Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Oi oi Hoi An

If you have read the previous post on Hue, I'm still on the same sleeper bus on route to Mui Ne. Not much has changed I'm still lying horizontal but someone has opened some funky smelling food onboard. Joys.

So my last post ended with us heading to Hoi An. The day started by catching a ride from our hostel on the back of mopeds to our bus. The buses here are pretty glam as we squeeze in the back seats with a Vietnamese family, of which the girl took a real shinning to my feat and kept slapping them throughout the journey.

After a quick four hour trip we reach the traditional French town of Hoi An. It is much smaller than Han Noi and Hue so we get a real Vietnamese town feel, with small markets and shops littered between quaint french styled houses with a yellow pastel paint finish. Not a sky scrapper in sight!

We check into our Hostel here which is renound for its party atmosphere with a pool and late night bar. It reminds me of a cheap hotel in Zante but it's clean and cheap!

Hoi An is a fairly small town, so attraction wise there isn't a huge amount to do. The beach here is by far the best attraction,  just a short moped trip away is a huge strip of golden sand and hotel resorts. The beach is littered with palm trees and the sea is warm. Sipping a beer on the beach here catching the cool sea breeze gets me over the hangovers from the night before.

The restaraunts on the sea front are some of the best in the town. The prices are so cheap considering the views from the table. Here a meal put us back about 4 quid and you get some of the best fish I've ever eaten. We found out the spring rolls here rival the ones we fell in love with in Han Noi. 

Our nights out consist of hitting up the hostel bar, which is open fairly late considering the vietnam cerfue. After that we all head out on the back of taxi mopeds across town to the only club, Infinity Bar. Pretty chilled place, but it has Premier League Football on so it quickly became a regular stopping place.

The main attraction in Hoi An is the old town and the markets. Here the traditional Vietnamese goods are sold, from freshly caught fish to tailored silk dresses and suits. The markets are set up along the river which houses several Japenese bridges which clash brilliantly with the French styled streets and messy market stalls.

It's very hard to come here and not get a tailored suit or dress. The streets are littered with silk tailors who will produce anything you want and custom design and fit it to your desires. Sam bought a Maxi dress here for a bargin price.

We have met up with a lot of friends here from our trip down south so far, however we say goodbye to a group we have been travelling with since Han Noi as they head back to the UK.

Safe to say Hoi An is a small town with a traditional vibe and amazing beach. Our next stop is via the sleeper train to a place called Nha Trang. Stay tuned as I write the next post immediately after this one.

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