Vietnamese History

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) 


Hoi an’s Japanese Covered Bridge (會安日本橋)

If my blog up until now has led you to believe that all there is to see in Hoi An are old Chinese Assembly Halls, I’ll have done you (and the historic World Heritage village) a bit of a disservice. There’s so much to see, do and (more importantly) eat in Hoi An that even if you devoted several weeks to exploring, you wouldn’t even begin to touch all the amazing things the area has to offer. 

Sure, there are currently only around ‘twenty-two’ historic properties within the village that are open for tourism, but that is a number that will continue to grow over the next few years. Thanks to the efforts of the local authorities, many places of historical significance throughout the town are either in the process of or are slated to be restored and opened to the public in the near future.  

Sure, you can use your admission tickets to check out the the historic buildings that have already opened to the public, but there’s a certain romantic feeling while walking around the historic streets and alleys of Hoi An where you’re able to appreciate the hundreds, if not thousands of historic properties that the village has to offer.

In fact, I think if you’ve spent a day or two exploring the historic tourist sites, you could easily spend the rest of your time in town doing a simple walking-tour to check out quiet alleys that are far away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist crowds. 

I hope to highlight some of these other areas over the next few blog posts.

Today though, I’m going to start by introducing one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hoi An (and what has coincidentally also become the symbol of the world heritage town itself), the famed Japanese Covered Bridge.

Which, if you weren’t already aware, no trip to Hoi An could be considered complete without a visit. 

Unlike the Chinese Assembly Halls that I’ve already posted extensively about, you can easily find a multitude of information about the bridge online. Unfortunately, not too many of those resources agree on the facts - So there’s quite a bit of contradictory information about the bridge online.

With this blog, I’ll be doing what I usually do to help tell the story of the bridge, its design and its long history so that you can get a feel for what you’re actually going to be looking at when you visit! 

The “Japanese-Covered Bridge” (日本橋)

When your entire town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you can be sure that there is a plethora of cool stuff to see and do - More specifically though, when you’re the iconic symbol of that town and are also prominently featured on the back of one of the country’s national bills, its safe to say that you’re probably the stand out of what is already an amazing place to visit.

The so-called “Japanese Bridge” is Hoi An’s most recognizable landmark and not only serves as the symbol of the town but is also a nationally recognized landmark and is said to be the most beautiful bridge in South East Asia.

Yes, this bridge is beautiful, its also historic, but what most might not realize is that its also a pagoda, which means that it serves a practical purposes as well as religious purpose making it an important place for tourists and locals alike. 

One of the things that confuses a lot of tourists about the bridge is its name - which is why I referred to it above as the “so-called” Japanese Bridge above. So, before I get into the history and the design of the bridge, I think we should clear up some of the confusion about its name. 

Most tourists and travel sites are going to refer to the bridge simply as the “Japanese Bridge” or the “Japanese-Covered Bridge” in English, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

What probably confuses people most is the lack of uniformity from the various travel resources on the internet which use a mixture of formal and informal names.

This leads people to think that there are actually a bunch of tourist bridges in Hoi An. 

Oh wait, there are actually a couple tourist pedestrian bridges in town.

There’s only one that you should really care about though. 

Below is a list of the most common names for the bridge:  

  1. Lai Viễn Kiều (來遠橋) ‘Bridge that Receives Guests from Afar

  2. Cầu Nhật Bản (日本橋) ‘Japanese Bridge’  

  3. Chùa Cầu (廊橋) ‘Pagoda Bridge’ 

The official name of the bridge is “Lai Viễn Kiều” (來遠橋), which was presented as a gift by Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu, who carved the name in Chinese characters on a plaque which he placed on the entrance.

Later, locals started to refer to the bridge colloquially as “Chùa Cầu” (廊橋), the “Pagoda Bridge” and its more widely used name today “Cầu Nhật Bản” (日本橋), the “Japanese Bridge.”

How you personally refer to the bridge is up to you, none of the names are wrong, but what you should keep in mind is that there is only one iconic bridge in town, so don’t get confused by all the names you’ll see on the web.

History

Although the exact date of its construction is unclear, the Japanese Bridge in Hoi An has been an important part of the booming international port town for (at least) the past four centuries.

Due to the lack of documented history there is an open debate as to when the bridge officially opened to the public, which if you know anything about bridges in Asia, is a bit strange.

The thing about bridges in this part of the world is that they’re almost always engraved with a plaque that includes the name and the date of its construction. This one could have included a similar engraved plaque at some point in its history, but the bridge underwent renovation and restoration projects in 1763, 1815, 1875, 1917, 1962, 1986 and 1992 and it could have disappeared during any of those periods.

It stands to reason though that if a plaque existed before the 1800s, someone would have wrote down the exact date of construction. The first recorded mention we have of the bridge dates back to 1617, so most scholars think that the best we can do is estimate that it originated sometime in the 1590s. 

The bridge was originally constructed by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of connecting the Japanese Quarter with the Chinese Quarter, which was at the time separated by a canal in the Thu Bon River (秋盆河). 

Once completed, the bridge became an important tool for business as it allowed for a flow of traffic across the canal and more importantly, networking between the two sides.

Unfortunately the Japanese were only able to make use of the bridge for a couple of decades before they were forced to return home. The reason for this was because the Tokugawa Shogunate (德川幕府) back home in Japan instituted an isolationist “Sakoku” (鎖國) policy in 1633, which ultimately closed the country (and all aspects of foreign trade) for almost two centuries and required all Japanese citizens doing business outside of the country to return home.

Link: Closed Country “Sakoku” (Wiki)

Although there is also debate about whether or not this is the case, it seems that our best indication as to the exact age of the bridge are the animal statues that guard the entrances of either end of the bridge.

Despite their sacred nature in Japanese culture, the ‘monkey’ (symbolizing safety) and the ‘dog’ (protection) are also part of the Chinese Zodiac so it is thought that they represent the years of the zodiac when construction on the bridge was started and completed. 

What confuses me about this is that almost all of the information you’ll find about the bridge claims that this means that construction started in 1593 and ended in 1595. These years however were actually the ‘snake’ and ‘sheep’ years and thus don’t correspond to the year of the monkey or the year of the dog. 

Unless there’s something I’m missing, if we’re using the Chinese Zodiac as evidence of the age of the bridge, construction likely started in 1596 and was completed two years later in 1598.

I’d be happy to be proven wrong here though.

Link: Chinese Lunar Years: Animal Zodiac (Wisdom Portal)

The bridge after dark

In 1763, after the Japanese left town, the bridge was renovated and the pagoda was added with a shrine to “The God of Weather” (more on that later).  

Then during the French Colonial Period (1887-1945), the French, who made Hoi An an important part of their base of operations flattened out the bridge converting it from a pedestrian-only bridge to one that motorcycles could also cross.

In 1990, the bridge was recognized as a National Level Historic Site. 

Finally in 1986 the bridge was restored to its original ‘arched’-design with only pedestrians allowed to cross.

Unfortunately by that time enough structural damage had been done that another major restoration project would become necessary to ensure the continued existence of the bridge - which continues to be an issue to this day. 

The Legend of Namazu and the Pagoda

Hoi An may have been spared most of the devastation that the rest of the country had to endure during Vietnam’s various modern conflicts, but that doesn’t mean that the historic town has been able to avoid disaster throughout its long history.

The area is prone to not only typhoons and random flooding, but also earthquakes, which together have wreaked havoc upon the town on various occasions. 

Something you’ll notice when you visit in Hoi An is that there are visual reminders of each of these natural disasters marked on the walls of the historic tourist buildings throughout the town.

Which is also a reminder that it is inevitable that yet another disaster will strike. 

While we can’t predict earthquakes, we know when a typhoon will strike and are much better at preventing damage from flooding.

Back in the 16th Century though, these things were a bit more difficult to explain - The Japanese residents of Hoi An though thought they had it all figured out, and legend has it that the construction of the bridge was one of the ways to prevent such disasters from happening again. 

The Japanese, who likewise came from an area of the world that is prone to similar natural disasters, explained that this was all the work of Namazu (鯰), a giant catfish which lives under the earth and whose body spans from India to Japan.

The explanation was that when Namazu was swimming in the waters deep beneath the ground, it would cause the earth to shake.

According to the myth, the reason why earthquakes don’t happen more often is because another powerful god, Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto (建御雷) restrains the catfish and only when he lets his guard down is Namazu able to swim around and cause earthquakes.

Links: Namazu (Wiki) | Namazu: The Earthshaker (History of Geology)  

As it was widely believed that Namazu’s giant body stretched from India to Japan, someone came up with the idea that constructing a bridge in this location would essentially assist in the effort by placing a pin in its back to keep it in place.

To be safe, in 1763, an added layer of protection was added in the form of a pagoda (within the bridge) with a shrine to the “God of Weather.” 

This is where the information you’ll find about the bridge once again becomes a bit confusing.

Most articles will claim that the so-called “God of Weather” is the local “northern” god “Tran Vo Bac De”, which would lead you to believe that this is a northern Vietnamese god.

The entrance to the Pagoda on the bridge.

This isn’t actually the case and is probably the result of some bad translation. 

Tran Vo Bac De” is actually one of the highest ranking deities within Taoism (道教) and does hail from the “north”, but it’s the north of China and not Vietnam.

In China, he is often referred to as the “Zhenwu Emperor” (真武大帝), “Xuanwu” (玄武) or the “Black Emperor” (黑蒂) and is thought to be extremely powerful and able to control the elements, which (most importantly in the case of the bridge) includes water and the weather. 

This is important because not only was Hoi An a seafaring port of trade, but also an area that was prone to natural disaster, so it was considered auspicious to have a deity enshrined in the pagoda that people could pray to for better weather and safer travel conditions. 

Link: Xuanwu (Wiki)

Design  

The bridge after dark

Even though its commonly referred to as the “Japanese Bridge”, the architectural design is a harmonious blend of the various styles of Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese design.

Sure, there are elements that are purely Japanese in nature but everything from the material used to the patterns and decorations are a fusion of the various cultures that have made their home in Hoi An over the past few centuries.  

The arched bridge is 60 feet in length (18 meters) connecting Tran Phu Road on the eastern side with Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Road on the western side.

Otherwise known as the Chinese Quarter and the Japanese Quarter, respectively.  

The base layers of the bridge are constructed with stone while the top is constructed primarily with red lacquered wood. The interior likewise features beautiful wood-carvings and motifs between each of the pillars and along the walls of the pagoda. 

Understandably, after several centuries, the original colors of the decorations both inside as well as those on the roof have faded and are in need of a bit of a refresh. The plain-looking wood that you’ll find today though is still quite good looking thanks to the craftsmanship of those who helped in the construction.  

Constructed as a physical and metaphorical ‘bridge’ between the two cultures, the roof was designed using a traditional Chinese style featuring three different layers with decorations on the top of each layer. Additionally, there is a special layer on both of the entrances on either side that faces the opposite direction as the three layers above, which is somewhat uncommon for this type of roof and makes its complex design quite unique. 

To the average tourist, the bridge may seem somewhat plain - I’ve even seen some travel reviews from people saying that you ‘shouldn’t bother wasting a ticket’ to walk on the bridge, but if you don’t take a few minutes to check out the interior, you’ll be missing out.

Sure, some of the decorations have faded over time, but I’m sure you wouldn’t be very good looking after four hundred years either, so make sure to take some time to enjoy the bridge. You most certainly won’t be wasting anything if you do.  

2020 Renovation Project

One thing that you’ll learn quickly when you visit Hoi An is that the city is prone to flooding.

As I mentioned above, in many of the historic buildings in the village, you’ll find markers on the walls that represent the various floods that have caused a considerable amount of damage over the years. 

The area is likewise prone to typhoons and earthquakes. 

With the constant thread of flood, earthquake or typhoon, the local government has to be constantly on the ball when it comes to the preservation and maintenance of the historic properties within Hoi An - which is part of the reason why they’ve instituted the admission ticket system. 

Unfortunately, the condition of the 400 year old bridge has become a major area of concern with fears that the bridge could collapse sometime in the near future as many of the poles and beams that support it have cracked and rotted.

To address this issue, the People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province approved an almost one million dollar project to restore the bridge to ensure its continued existence. 

It is unclear how long it will take to complete the restoration project, which is slated to start sometime within the first quarter of 2020, but you should be aware that if you visit sometime this year, that you may not be able to experience one of South East Asia’s most beautiful bridges as it will be covered up for restoration. 

Korean tourists at the bridge.

Link: Hoi An to spend $860,000 strengthening vulnerable Pagoda Bridge (VN Express) 

If you ask me, it would also be a bit helpful if the local government made an effort to also clean up the stinky, stagnant water in the canal that flows under the bridge. That being said, COVID-19 is probably preventing anything from happening on schedule as well as your visit to the area, so I’m sure we can expect the project to be delayed.

Getting There 

 

Hoi An is a coastal town in Vietnam’s central Quang Nam province that is a 30km drive southeast of neighbouring Da Nang City (峴港市). Since Hoi An has become such a popular destination for travellers, getting to the historic town from Da Nang is quite 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.

While staying in Vietnam, you should also download the “Grab” app for your phone so that you can easily grab a taxi during your travels without having to worry about a language barrier or getting cheated.

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

Once you’ve arrived in Hoi An, getting around is really easy - just walk everywhere!

The ‘Old Town’ area of Hoi An that has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site isn’t all that big, 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 is on foot.

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. What you’ll want to keep in mind though is that exploring the historic properties of Old Town isn’t free, so you’re going to have to purchase an entrance ticket.

The entrance tickets are 120,000 VND (5 USD) per person and gives you access to five sightseeing places. The tickets are valid for the duration of your stay, so if you don’t use all of the tickets on your first day, you’ll still be able to use what you have remaining on the next day.

With so many places to visit within the Old Town though, five tickets might not be enough, so you might have to purchase a second set of tickets if you want to fully experience the town. 

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

While some of the other attractions in town might be a little more liberal with their ticket-taking policies, you can rest assured that when you arrive at the bridge that the gatekeepers will be there to take your ticket. This not only helps with crowd control but also ensuing that the bridge gets enough funding for its preservation and allowing it to continue serving as the symbol of Hoi An. 

Like many of Hoi An’s tourist destinations, the Japanese Bridge is located on Tran Phu street. 

It is conveniently located at the western end of the street and connects to the laid back Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street across the canal. If you arrive at a time of the day when there is a long line of people wanting to get on the bridge, never fear, the area near both sides of the canal is well-known for its cafes and restaurants. You should be able to stop for a quick break before making your way onto the bridge.

Congrats to the lovely couple having wedding photos taken!

You’ll also want to remember that a ticket is only required for those who actually want to walk on the bridge. If you haven’t purchased your admission tickets yet, never fear, one of the eleven ticket stalls within town is situated across from the bridge where you can walk in, get your tickets and a map of the popular tourist destinations in the old town.

If you just want to take photos of the exterior, you can easily walk around and take photos. Likewise, if you want to cross the canal, there is another nearby footbridge to get across without having to use one of your tickets.

But you should definitely not miss the chance to walk across the bridge if you’re in Hoi An.

Address: Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Phường Minh An, Hội An, Quảng Nam 564010, Vietnam