Hoi An

We took an overnight sleeper bus from Da Lat to Hoi An after a scare of almost leaving a kindle, phone and chargers in the bus ticket store. Thankfully, the bus company called around and when we overheard a conversation between tourists about a phone being left, we realized it was ours and they brought it to us before our bus departed! Phew! We were so thankful and felt like such idiots, so I tipped the guy 100,000 dong (4€ / 5$)!

Hoi An is absolutely beautiful and charming and Instagram-able as all heck AND only 15 minutes from the beach. Perfect combination for a vacation, and we would have gladly stayed here for a week, but due to the restored time on our visas, we have to keep it short (3 days).

One thing this city is known for is the personlized tailoring. Formal dresses. Men’s suits. Leather shoes. They do it all. We didn’t get anything tailor made for us because we would then have to carry it around for 2 more months! But maybe another time. 😉

The city center is UNESCO protected so no cars were allowed to drive in the main city streets and only at certain times are scooters allowed on the inner streets. This makes it ideal for tourists to walk around, which means tons and tons of souvenir shops! We had to buy a ticket to enter the city, just to be there. It’s like 5€ and the ticket gets you entrance into 5 different sights, temples, houses or any of the many historical or culturally significant spots in the city, so that’s cool. Quite often the city has severe floods that brings the water up to the streets and inside shops. The fee we paid also goes towards repairing the houses and streets after the flood.

Some of the sights we chose to use our tickets for are below.

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One day we drove out to the beach, and after only a small hassle with a parking attendant insisting we pay him even though he said it was free, we had such a relaxing day! Sunshine, cool breeze, cushioned beach chairs at a reasonable price! It was all there. 😉🤣

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From Hoi An to the nearest beach by bike, passing rice fields and water buffalo on the way. I have never seen a green so green! 🌱🌱🌱 Swipe for a video of a brother helping another out with his new bomb profile pic 😂 This went on for (No joke) about an hour. 🤪🤪 Swipe further for pics of the rice fields! 🍚 Hope you enjoy! . . . #southeastasiatravels #southeastasia #southeastasiatrip #alpacamybags #vietnam #hoian #hoianvietnam #travelcouple #travelblogger #travelblog #nojobnoworries #ricefieldsofvietnam #waterbuffalo

A post shared by AlpacaMyBags.Adventure (@alpacamybags.adventure) on Mar 5, 2020 at 1:51am PST

I really loved the yellow painted buildings along the waterside and all around the small inner streets.

And if you thought this city was picturesque in the daytime, just you wait.

Hoi An is already on my list for the return trip to Vietnam, whenever that may be. I really wish we could have spent more time here. But, we are on a visa-restricted schedule and have lots to see! Next is Hue!