Hoi An - Unesco World Heritage Site

We spent a week in Hoi An - it is a great little city in Central Vietnam, on the Bon River.  It was a major trading center for hundreds of years and the influence of Japanese and Chinese is evident in the homes, temples and store fronts.  The river silted up in end of the 20th century so the town was no longer the trading center and fell on to quiet times.  In the 1990s the town was re-born as a major tourist attraction with its fascinating architecture, great food and tailors.  The main part of town looks similar to what it would of looked like 100 years ago and to add to the charm the area is closed to vehicles so it is a great place to wander after fighting the hectic traffic of Hanoi.  We spent a day browsing the town visiting the Chinese Temples, the Japanese Covered Bridge, several old merchant homes and a museum.  The picture below is of the Chinese Assembly Hall that was later changed into a temple.







Many of the buildings in town look like this stretch of homes - covered in lovely flowers, decorated with lanterns and built over a hundred years ago. 


The river still runs through the center of town.  It is very silty this time of year but clears up in the winter.  The boats that line the river have eyes painted on them - they help the fisherman avoid danger and keep them company on nights when they are fishing up and down the river. 
















While we were there it was the full moon - so that night the town came alive with lanterns and small candles being floated down the river - a chance to float your sins away. 

 The town is also known for their high quality tailors.  Kenna and I got quite a few clothes made - it was lots of fun. The choices of fabric seem endless and you can get a new coat made to order in less than 24 hours!




If you go to Hoi An I recommend Hanh Hung Cloth Shop.  It was the same tailor I went to 6 years ago and my old suit is still in great shape.  After all my clothes were ready the shop called a postal service - 3 people arrived in less than 5 minutes, packed up all the clothes AND my suitcase full of other souvenirs and delivered it to the post office to ship it home - all for $5.  I even got an email today to remind me what my tracking number is and an email address to contact them if there are any issues.  The service here is AMAZING!










The food in Hoi An is great.  Kenna and I took a cooking course and learnt to make cabbage soup with prawn packets, fresh rice rolls, winter pancakes, bar-be-que chicken and green mango salad.  The French pastries are truly amazing - Kenna is eating chocolate mousse cake and Cole is having Black Forest cake.  Some of the best desserts we have ever had - average price is $1.50. 










The artistry of some of the cakes is really impressive.















One day we did a bike tour of the outskirts of town, riding through the rice fields, taking a boat down the river, and visiting some local craftspeople.  The biking was really fun (but hot) - here are we in front of a rice field. As you can see the rice is golden colored so is ready to harvest. Kenna, Cole and I are sporting some new clothes - Kenna is wearing a shirt that says "Same Same" on the front - "but Different" on the back - we hear this everyday from the locals when we ask about food, trinkets, tours, etc.  Cole has his "i-Pho" shirt on - pho is the national noodle soup dish (delicious) and I have my fisherman pants on from Bali.  Chuck, the big spender, has on his new sunglasses. 


Part of the tour included riding over the very bumpy, tippy pontoon bridge!  The older ladies walked their bikes across as there were many holes in the planks that make up the bridge but we all quickly rode across to prevent falling off.


We met this man on the tour - he is 82 springs old and is still making fishing baskets.  It takes about 1 and 1/2 days to make a basket and he sells is for $3.50.  He had a nice house as you can see and on his walls he proudly displayed 3 certificates from the Government recognizing his effort and his brother's effort in the American war. 


















Later in the tour we visited the "Pottery Village" - it used to only make bricks but now it mainly makes pottery for the tourists. We all had a try throwing a pot on the wheel - it is really hard to do this well. 









Biking in the hot sun is hard work - Cole is catching a nap on the boat ride portion of the day. 























The river is still a main transportation route for the city.
















At the end of the tour we had a yummy lunch of local specialties and a surprise foot soak and massage - it was great!