty expensive in Vietnam. But don't fall for it, you'll find it cheaper in Da Nang or Hoi An. And chances are, you won't actually need it if you are staying in either city. Every hole in the wall has wifi!

Download the Grab app if you don't already have it. It's the Uber & Uber Eat of Southeast Asia. It's pretty awesome.

Hoi An

160.000 people call this place their home. It's an old melting pot of French colonial, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese design. Famous for its full moon lantern festival, it's canals, it's unique cuisine. There are a lot of tourists, and no police to speak about. But yes, it is safe if you behave like a decent human being.

Getting around

Vietnamese traffic being what it is, we fully understand if you don't want to rent your own motorbike to scoot around on. In fact, it's probably wise. At least the first week or so since there is a lot to learn just by looking at Vietnamese traffic. It's pretty chaotic, but thankfully the chaos moves rather slowly. It's nothing like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh of course, but we still witnessed people crossing the road as if it was the last thing they ever did.

We ended up using a lot of taxis and Grab to get around. (We mentioned it was blazing hot right? Like your soles melting hot). Grab is really convenient and reasonably priced, and was usually our first choice. But if you are going back from the old town in the evening, you might have problems finding an available Grab car. Second option is Mai Linh taxis. Several taxi corporations are available, but in our experience Mai Linh (green taxis) are the best by far. Now and then a driver will try to just offer you a price (this only happened when going home from the old town), but a huge majority of their drivers use the meter without question. The price difference between Grab and taxi is minimal, so for us either was a good option.

In Vietnamese traffic, don't count on anyone stopping. It's just the way it works. Just hold your hand out towards the traffic to your left or right, and walk slowly and calmly across the street. The motorbikes will buzz around you. Keep a steady pace. Don't stop like a deer in the headlights mid-street, because that just makes it more complicated for everyone.

You will understand once you get a t-shirt that says
Green: I can go
Yellow: I can go
Red: I can still go

In Hoi An oldtown, you are probably liable to visit when everyone else wants to visit, just as the sun sets. It is when it is at its most beautiful. Be warned though, everyone else knows that too. The lanterns, the river, the restaurants overlooking the river, it is all very mesmerizing. You will probably be hassled for a boat ride every other step you take though, so just be aware of that.

Be ready for questions about boat rides!

We loved walking through the old town of Hoi An. It has a lot of really amazing sights, and you will get photos that you just can't get anywhere else. If you are lucky enough to be there when the moon is full, you get to experience the "lantern festival" or "full moon festival" where they cut normal lighting throughout the old town, and light up every lantern in sight. Our opinion of this was that it made for a good photo or two, but otherwise it felt like every other night in the old town.

Hoi An oldtown during daytime. Pretty calm.

Hoi An oldtown late evening. Lanterns sure are pretty.

Eating

We have come to the part of the story where we will sound like teenage fanboys. The food was absolutely amazing. The freshness, the variety, the prices, the pure quality in everything served was truly impressive. Predominantly this is regarding Vietnamese cuisine, but many places we ate also offered very good pizzas and burgers for those not too interested in Vietnamese cuisine (or simply sporting a hangover).

What can you expect cost-wise in restaurants?

• Beer/Soft-drinks: Typically from 15.000 - 30.000 VND (50 euro cents - 1 euro) if you go with the excellent Vietnamese beers Saigon or Larue. A little more for imported Tiger beer.
• Vietnamese dishes:  From 40.000 VND in places a little outside the old town, Nahn's Kitchen for instance. A little more, around 60.000 VND for a Vietnamese dish at Hong Phuc 2, overlooking the river in the old town. (Oh yes, did we mentioned they sell cocktail buckets for 89.000 as well?).
• Craft beer: The most expensive one we found was an imperial IPA with 9% alcohol for 90.000 VND. We can't speak for the world, but for us that's still dirt cheap.
• International dishes: There's a lot of pizza and burgers, and they typically go for 100.000+ except for Nahn's Kitchen which starts at 80.000 (and they're good).
• Street food: Depends on what you want, but cheap!
• Bánh mì: Banh Mi Phuong is the most famous, but normally has a long line waiting. We preferred Madam Khanh - The Banh Mi Queen anyway. 20.000 VND for one.

Try Cao lầu. It's a local noodle dish from Hoi An that you cannot really find anywhere else.