Vietnam Travel

Halong Bay (下龍灣) 

Let’s be real.

You can’t really take a trip to Vietnam without having visited its number-one attraction. 

Could you actually return home to your friends and family and proudly tell them about your adventure without a story or two about its magnificent Halong Bay?  

Sure, you might argue that there are about a million things to see, do and more importantly - eat - when you’re in Vietnam, but the consensus these days is that if you haven’t spent a day or two touring Halong Bay, you’ve missed out. 

I suppose it would be a bit like visiting Paris and not checking out the Eiffel Tower. 

Why is Halong Bay considered Vietnam’s number one tourist destination? 

Well, probably because it is literally home to thousands of towering limestone pillars and islets that rise up out of the emerald-green waters creating an unmatched ethereal beauty. 

The jaw-dropping natural beauty that you’ll discover while cruising through the bay is an experience that every world traveller should want to experience.

Which is why it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in South East Asia and also a huge tourist trap.

Hạ Long Bay

According to local legends, Vietnam’s early history was quite similar to what has taken place over the past few centuries - Under constant threat of invasion from all sides, the people had to be constantly prepared for battle.

Fortunately they were able to call for the assistance of a family of dragons to protect them. 

Appearing in the sky, instead of breathing fire and murdering everyone, the dragons began spitting out pieces of jewels and jade, which miraculously transformed into islands and islets in the bay that formed a great wall against the invaders. 

Having a couple thousand islands rise up out of the sea obviously had a detrimental effect on the invading navy, whose ships all crashed and sank.

Content with their effort (and their creation), the dragons decided to stick around and make their home in the bay. 

Thus the name, Vịnh Hạ Long (下龍灣), which translates as ‘Descending Dragon Bay.

Located in northeastern Vietnam’s mountainous Quảng Ninh Province, Halong Bay has a total area of around 1,553 km² and consists of anywhere between 1,960 - 2,000 (mostly uninhabited) and undisturbed islets, which have taken around 500 million years to form into the beautiful landscape that we are able to enjoy today.

Halong Bay is home to thousands of iconic towering limestone karst islets, impressive caves, beaches, floating villages and impressive bio and geo-diversity that has been crafted by nature over the past twenty million years. 

Thanks to the effort of those legendary dragons, the bay is also home to fourteen endemic species of flora as well as over sixty species of fauna.   

While there is evidence of prehistoric human settlements in the area, today Halong Bay is home to a community of about 1,600 people spread between four different floating fishing villages where fishing and aquaculture are their main source of income. 

If you were counting, there are actually more islands in the bay than there are inhabitants. 

Coincidentally the inhabitants of the area often have little to do with the massive tourism that takes place in the bay, but their livelihoods are affected by the pollution caused by mass-tourism, so while efforts are being made to clean the bay up, there has also been a focus on helping to improve their lives.

Located in a tropical environment, Halong Bay more or less only has two seasons: A hot and wet summer and a dry and cold winter with an average temperature ranging from 15-25 degrees.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is an optimal time to visit the bay as both the summer months and the winter months are equally comfortable but there are pros-and-cons with regard to the time of the year you plan on visiting, so I recommend checking out the link below so you know what to expect when you visit. 

Link: When is the Best Time to Visit Halong Bay? (Indochina Odyssey Tours)

While all of the attention that Halong Bay receives from travelers is well-deserved, in recent years questions have arisen with regard to ‘ethical tourism’ as the area has been over-run with tourists (an estimated 5,500 tourists per day), who contribute (whether consciously or not) to a considerable amount of pollution as well as damage to the natural environment. 

This has led to scathing reviews online with many travelers complaining about their negative experiences due to the pollution that has transformed the beautiful emerald green waters into a stinky brown colour with solid waste floating all over the place. 

Fortunately, this is something that local NGOs and the Vietnamese government have started to take seriously.

Currently, it is estimated that several thousand tons of trash (yes, you heard that right) is collected from the bay on a daily basis. This is in part the fault of mass-tourism, but also due to solid waste floating through the Gulf of Tonkin and eventually settling within the coves in the bay - nevertheless, it’s a tremendous amount of garbage.

This has prompted the government to start looking at long-term sustainable solutions to solve the bay’s pollution issues - Over the past five years the provincial and national governments have worked together to come up with plans to institute bans on the use of plastic in the area.

They’ve also required tour boat operators to retrofit their cruise-boats with more safety equipment as well as better waste treatment facilities. 

Likewise, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a Non-Governmental Agency (funded by USAID) has taken the lead to help lobby the government, businesses and civil society to get the ball rolling on the hard work needed to help clean the bay.

They’ve also worked to help educate the local population and increase awareness of the issues, enact policies at the local and national level and even coordinates clean-up days. 

One clean-up in general shocked local residents when it was reported that volunteers removed more than 750 kilos of trash within an hour of starting their clean-up.

Link: Halong Bay to pilot plastic ban on tourism boats (VNExpress)

When I announced that I’d be visiting Halong Bay, one of my friends told me that I ‘probably shouldn’t expect too much’ as the bay was extremely polluted.

I’m happy to report that even though the signs of pollution and over-crowding are visible, its also obvious that an effort is being made and that the local people are taking part in the cleanup as I saw several boats on the bay with people collecting floating garbage around the many coves.

So, the question a lot of people ask themselves is whether or not you can be an ethical tourist and still visit Halong Bay?

If you’re asking me, I think if you take some time to ensure that your tour is one that adheres to the current environmental standards put in place by the government, then it shouldn’t be much of an issue.

There are questions that you should be asking before booking your tour and you’ll want to make sure that they’re not just paying lip service to attract your business. 

That being said, yes, there is still a lot of work to be done to clean up the bay and to ensure that it stays clean, but these are issues that are being addressed (albeit slowly) but it seems like Vietnam is searching for sustainable solutions to preserve the natural environment, which is good news for Halong Bay, and all the tourists who’d love to visit.

You’ll find quite a few travel blogs that will recommend you don’t visit and many of them have valid arguments as to why you shouldn’t. Personally though, I had a great time and I’d certainly recommend others to visit as well - especially since your tourist dollars will help to contribute to the cleanup of the area.  

Sung Sot Cave

With thousands of towering pillars rising out of the Gulf of Tonkin, Halong Bay is home to a wide variety of ancient geology that dates back as far as the Cambrian Period (570,000,000 - 500,000,000 BC).

In 2000, when the UNESCO World Heritage Committee confirmed Halong Bay as one of the locations added to their list of heritage sites, they noted that Halong Bay is an “outstanding example, representing major stages of the Earths history and its original limestone karstic geomorphologic features”. 

The formation of Halong Bay took place millions of years ago in the deep sea with tectonic shifts drastically changing the topography of the area and eventually pushing many of the limestone pillars out of the sea. This, in addition to millions of years of erosion, a warm climate and other factors contributed to the beautiful landscape that we can enjoy today.  

One of the various changes to the landscape on the various islets in the bay over this long period of time was the formation of caves.

Halong Bay is home to some really spectacular caves that are often included on the tours, but the actual number of caves in the area remains a mystery as the majority of them are still underwater. 

Search for the phallic symbol

None of the caves discovered thus far though are as large or as popular as Hang Sung Sot, otherwise known as the “Cave of Surprises”, which was discovered in 1901 by the French. 

Located on Bon Ho Island, a jetty wharf has been set up on the beach and includes a set of stairs to the entrance of the cave as well as a well-lit pathway inside. 

The popularity of the cave isn’t just because of its accessibility, it is thanks to its massive size with chambers large enough to hold thousands of people and is also home to thousands of stalactites and stalagmites. 

Touring the Cave of Surprises is a breathtaking and humbling experience as the 10,000 square meter cave (30 meters in height, 500 meters long) is home to a number of geological treasures with a few in particular that your tour guide will tell you looks like a Buddha, a large tortoise and another a cannon (but actually looks like a penis).

The large chambers are naturally lit, but there are also cleverly placed lights that illuminate most of the important aspects of the cave that your tour guide will want to point out.

When you’re in the cave it is easy (for those with an imagination) to see images in the rocks of those of animals, but for myself, I was amazed at the sheer size of the main chamber and the ceiling which looked somewhat like the surface of moon, which was enough to send my imagination off to the races. 

If you’re planning a trip to Halong Bay, I highly recommend that you make sure that a trip to the ‘Cave of Surprises’ is included on your itinerary as it is an awe-inspiring experience.   

Link: Sung Sot Cave: The ‘Surprising’ Story behind Halong Bay’s Largest Cave (Halonghub)

Touring Halong Bay

 

Do you have your own sailboat?

If so, you’ll be able to enjoy Halong Bay at your leisure! 

If you’re like the rest of us though, Halong Bay, Vietnam’s number one tourist attraction is going to have to be enjoyed with the help of a boat cruise and guided tour.

With a multitude of tours to choose from though, visiting Halong Bay can often be a bit daunting for tourists as choosing the right tour can take hours of research. 

When considering a tour package, there are a number of things that you’ll want to keep in mind before making your decision.

The first, obviously is your budget - How much you are willing or able to spend on a tour of Halong Bay will affect how much you’re going to see and do as well as the quality of the cruise ship you’ll be on. 

Link: Choosing a Halong Bay Tour - Why is it so hard? (Time Travel Turtle) 

The next thing you’ll want to consider is how much time you’re willing to spend enjoying the beauty of Halong Bay.

Vietnam is a large country and there is quite a bit to see and do, so it is important to plan carefully so that you can make the most of your trip and also enjoy the Generally there are three types of tours to choose from: 3-day, 2-night, 2-day, 1-night or a quick single day sightseeing tour. 

When considering your tour, its important to remember that getting to Hai Phong Harbour from Hanoi usually takes about 3-4 hours (depending on traffic), so if you’re planning on doing the one-day sightseeing tour out of Hanoi, you’re going to have to spend almost eight hours sitting on a bus, which if you ask me is a complete waste of your day. 

If on the other hand you choose to spend a few days in the area, you can take advantage of one of the many all-inclusive packages.

Once you’ve decided how long you’re going to spend in Halong Bay and what your budget is, you’re going to have to decide what kind of experience you’re looking for.

There are various cruise ships take different routes through the bay and offer a variety of different activities both on and off the boat. 

You’ll also discover that many of the boats cater to specific crowds.

If you’re looking for a backpackers experience, there’s something for you. If you’re looking for a party on the bay, you’ll definitely find what you’re looking for. Likewise, if you’re taking grandma and grandpa and the rest of the family on a trip, there’s also something for them to enjoy. 

Some of the activities the various cruise ships offer may include: 

  1. Swimming

  2. Cave Exploration

  3. Kayaking

  4. Hiking

  5. Snorkeling

  6. Squid Fishing

  7. Tai Chi / Yoga

  8. Cooking classes

  9. Visiting floating villages

  10. Beach BBQ

While the off-boat activities involved are an important part of your decision, you’re also going to want to read reviews of the different cruise ships, look at photos and do some research into the food and accommodations that will be available on your trip.

You’ll also want to find out how old the boat is, what facilities are available on board, how many people will be included on the tour, etc. 

Link: Halong Bay: How to Choose the Best Cruise in 6 Easy Steps (Geeky Explorer)

When you arrive in Hanoi and you’re walking around the beautiful streets of the city, you’ll undoubtedly come across hundreds of signs advertising tours of Halong Bay.

Although it may seem convenient to book your tour directly to barter for a better price, I can’t caution you enough that this is usually not a very good idea. If you take this route, you’ll likely end up paying more for less and you won’t be able to do the research necessary to ensure that your trip will have the experience that you were hoping for. 

Likewise, if you’re staying in a hostel or hotel and they offer tour packages, its probably best not to pay too much attention to them as they’re probably marked up considerably in price and lacking in quality. 

I completely understand that the amount of resources online about touring Halong Bay can be overwhelming, but you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you read a few reviews and do some research before committing to spending money. 

And yes, as mentioned above, ‘eco-travel’ and ‘ethical tourism’ is important when considering your choice for a tour of Halong Bay.

If you want to enjoy the beauty of the area and want to contribute to the effort to preserving it for future generations, you’ll want to keep your eye out for companies that operate with an association or partnership with the following organizations: 

  1. Travelife Sustainability System

  2. The Responsible Travel Club of Vietnam (RTC)

  3. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)  

For your consideration the following are two of the most highly recognized tour groups that offer eco-friendly tours of Halong Bay: 

  1. Bhaya Group Cruises 

  2. Indochina Junk

For most general searches and to compare prices and rates check the following sites: 

  1. Halong Bay Tours

  2. Halong Bay Cruises

  3. Best Price Travel

  4. Booking.com

  5. Agoda

  6. Viator 

And if you’d like to splurge and check out Halong Bay from the air, you’ll want to check out Hai Vu Aviation for one of their tours.  

There are about 1,960 reasons why you should include a visit to Halong Bay on your travel itinerary if you’re visiting Vietnam.

I realize that you’ll find a wealth of conflicting information on the internet as to why you should or shouldn’t visit - and I don’t refute any of their claims. 

There are definitely numerous arguments on both sides and a long list of pros and cons. 

Still, I had a great time with very few complaints and I’m sure that most tourists feel the same. 

The environmental situation however is a major issue and is definitely something that needs to be seriously improved so that the bay can retain its breathtaking beauty and its not ruined in an unsustainable grab for tourism dollars. 

If you visit, it’s important that you do your best to practice ethical tourism and try not to exacerbate the issue. It has taken millions of years to craft Halong Bay into the breathtakingly beautiful landscape that it is today, so let’s do our best not to ruin it with a couple decades of tourism.  


Hoi An Travel Guide

One of the most popular destinations for domestic travelers here in Taiwan are the various areas known as “Old Streets” (老街) found all over the country. Typically set up in areas known for some past economic glory and often featuring some cool architecture, they’re probably more well-known these days for their food vendors and restaurants.

I’ve become a fan of these historic streets over my decade of living here (more for their history than the food), so it was assumed that when discussions about a trip to Vietnam started, I would be easily sold on spending a few days of our vacation in a village that was more or less like one of Taiwan’s Old Streets on steroids. 

If I had no idea where we were going, I would have been sold right away. 

I was however already full aware of the place being sold to me.

There are few travelers in Asia these days that aren’t already aware of Hoi An.  

The central Vietnam tourist hot spot has been one of the destinations high atop my list of places to visit and if a trip to Vietnam didn’t include a visit to the designated UNESCO World Heritage Village, I would have protested! 

For several centuries, Hoi An was one of the most important ports of trade in South East Asia. As the city prospered it also developed into one of the prettiest towns in Vietnam, featuring a fusion of Western, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architectural design.

Amazingly, Hoi An was spared much of the devastation that so many other areas of Vietnam suffered through during the colonial period, various rebellions and the American war. The (relatively) untouched town provides an amazing window to the past and allows tourists to feel like they’ve travelled back in time.

Even if you’re not a history nerd like I am, there’s something for everybody in Hoi An and anyone who visits is able to appreciate this chill little town which is full of great cafes, amazing food and things to see and do. 

If you’re not already sold on visiting, you should also know that Hoi An is known as the birthplace of one of the worlds most famous sandwiches - Banh Mi - and is home to a restaurant that the late great Anthony Bourdain described as the king of them all.

Before we talk about some of the things you can see and do when you visit, we should probably talk a little about its complicated history.

I’ll try to be brief, but it’s important that you understand why Hoi An was so important to Vietnam (and the rest of the world) for so long and how it was able to survive. 

A Brief History of Hoi An

The port city of Hội An in central Vietnam was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 and in the two decades since has transformed from a quiet town into a bustling tourist destination and a hotspot for historical preservation. 

Centuries before, Hoi An was one of the country’s most important ports of call and was a popular stop for the Portuguese, Spanish, French, British, Dutch, Japanese, Indian and especially Chinese traders - many of whom stuck around and left their mark on the town.

Why was everyone coming to Hoi An you might ask? 

Well, from the 15th to 18th centuries, the warehouses in the town were filled to the brim with highly-sought commodities such as high-grade silk, fabrics, paper, porcelain, Areca nuts, peppercorns, Chinese medicine, elephant tusks, beeswax, mother-of-pearl and lacquer. 

Business was so good that the foreign traders who originally only visited on a seasonal basis each year eventually decided to make their presence permanent by constructing their own warehouses and leaving full time representatives in the area.

This is where the melting pot of nationalities started to have a lasting effect on the landscape of Hoi An, especially with regard to its architecture. 

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, nothing lasts forever.

When the Tây Sơn peasant rebellion overthrew the ruling Nguyễn Dynasty in the eighteenth century, Hoi An was targeted by the rebels (as it was perceived as a major source of economic power for the ruling elite) and the city was torched and left to rot. 

Despite Hoi An’s importance to the international community, the political situation in Vietnam became deplorable for most of the locals who reaped little benefit from the economic might of the city.

The Tay Son rebellion easily gained broad support from peasants, ethnic minorities, merchants townspeople who were attracted to a message of seizing land from the wealthy and redistributing it to the poor with equal rights, justice and liberty.

Even though the Tay Son were able to rally the poor and had some military success, their reign over Vietnam was ultimately short lived. The French, Chinese and the remnants of the Nguyen family cooperated to restore the Nguyen Dynasty to power under the leadership of Emperor Gia Long, who was able to unite the country under a single authority for the first time.

Link: Nguyễn dynasty (Wiki)

By the turn of the nineteenth century, Hoi An started to come back to life and was transformed into the historic town that we see today. Unfortunately by that time, the Thu Bồn River had already silted up making the port inaccessible to larger boats which sent the majority of international trade to nearby Đà Nẵng (峴港).

Bicycle delivery

With Hoi An’s declining importance as an international port of trade, it later became an administrative centre for the French Colonialists and then eventually a backwater town that was amazingly left untouched by the changes (and devastation) that took place around the rest of the country.

The Hoi An of today features a harmonious blend of Japanese, Chinese and French Colonial architectural influences blended together with local Vietnamese design, making the town quite unique and worthy of its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

While the rest of Vietnam tends to be hectic and noisy, Hoi An maintains its laid back ambience with its historic buildings, museums, cafes, restaurants and bar. Tourists who visit the beautiful town are able to relax and enjoy warm days that turn into lantern-lit nights where you’re afforded the luxury of exploring while enjoying the classics of Bach, Mozart and Chopin through the street speakers.

Hoi An”, which means ‘peaceful meeting place’ (會安) in Chinese certainly lives up to its name.


What to See and Do while in Hoi An 

Popular Destinations in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Hoi An in central Vietnam. www.goteamjosh.com

Currently, there are around thirty historic properties in Hoi An that have been restored and opened up for tourism which includes museums, temples, ancient family homes and former warehouses and places of business. 

All of these sites are accessible to the public with the purchase of a ‘Hoi An Ancient Town ticket’ but apart from these buildings there is so much more to see and do in Hoi An that you’ll easily be able to fill up a couple of days on your trip. 

As I’ve already mentioned, Hoi An is renowned for its coffee shops, bars, restaurants, night market, spas and cooking classes in addition to its romantic streets and historic sites, which makes a trip to the city enjoyable for history lovers and for those who just want to relax. 

Enjoying some coffee at one of Hoi An’s many coffee shops.

It’s also important to note that Hoi An is considered to be the ‘Banh Mi’ capital of Vietnam, so if you’re a big fan of Vietnamese-style sandwiches (and you should be), you’re going to be spoiled for choice as you’ll find street vendors and restaurant all over town giving their take on the sandwich.

When you’re ready to start exploring you’ll find that the majority of historic properties, temples, museums and restaurants are located on or between the riverside and Tran Phu Street.

Fortunately, the ‘Old Town’ area of Hoi An which has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site isn’t all that large, and due to so much pedestrian traffic, they’ve blocked the area off from cars.

So unless you’re riding a bicycle or a scooter, the best way to get around and enjoy the town is on foot.

What you’ll want to keep in mind is that exploring the historic properties of ‘Old Town’ isn’t free, so you’re going to have to purchase an entrance ticket at one of the tourist information centers. Technically, even to walk into the designated pedestrian area, you’re supposed to have already purchased a ticket, but with the amount of tourists flooding the area from all directions, this has become rather difficult to enforce. 

The entrance tickets are 120,000 VND (5 USD) per person and provides access to the ‘Old Town’ and FIVE sightseeing destinations. The tickets are valid for the duration of your stay, so if you don’t use all of them on your first day, you’ll still be able to use what you have remaining with the rest of time in the area. 

With so many places to visit though, five tickets might not be enough, so if you’re like me, you might end up having to purchase a second set of tickets to better experience the town. 

Link: Hoi An Old Town Ticket, Entrance Fees & Sites (Hidden Hoi An)

Museums

Hoi An is home to several museums where you can lose yourself in the various stages of the city’s development over the past thousand or more years. There is no additional cost for admission to any of these museums, so all you’ll need is one of the five tickets on your Old Town pass to get in.

  1. Hoi An Museum - 2,000 years of local history under one roof. 

  2. Museum of Trade Ceramics - A collection of ceramics from the 16th to 19th centuries. 

  3. Museum of Folklore - A collection of local traditional folk arts.

  4. Museum of Sa Huynh Culture - A collection of Sa Huynh and Champa artifacts. 

For more information about Hoi An’s museums, click the link below: 

Link: Hoi An’s Museums (Hidden Hoi An)

The Japanese Bridge (日本橋) 

The Japanese Bridge serves as the symbolic image of Hoi An and is probably one of the most popular tourist attractions in town. The picturesque four century old bridge is probably where you’re going to take quite a few of your tourist photos, so you’ll want to make sure to visit more than once during your trip. 

Pro-trip: Make sure to visit the bridge during the day, but also go back during the night for some more photos when the lanterns on the bridge are lit up. 

Link: Hoi An’s Japanese-Covered Bridge

Overseas Chinese Assembly Halls (華人會館)  

The Front Gate of the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall

The prevalence of so many ‘Overseas Chinese Assembly Halls’ is one of the unique characteristics of Hoi An - These halls, where the various communities of Chinese immigrants have gotten together to network, worship and do business over the past few centuries are not uncommon throughout South East Asia (and around the world), but in Hoi An you’ll find six of them all relatively close to each other.

The Chinese Assembly Halls account for a large portion of the historic buildings that tourists visit while in town and are beautifully constructed using the traditional architectural design of their homeland.

Each of the halls features a place of worship with popular deities from the region where the large immigrant populations came from.

For more information about the Chinese Assembly Halls in Hoi An, with links to each individual hall, check out the article linked below. 

Link: Chinese Assembly Halls of Hoi An    

Old Houses 

Hoi An is home to hundreds of historic buildings that are worthy of appreciation, but the town continues to be a ‘work in progress’ with regard to restoration efforts. Still, with what is currently available and open to the public for tourism, you’re not likely to be able to see everything unless you spend a few weeks in the area. 

That being said, in addition to Pagodas and Assembly Halls, there are a number of historic homes that have been opened to public and are popular attractions for tourists.

A friendly reminder: These homes don’t always require admission tickets, but be warned that some of them are used to sell local arts and crafts and if you don’t purchase something, you may be asked for a donation.

  1. Trần Family’s Chapel

  2. Old House of Đức An

  3. Nguyễn Tường Family’s Chapel

  4. Old House of Phùng Hưng

  5. Old House of Quân Thắng

  6. Old House of Tấn Ký

The Lanterns of Hoi An

An impromptu photoshoot at the lanterns

Often referred to as “The City of Lights”, Hoi An has become renowned for its night views as the streets are lit at night with thousands of colourful silk lanterns. Whether you’re walking around town, dining in a restaurant or enjoying one of the various bars or coffee shops, the lanterns are always going to be there lighting up the night, making for a romantic atmosphere. 

Not only are you able to enjoy the beautiful lanterns placed on the streets of the historic area of town, but you can also visit workshops where the handmade lanterns are put on display and are available for purchase (Anywhere from 100,000 - 500,000 VND). In fact, for most of those who visit the Hoi An night market, one of the busiest stops is in front of the lantern stalls where people set up impromptu photoshoots while others are busy choosing a beautiful souvenir to take home. 

Link: Lantern Shopping in Hoi An (Hidden Hoi An) 

Traditional Markets, Night Markets and Street Food

Approaching the Central Market

What would a trip to Vietnam be without a stop by one of the colorful and rambunctious food markets?

Walking through one of the hectic markets is almost a necessity when traveling through the country as the experience of watching vendors battle for customers selling anything from fresh meat, vegetables, fruit and noodles.

The sight and smell of such exotic vegetables and fruit is something that hypnotizes almost every tourist. 

Working hand in hand with these markets, you’ll find street food vendors close-by where you’re given the opportunity to sample some of the local delicacies that Hoi An is famous for - From Banh Mi to Bánh Bao Bánh Vac, you’ll find a wide variety of food available near Hoi An’s traditional markets as well as throughout the city.

If you’re looking for markets, Hoi An is home to a couple:  

  1. Hoi An Central Market - located within the old town.

  2. Chợ Tân An Market - located on the outskirts of the old town. 

  3. Ba Le Market - located between the old town and the beach.

Shopping at the Central Market

The largest of the two is obviously the Central Market, which is located between Tran Phu and the riverside and is one of the busiest places in town. You’ll find vendors set up catering to local residents and restaurants but also stalls selling souvenirs and local arts and crafts. 

Link: The Complete Guide to Hoi An’s Markets (Hidden Hoi An)

One of the highlights of Hoi An’s nightlife is a visit to the popular night market across the river on An Hoi island - Open from around 5pm to 11pm daily, the night market is home to vendors selling a wide variety of local dishes (the most popular apparently banana crepes) as well as touristy souvenirs, arts & crafts and clothes. 

The three-hundred meter long night market is located on Nguyen Huang St. and tends to be quite busy at night, so if you plan on visiting be prepared to get up close and personal with your fellow tourists while navigating the market. 

When you get tired of the night market, you’ll find various bars where you’ll be able to grab a seat, listen to some live music and enjoy the beautiful view of Hoi An across the river.  

Herb city

When it comes to food, no matter where you go in Vietnam, you’re going to find some amazing things to eat. That being said, Hoi An is home to quite a few local dishes that you absolutely have to try when you’re in town. 

Obviously you’re able to get Banh Mi everywhere you go in Vietnam, but Hoi An is regarded as the spiritual homeland of the popular sandwich, so you’d do well to sample it once, twice or many times while you’re in town.

There are arguments a to where you’ll find the best version, it seems like the most popular Banh Mi in town (thanks to the late, great Anthony Bourdain) is the Banh Mi Phuong restaurant in the heart of the Old Town.

Roadside skewers by the Central Market

Roadside skewers by the Central Market

Here are some other dishes that you should try when you’re in town: 

  1. Bánh Bao Bánh Vac - Hoi An’s popular White Rose Dumplings.

  2. Mì Quảng - A popular and very fragrant local noodle dish. 

  3. Cơm Gà - Hoi An’s answer to Hainan Chicken

  4. Cao Lầu - A noodle dish that you’ll only find in Hoi An. 

  5. Bánh bột lọc - Bite-sized glutenous rice and pork dumplings

  6. Hoành thánh chiên - large fried wontons topped with chili and peanut sauces. 

  7. Sticky rice balls - Found on the streets in town, these rice balls are chewy and delicious.

  8. Chè Soup - A sweet chilled soup to help cool you off and give you the energy to explore. 

Link: Hoi An Specialties: The Best Local Vietnamese Food (Hidden Hoi An) 

My Son Sanctuary 

One of the most popular trips outside of Hoi An is to the My Son Sanctuary, the ruins of an ancient Hindu kingdom that once controlled much of Vietnam, Cambodia and beyond. 

When you’re in Hoi An you’ll find places all over town advertising tours of the sanctuary, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tour, which really only takes a few hours and typically starts in the early hours of the morning allows you to enjoy the nearly two-thousand year old ruins and still gets you back in town in time to enjoy breakfast. 

If you’re in Hoi And for a few days, a visit to the My Son Sanctuary is highly recommended.

Link: My Son Sanctuary

Activities Outside of Hoi An

Let’s assume that you’ve planned to spend a week or more in Hoi An and you’ve had your fill of checking out all the historic areas of the city and have already taken a tour of My Son - What else is there to do

You’re in luck, one of the ways that the local government has attempted to diversity tourist activities and reduce the congestion within the Old Town is by promoting activities in areas nearby which include trips to the beaches, cycling tours, motorcycle tours, kayaking, palm basket boat rides, lantern boat rides, cooking classes and many more. 

If you’d like more information about what else you can do while you’re in the area, click the link below: 

Link: Activities and Tours in and Around Hoi An Old Town (Hidden Hoi An)  

Getting to Hoi An

Hoi An is a coastal town in Vietnam’s central Quang Nam province that is roughly a 30km drive southeast of neighboring Da Nang City. Since Hoi An has become such a popular destination for travelers, getting to the historic town from Da Nang is quite easy and convenient.

Whether you arrive by air through Da Nang International Airport, by train through Da Nang Station or by coach, you’ll be able to easily get yourself to Hoi An through public or private transport, all of which are quite affordable.

How you get to Hoi An really depends on where you’re coming from, what time of the day you arrive and how much you’re willing to spend.

If you’re arriving in Da Nang by train from another part of Vietnam, you could easily hop on a bus to save some money - Unfortunately if you arrive in town after 6:00pm, that option won’t be available to you.

Link: How to Get From Da Nang to Hoi An on Bus 1 (Hidden Hoi An)

Lantern shopping

We flew directly from Taiwan to Da Nang Airport on a cheap flight, arriving at around 7:30pm. We didn’t have the option of taking the bus, but my travel partners weren’t really interested in taking one anyway. We had already booked a private car which picked us up at the airport, took care of our luggage, gave each of us a bottle of water and delivered us directly to where we were staying. 

Even if you haven’t booked a car prior to your arrival, Da Nang Airport as well as the train station will have an ample amount of taxis available that will take you to Hoi An. 

The drive from Da Nang to Hoi An takes around 30-45 minutes and costs between $15-20 USD, which is quite cheap considering the convenience of being delivered directly to where you’ll be staying while you’re in town. 

Link: Transportation Guide: How to Get from Da Nang to Hoi An

Lantern boats waiting for passengers

While in Vietnam, you should download the “Grab” app for your phone, which is basically South East Asia’s Uber, so that you can easily grab a taxi or motorcycle during your travels without having to worry about confusion or being taken for a ride. Likewise you’ll probably want to get Vietnam’s native “FastGo” app which performs the same role, but offers an additional option in case all the Grab drivers are busy (which in Hoi An is common).  

Once you’ve arrived in Hoi An, getting around is relatively easy as most people tend to walk or ride bicycles. How you explore the area is up to you, but we found it convenient to make use of the bicycles provided by our home stay to ride into town where we’d park them and set off to explore.

Tourists catching some shade at one of Hoi An’s Chinese Assembly Halls.

Even though Hoi An has become one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations, if you compare it to the rest of the country, its still a pretty chill place where you can enjoy some hip cafes, great food, historic buildings, beaches and a lot more.

Sure, you’re going to have to share your experience with a bunch of other tourists, but that shouldn’t really hinder your experience in the historic town. 

A visit to Hoi An is what you make of it - It can be a relaxing experience where you take in some history and chill in cafes or it can be one where where you party hard all night and enjoy the beaches during the day.

No matter what you type of experience you’re looking for, you’ll be able to stuff your face with great food and enjoy beautiful lantern-lit streets at after dark.   

In Hoi An you’ll find history on almost every corner in town but one of the secrets of the success of the area is that you’ll also find some of the hippest artists, musicians and young entrepreneurs in the country. There’s really something for everyone in Hoi An, so if you have a chance to visit, you shouldn’t pass it up.


My Son Sanctuary (美山聖地)

Nearing the end of our time in the UNESCO World Heritage port town of Hoi An, we arranged to take a ‘day trip’ out of the historic town to another UNESCO-recognized spot located about 50 miles away.

There are actually few places in the world where you can go from one massive World Heritage site to another in such a short time, but I guess thats the magic of this particular area of Vietnam.

When I say ‘day trip’ though, I’m probably overstating things.

It wasn’t exactly a day trip - It was more of a go to bed early, wake up really early, get on a bus, tour some ruins, get back on the bus and then enjoy a lovely brunch before continuing our Hoi An adventure. 

Knowing that we had to wake up early the next day, we stopped by the famous ‘Banh Mi Phuong’ restaurant to pick up some of their world-renowned sandwiches, then stopped by a convenience store to get some beer and then went back to our hotel to relax before heading to bed at a respectable hour.

The next day we woke up at around four o’clock, got dressed, gathered our things and then dragged our tired selves downstairs where our shuttle bus was already waiting to take us to the beautiful “Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary”, the home of a long-lost kingdom dating back to the 4th Century. 

That’s almost 1600 years, if you’re counting. 

Once home to over seventy Hindu temples, the religious sanctuary of the former Champa Kingdom, which controlled most of southern and central Vietnam for more than sixteen centuries, is now but a fraction of what it once was. 

Still, the sanctuary is one of the foremost archaeological hotspots in South East Asia and the ongoing work on the site is helping to provide the people of today with an amazing lens into an important part of human history.

And while they work, tourists get to walk around making a bunch of noise.  

If you’re spending any amount of time in central Vietnam, a trip to the My Son Sanctuary should be one of those destinations that is at the top of your list. Understandably, it takes some time to get there and back, but walking through the ruins of an ancient kingdom is well worth the effort. 

I’m going to approach this article a bit differently than what I’ve done with almost all of my other Vietnam travel posts thus far. With the others, I feel like there is so little information available online that it was important to do a deep-dive into their history.  

With this one, there is already an ample amount of information available online from strong sources.

I’m more than willing to admit that while I enjoyed my visit to this World Heritage Site, its a history that is out of my depth of expertise, so I’m not going to pretend that I can offer you anything better than what you can already find online - which I’ll gladly link you to below.

I will spend some time on some of the important historical facts about the site and some of the notable things to see, but the focus on this one is more on the photos and the pertinent travel information to help you get there in one piece.   

History of My Son  

The Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary is a collection of abandoned and ruined Hindu temples in central Vietnam, near the historic port town of Hoi An. The temples, some of which date back to the 4th Century, are often compared to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Bagan in Myanmar and Ayutthaya in Thailand, which goes to show just how important they are with regard to the history of South East Asia. 

You might be thinking: Why were there Hindu temples in Vietnam? 

That’s a valid question, especially since India and Vietnam are separated by about 3000 kilometres of somewhat hostile terrain - The answer probably shouldn’t surprise you though. 

Buddhism, which is probably the most prevalent faith in South East Asia finds its philosophical origin in the rejection of (certain) Hindu beliefs. In the early days though, a lot of Hindu traditions carried over and as Buddhism spread throughout the sub-continent, societies also adopted Sanskrit-style text, rituals, architectural styles and systems of social organization. 

For thousands of years Indian culture, religion and traditions spread throughout South East Asia through immigration, trade and religious missions.

It would be an understatement to say that the influence India had in the region was huge.

This is why you’ll find so many historic temples and shrines from as far as Indonesia to Vietnam.

Link: The Spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (Britannica)

My Son was the religious headquarters of the Cham Kingdom, which in its heyday spanned from modern-day Cambodia to Southern Vietnam, between the 4th century and 14th centuries. 

Unfortunately the history of the Champa Kingdom hasn’t been very well recoded, so researchers often find themselves at odds with each other over competing theories of whether “Champa” was a unified kingdom, or a collection of principalities that shared a common language, culture and religion.

What we do know is that it was an agricultural society that would later became a maritime powerhouse.

Known best as the inventors of the irrigated rice terraces, from around the 7th to 10th centuries the Champa controlled much of the trade in spices and silk between China, India and Indonesia. 

Whether you agree on whether Champa was a united country or a set of states, most seem to agree that “Indrapura” (Modern day: Đông Dương) on Vietnam’s eastern coast (near Da Nang) eventually became the political capital and that My Son, which was little more than ten kilometres away was the ‘Mecca’ of the civilization.

My Son, which is situated in a valley surrounded by mountains consists of about seventy or more temples and shrines dedicated to the worship of Shiva (Bhadreshvara) and was a place of religious worship and ceremony as well as a burial place for Cham royalty and national heroes. 

While the Champa temples at My Son were Hindu in nature, inscriptions and sculptures discovered on the site shows that Buddhism eventually took a foothold within the kingdom. For several centuries though, Vietnam was home to one of the most vibrant Hindu cultures in the world.

Interestingly, once the kingdom was toppled, Hinduism more or less disappeared in Vietnam.  

Even though My Son was an important religious site for almost a thousand years, kingdom fell to the Đại Việt in the late 15th Century, it was completely abandoned (and mostly forgotten about) as most of the Cham people fled over the border to Cambodia. 

Links: Champa | History of Champa | Lê dynasty | Cham-Vietnamese War (Wiki)  

In an amazing stroke of luck, the site was rediscovered a few centuries later in 1898 by M.C. Paris, a Frenchmen who was in the process of constructing telegraph lines in the area.  

If you can, imagine for a moment how it must have felt to discover this ancient site - Then imagine being an archaeologist and having the opportunity to start the important work of trying to figure out exactly what they had discovered.

The rediscovery of My Son after so long might very well have been an event comparable to the discovery of the tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh.

Today it is considered to be one of the longest inhabited archaeological sites in Indochina and pieces of its history can be found in museums from Vietnam to Paris. It is also one of the most important heritage site in Vietnam, one of the foremost Hindu sites in Southeast Asia as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

For more in-depth information about the history of the My Son Sanctuary, check out some of the following resources where you’ll find people with considerably more expertise on the subject than myself. 

Hindu Temples and a Fallen Kingdom in Vietnam: The My Son Sanctuary (Ancient Origins) 

My Son Sanctuary (Huang Thanh Thang Long)

My Son Sanctuary, Vietnam (Sacred Sites)

Treasures of the Champa Kingdom (Youtube) 

Colours of Ethnic Cultures: My Son Sanctuary (Youtube)

Preservation and Restoration of My Son

Once rediscovered, the ruined and abandoned My Son Sanctuary became a major focus of study for the French Colonialists who were eager to learn more about the ancient history of the site.

(And probably because like all colonialists, they wanted to pillage all of the treasure)

With a few years of study under their belt, researchers slowly started publishing their findings in French journals where they reported that the sanctuary was home to the remnants of over 71 buildings.

Those buildings were then divided into 14 different groups to differentiate them based on their architectural styles, purpose and the materials used for their construction. 

Restoration work on the site started in 1937 and was still a work in process when it had the unfortunate luck of becoming a base of operations for the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

This invariably made the sanctuary a target for American bombing campaigns and during a week-long bombardment of the area, several of the structures on the site were completely destroyed leaving a landscape that is still marked with the scars of that terrible period of Vietnam’s modern history. 

When the war was over and Vietnam was unified, restoration work on the sanctuary picked up again and would be designated a National Site a few years later in 1979, which gave it protection as a Cultural Heritage site.

Once things started up again though, the restoration of the area was hampered due to the fact that local authorities had to spend a considerable amount of time de-mining the unexploded landmines that were placed in the area during the war. Since then, several countries have signed on as benefactors and in 1999, My Son was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site - all of which ensured that a steady flow of money and resources would be made available to continue the preservation of the site.

Link: My Son Sanctuary (UNESCO World Heritage) 

After years of research, it is widely thought that the buildings that remain on the site were all used for religious purposes and are classified by the following four types:

  1. Kalan” - A brick tower used as a shrine that housed a deity. 

  2. Mandapa” - A “sanctuary”

  3. Kosaghra” - A “fire-house” with a saddle-shaped roof used to cook offerings for the deity. 

  4. Gopura” - A gate-tower that leads into a walled-temple complex. 

Within each of these four types of buildings, historians have further classified six different architectural variations based on the phases of the development of the Champa Kingdom.

This generally gives us an idea of how old the buildings are and what materials they were constructed with. 

For the purpose of identification, the buildings that remain at My Son have been assigned letters (A, A', B, C, D, E, F, G, H, K) and are differentiated within each of those groups by numbers.

So, instead of giving each building a name, most of them are just referred to as “A1”, “B7”, “C5”, etc. 

A mixture of old and new

Today when you tour the sanctuary, you’ll be able to enjoy groups “A” through “G” but as I’ve already mentioned, there is still quite a bit of work taking place on the site, so the other groups have yet to open to the public. 

What you’ll find in groups A through G though date back to the 4th through 10th centuries. 

If you want to learn more about the types of buildings, system of identification, architectural styles and building techniques about all of these structures, I can’t recommend enough that you check out the Wikipedia article dedicated to My Son, which is surprisingly one of the most in-depth articles you’ll find on the internet about the sanctuary.

Link: Mỹ Sơn (Wiki) 

Touring My Son Sanctuary

 

The great thing about a visit to the My Son Sanctuary is that there are so many different options afforded to travelers. There are not only numerous options for getting to and from the sanctuary, but also the method by which you tour the site. So, no matter what time of the day you visit or how you choose to get there, you should have no problem touring the sanctuary. 

So, whether you choose to rent a scooter and drive out to the sanctuary or book a seat on one of the many tour buses that leave from Hoi An everyday, you’ll have a number of options to choose from. What you’re going to have to decide is what best fits your preferred style of travel and budget and then go with it.

Before I get into the different options for touring the ruins, I think its important to mention a few things about the tour that you’ll want to keep in mind:

  1. The tour is located deep within a valley (between a couple of mountains) and is basically like a sauna on hot days. This is one of the reasons why ‘sunrise tours’ have become so popular. If you are visiting during the afternoon, remember to bring something to cover your head, some sunscreen and more than enough water.

  2. There is quite a bit of walking involved on this tour, so make sure that you wear something comfortable. I know backpackers in Asia love their flip-flops, but you’ll probably want to leave them in your hotel for this one.

  3. The sanctuary is considered a religious site, so it’s important to dress modestly. You won’t really encounter people at the gates with measuring tape, but they request that people practice “civilized tourism,” so try not to wear something that you’d wear to the beach.

  4. Remember that the sanctuary is an active archaeological site that also allows tourists to wander around while professionals from all over the world are making new discoveries. Try not to wander off the tourist paths and interrupt their important work.

  5. You’re free to take photos, but don’t climb on things and act irresponsibly. Some of these ruins are more than a thousand years old. They have withstood war and the test of time, but don’t need a bunch of tourists climbing around on them. 

Now that we’ve got that settled - What are your options for touring the ruins?

Driving Yourself

If you’re on a tight budget, you may want to choose to simply rent a scooter in Hoi An and make the trip inland to the sanctuary on your own. The price of rental ranges from 80,000 VND to 160,000 VND per day (Between $4 and $8 dollars) depending on where you rent. Once you’ve arrived at the sanctuary there is a $150,000/pax VND admission fee and a $5000 VND parking fee.

If you haven’t rented or driven a motorcycle in Vietnam before though, there are quite a few things you’ll want to take into consideration before making your decision.

I recommend reading the article below, which is an excellent resource if you prefer this option. 

Link: An Introduction to Motorbike Rental in Vietnam (Hidden Hoi An) 

Private Car

If money isn’t an option and you’re traveling with several other people, you might want to consider springing for a Private Tour. What this means is that you’ll essentially be renting the services of a professional driver and driving to and from the sanctuary in style in an air-conditioned car.

It goes without saying this is the more comfortable option, but also the most costly as a professional driver will pick you up at your hotel, drive you to the sanctuary and then wait for you in the parking lot while you explore the ruins. 

There are many tour operators located in Hoi An that will offer competitive rates for Private Tours to My Son, which you can book in person. There are also several private car companies that you can find online where you can book your tour in advance.

Personally, if I were to choose this option, I’d much rather book the tour in person a day or two beforehand in order to get the best price. Some of the private car services that you’ll find online can be a bit overpriced. 

The issue with both of these options is that once you’ve arrived at My Son and purchased your admission ticket, you still don’t have the services of a professional tour guide to help explain some of the things you’ll be seeing.

So, if you choose to drive yourself or take a private car to the sanctuary, you have the option of going in blind or hiring the services of one of the tour guides on site, which should cost about $100,000 VND per person. 

The estimated costs for private cars varies between the kind of service you are going for. 

If you just want the driver, it’s cheaper, but if you want the driver to also be your tour guide, then you’ll pay a bit more. Still, it’s cheaper to hire a driver who is also a tour guide than just hiring a driver and then hiring a separate guide when you arrive at the sanctuary. 

Estimated Cost (Without tour): $780,000 VND  (2 people) + Tip

Estimated Cost (With tour): $850,000 VND (2 people) + Tip

Public Tour 

Probably the most convenient option is to book a public tour, which most often is a package that includes your transportation to and from the sanctuary as well as a tour guide who will introduce the important aspects of each of the ruins that you’ll see on the tour. 

One of the main drawbacks about this type of tour is that they generally last for only about four hours (including travel time) so your time for viewing the ruins is a bit more limited.

In most cases the tours depart from Hoi An twice a day, in the morning and the afternoon, but a lot of people prefer to leave even earlier on one of the Sunrise Tours where you’ll be walking around the ruins as the sun is rising for the best light. 

Estimated Cost: $160,000 VND + $150,000 VND (Admission Ticket) + Tip for tour guide

Public Boat Tour

Another option is to arrange a boat tour which includes your drive out to the sanctuary in a car (or a bus), your tour of the ruins and then a boat ride back to Hoi An on the Thu Bon River. This tour takes a bit more time, but you have the added bonus of being able to enjoy the local scenery while floating down the historic river that many of the worlds early traders and explorers once did. 

Estimated Cost: $200,000 VND (tour) + $150,000 (Admission Ticket) + Tip

There are several operators online that will help you book the kind of tour you prefer. 

I’m not the kind of travel writer that accepts money to promote tour companies, so I’m not going to go on and on about how great they all are in order to get some affiliate cash. 

I recommend taking a look at some of the links below to check their tour times and their prices to compare and decide what best fits your itinerary. 

All I’ll say is that I took a Public Sunrise Tour and was fully able to enjoy my experience with enough time to explore the ruins, get the photos I wanted as well as listen to the professional introduction from our tour guide.

We were also back in Hoi An in time to enjoy a great breakfast at one of Hoi An’s most popular breakfast restaurants. 

The Sinh Tourist | VM Travel Hoi An | Tommy Dao Tours |

Rose Travel Service | Go Asia Tours (Boat) | Grasshopper Adventures (Bike Tour)