We flew out of Singapore on Sunday afternoon, bound for Danang via Siem Reap. We were greeted by our guide Quyen and his driver and they drove us to the Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort about a 40 minute drive from the airport. On the way Quyen is giving us a history lesson about Danang, maybe to divert our attention from the traffic, which it seemed was not too bad really. Lots of motorbikes.
Population of Danang is about 1 million people so on the smaller scale as far as cities go. The French were here from the 1800's and then the Americans used Danang as a base during the Vietnam war.
Our home for the next 2 nights is a resort on the beach. Our room is spacious and cool. It's dark but still the temperature is around 30 degrees.
We will see Hoi An in the daylight so we chose to stay at the resort and have a nice dinner by the pool. I had a Blue Dragon cocktail ( served in a dragon fruit) and Glenn is into the Tiger beers.
It's Monday morning, we are awake early so we head to the pool and the beach. The water in the pool is about 26 and the South China sea is slightly cooler. We swim in both, the sea is a bit more refreshing.
Breakfast is fresh and wonderful. Lots of tropical fruits, eggs any way you like them and very friendly staff.
Today Quyen will pick us up and take us to Hoi An old town. It's going to be very hot, but I'm not complaining!.......yet!
Hoi An is like nowhere we have been before. The old town is motorbike free before 11am and after 3 pm so we only have to contend with push bikes and rickshaws.
The streets are narrow and jam packed with shops, restaurants and cafes. It is alive! We have a walking tour with Quyen where we visit the Chinese assembly hall, a silk shop, a couple of original old houses and the Japanese Covered Bridge. The houses now are home to the seventh generation of the family but they sleep upstairs. The houses are very long and narrow with no windows on either side. There is a central courtyard that allows for ventilation and light. The furniture is made from iron wood. These houses are along the river and are subject to flooding so the floors are made of stone and the front entrance is always higher than the back.
The Japanese covered bridge was started to be built in the year of the monkey and completed in the year of the dog so on one side of the bridge there is statues of 2 monkeys and the other is 2 dogs signifying the beginning and the end.
It is very hot today, at least 36 degrees by 11am and its coffee time. We stop at the Hoi An Roastery and the coffee is good and Glenn's peach pie hits the spot. We cross the bridge away from the old town and walk along a few streets. Mostly bars and restaurants and houses on this side.
It's a long time since we have felt this sort of heat where you sweat while standing still so we head for The Morning Glory restaurant to get out of the sun and enjoy a cold drink and some lunch. Vietnamese food is very fresh and tasty. I'm thinking we are going to get used to coriander and chilli as it is a part of every dish.
We decide to head back to the resort to have a swim and freshen up. We will return to town tonight when the sun has gone down.
It's a 100000 Vietnamese Dong (USD 5) taxi ride back to the hotel and although the pool temperature is 26 degrees, it's a welcome relief to fall into. The sea is slightly more refreshing.
After 5 we take a taxi back into the old town. It's very busy but thankfully no motorbikes are allowed in at night so it's only push bikes and rickshaws once again to look out for.
We eat at Cargo and are lucky to get a table on the balcony as the restaurant is very popular and is fully booked but as long as we are finished before 8 we are able to stay.
After dinner we walk through the old town and across the river to a night market. It's very colorful and very busy.
We take a taxi back to the resort after taking in the sights and sounds of Hoi An by night.
A night cap at the pool bar and it's back to our room to cool off.