Lanterns and Lounging. These two words represent our time in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Lanterns of Hoi An Bridge, by Chelsea (click for a larger image)
Lounging, Watercolor by Eric
About halfway up the coast from Saigon, lies the little hamlet of Hoi An. A UNESCO world-heritage protected site, it is the type of city I imagined when I dreamed of coming to Southeast Asia. All the French Colonial architecture is still in tact – despite the fact that the Viet Kong set up their base of operations not too far away.
We stayed at the
Hoi An Pacific Hotel, which was admittedly a bit of a splurge for us. Our hotel was located between the adorable downtown of Hoi An and picturesque private beach belonging to our hotel. Conveniently, our hotel offered a shuttle from the hotel to the beach, as well as to town.
We were in Hoi An for 4 days. Our typical day consisted of:
Mid morning at the Beach
Private Beach provided by the Hoi An Pacific Hotel
Lone Chair at Cua Dai Beach, Photo by Eric
Eric's watercolor of the beach and a scene in town
Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An, Vietnam
Eric's take on Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An, Vietnam
Hoi An in the early evening
Pavilion near the center of the "Old District"
Boat on the river, looking at An Hoi Island
Eric's watercolor of the riverboat
Hoi An, Vietnam
The Mango Room in Hoi An, Vietnam
Eric enjoying the window seat at the Mango Room
Desert: Fruit and chocolate wrapped in wontons with coconut butter sauce, along with a Passionfruit Cocktail! Yummo!
Hoi An Bridge
Sunset in Hoi An, photo by Eric
Lanterns in Hoi An, Vietnam
Row of restaurants filled with lanterns on An Hoi Island
Night-time lantern market on An Hoi Island
Lanterns reflected in the water, photo by Eric
Public Art Exhibition featuring lanterns with flags of the world, in Hoi An, Vietnam
Watercolor of Lanterns, please excuse the beach scene below-that's from Thailand! by Chelsea
My inspiration, Lanterns at Man Nguyen Restaurant
Lanterns at Man Nguyen Restaurant, by Eric
Eric's inspiration, Lanterns at Man Nguyen Restaurant
Indeed.
Enjoying Hoi An by laying on the beach by day and strolling through the humid night was a wonderful way to experience Vietnam. In my opinion, this is the town that people envision when they picture coming to this country. Even though tourism is the main commodity in this town, it seemed significantly more relaxed and easy going than the other cities we’d been to.
After Hoi An we flew on to Hanoi up in the north. We took a
Jetstar flight, which seems to be the
EasyJet of Australia. The flight was a little looney-our friend described Jetstar as the type of airline you might expect someone to board with coop of chickens-but we got there just fine (if not a little jostled). My next post will be about our last destination in Vietnam, Halong Bay-where we took a 3-day cruise and climbed the limestone crags scattered throughout the enormous bay.
