It’s been far too long since we last posted. We have had a great past few days, and are excited to let you all know what we have been up to!
At the time of the last post we were at our hostel in Dong Hoi, where we spent a final night before heading south.
We woke up the next morning, ordered some food from the hostel, and didn’t have any plans. We knew we wanted to be in Danang the next day, and hopefully Hoi An after that, but nothing was booked. At about 10:30 I talked to a hostel employee and asked how we could get to Danang. The man who I talked to, an unusually tall and extremely friendly guy, broke out his phone and spent a while calling different people. He was speaking in Vietnamese, so I didn’t know what he was doing, but after he finished his calls he explained that he could get us on a bus in 30 minutes, or at 9:00 at night, with nothing in between. The 9:00 bus would bring us to Danang at 2:00am, which sounded unreasonably late, and we didn’t want to take a night bus on that stretch of road, so we chose to leave quickly.
The bus was chaotic and crammed, but it got us to Danang, and it was cheap.
We found a cheap hotel in Danang (which was difficult — most hotels were either sold out or too expensive) and settled in. In the evening we went out for burgers at some place that was very highly rated online. The food was very American, surprisingly delicious, and very affordable. As we walked home a huge storm approached us, scattering lightning bolts through the sky and bringing a little rain down on the city.
The next morning we decided to ride over the Hai Van pass on motorbikes. The pass is a 20km or so stretch of road that links the south of Vietnam to the north. Many people will know this road from Top Gear’s Vietnam Special, where Jeremy Clarkson finally began enjoying his motorbike on the show’s trip from Saigon to Halong Bay, and while riding it we saw why it deserved praise. The road was pristine. Once escaping the city all the commuters and trucks and cars went into a tunnel, and the pass, which the tunnel goes under, was left nearly empty. The tarmac itself was smooth as could be and new, and as we traversed the mountain which followed the pass the road followed all the valleys and ridges, creating, as Jeremy Clarkson said, “the best coast road… in the world”.
We rode over the pass towards Lang Co beach, and then back over the pass returning to Danang, with a coffee stop at the top of the road on the way back.
After picking our bags up from the hotel we stayed at the night before we headed to a bus stop, and waited for the yellow local bus which would bring us to Hoi An, a small French-colonial style coastal fishing port known for its tailors and leather workers, which happens to be one of the most popular places for tourists to go in Vietnam. We took the 30,000d (about $1.35) bus to Hoi An, which took about 45 minutes, and questioned why so many people spent loads of money to rent cars for the same journey. I guess we have a budget traveler’s mindset…
In Hoi An we stayed in a hotel we booked online called the Holyland Homestay. It was very inexpensive, and ended up being totally amazing. The room was clean, came with free drinking water, tea, and great service. We got free breakfast every morning, had bicycles to use during the day, and would rent motorbikes for us for such a low price that they were practically free!
We spent three nights in Hoi An, relaxing and shopping and exploring. No single day had anything remarkable stand out, so rather than talking about Hoi An in a chronological order, I will talk about what stood out and what we did forgetting about when everything happened:
Tailors
Hoi An is known for its talented and inexpensive tailors. The first thing we did upon arrival in Hoi An was get bespoke suits, which I really needed and Bryden needed as well. We went to Mr. Xe’s shop, which was well rated online and I had heard good things about through other travelers. We arrived at the shop, and were greeted by smiling women who helped us through the whole process. They helped us decide what style we wanted, what fabrics we wanted, what kind of shirts we wanted made, what ties we wanted, and everything else. They were very good about telling us what ideas we had worked, and which ones didn’t. The people who worked at Mr. Xe’s shop made the experience very professional and easy.
Mr Xe himself was a great guy too. He was very critical when taking our measurements and while altering our suits would insist that changes had to be made even when we were satisfied with what we had ordered. The suits turned out really, really well.
Bryden got a dark blue suit with 3 shirts, a pair of chinos, and a few ties.
I got a dark grey suit, 6 shirts, and some ties as well.
Custom Leather
The other thing Hoi An is known for is its leather work. I went in knowing I wanted to get a pair of dressier shoes with a matching belt. We went to a shop named Tu-Chi Leather, which was very well rated, but quieter than the more popular Friendly Shoe And Bag Shops. Despite it being less popular, they did an amazing job making what we wanted. Bryden and I were able to show them photos of what we wanted, or draw out our ideas, or explain what we wanted, and they would create exactly what we asked for out of some really high quality leather of our choosing. It was easy to get carried away here, as they could make just about anything, and did a very, very good job at it.
Bryden got a belt, 2 custom bags for electronics, a wallet, and lots of flip flops for himself and his family.
I got a pair of shoes, a large weekend duffle, a few belts for my family and myself, some watch straps, a wallet, and a passport holder.
Everything we got was made to our specifications, and I am now convinced that bespoke leather and clothes are the way to go. It’s amazing what talented leather workers can do.
Food
Hoi An’s food was probably the best we have had in Vietnam. A couple years ago most of the street vendors were relocated to a large indoor area which is now the central food market. In this market there are probably 40 or 50 stalls selling all the Vietnamese food imaginable for next to nothing. For $2.00 or so we could get a full meal, with a smoothie, cooked just for us. They had lots and lots of variety, and the food was stupidly good. We ended up eating in this market for nearly every meal in Hoi An, going to different stalls and trying different things each time. One of the most surprising things was the lack of tourists in the market. It is located in the dead center of town, surrounded by popular attractions and tailors and leather workers, and still nearly no foreigners eat there. We assume that people are worried about food safety, or something like that, but seeing what the stall owners cooked and how they cooked it we can’t understand why people would be concerned about that. Sure, the stalls are small and there is some food sitting out, but compared to many larger restaurants’ kitchens this place is certainly safer. And the chefs cook everything directly in front of you so you know what you’re getting, and you can see how they cook. The food market is something many people miss out on.
People
The people who live in Hoi An are pushy, as can be expected of people who’s job it is to sell things to tourists, but once you get to know them they are great. We got to know some of the chefs in the food market, who at first seemed very pushy, but ended up being really nice and happy to talk to us.
Most of the people in Hoi An are tourists, and they aren’t as great as the locals. We can’t complain too much, as we are tourists too, but lots of the visitors would block roads while walking, act rudely to locals, and not really know how to act in Vietnam. They weren’t too bad, but it was the first time we encountered a touristy place like this, and it was very different from the rest of Vietnam than we have seen.
Also, a note to people who want to backpack around Vietnam: you don’t need much. We saw people in Hoi An walking with full 60+ liter backpacking packs on their backs, and backpacks the size of the ones we brought (30-35 liters) on their fronts. Vietnam is a hot place, and so is nearly all of Southeast Asia in the summer. If you need more than a few tee shirts, maybe a sweater, some shorts and pants, a pair of trainers and flip flops, and your electronics you are holding yourself back. It’s easy to be comfortable packing very lightly here, but some people seem to be holding themselves back with what they are carrying.
The Town
Hoi An is a very cute French-colonial style town situated on a river, just a few kilometers from the pacific ocean. Small yellow buildings line skinny streets, and especially once the sun sets and it begins to cool down it is a very fun town to walk or bike around. The markets are quite exciting, albeit full of pushy salesmen and saleswomen, and the food is very good. It is a great place to go to shop and relax.
We also went to the beach just outside of town for an afternoon, and it was very nice too. It was slightly crowded but it was easy to spend an afternoon there relaxing and swimming in the comfortable water.
We are now out of Hoi An, and back in Danang. We have a train to catch which will bring us south to Nha Trang (which will then lead us quickly to Dalat) so we took a bus to Danang and have been relaxing and passing time. We found a big mall so we watched a movie (Now You See Me 2), got some food, and have had time to write and get some stuff done.
We will be spending some time exploring Dalat before deciding what to do, eventually ending up in Ho Chi Minh City in just over a week to fly to Singapore.
Sorry for the long post - all is very well here. I will post again soon!