It's small.
I could picture knowing everyone by name or being a regular at a particular coffee shop, having my morning cappuccino ready for pick up everyday, same time. Because of its size, you can walk around most of down town, browsing through shops, sampling delicious ice-cream and buying pretty jewellery. You can also rent a bicycle from your hotel and dash to town in an eco-friendly manner, plus its good exercise, a win for you and your environment.
It's colourful
The bright yellow townhouse type buildings of downtown will give you the feeling of warm sunshine even on a cloudy day. The people are just as colourful too. Mainly a tourist destination for clothing, art and all sorts of tailor made goodies, the locals have become rather creative with their sales pitch to get you to see their shops and place an order or two. side-note: I think they have an eye of spotting the new comers in town.
Its a shoppers paradise
Even if you are no shopaholic or keen on bargain hunting, the town, its people and all the pretty things on offer lure you into their web. Bring a picture of a designer dress you want, custom make a leather jacket, pimp out your all-stars with bling or even copy your favourite leather sandals that are about to go bust - you name it they can do it and at very irresistible prices too.
Glorious Food
This has to have been my favourite part of my time spent in Hoi An. After a recommendation from a good friend and further reiterated by my favourite travel blogger, I found the cooking class of my dreams. Housed upstairs of the best restaurant in the town, is the Morning Glory cooking school. We opted for the "Herb garden cycle tour and cooking class" which saw us being educated about the herbs used in vietnamese dishes too. We also made a stop at a "house factory" that produces the famous cao lau noodles, unique to the town of Hoi An. After watering the vegetable gardens, we returned to school to begin the hands-on cooking class. The instructor, who also happens to be the owner of the said restaurant, shared some of her childhood stories which gave us great insight into the History of Vietnam from a culinary perspective. We watched, emulated and enjoyed the feast of our hard (ok not really hard) work :)
We came back later that evening and dined at this fine restaurant and the excellent reviews they receive are no lie. I savoured every bite and had we spent more time in Hoi An, we would have eaten every meal of the day at this establishment for the rest of our time there - its that good.
The people
As with the rest of Vietnam, the people of Hoi An are extremely friendly. Despite all the sales pitches, I didn't feel harassed at all (there was far more of that in Cambodia).
But my biggest weakness are the kids - I mean just look at them....
Tips
1. Go to Hoi An! You simply must.
2. There is no airport in this little town, but you can fly/train into the neighbouring town/city of Danang and take a taxi from the airport straight to Hoi An (less than an hour).
3. We stayed in a hotel with a pool which didn't really cost more than other hotels which didn't have a pool. It really helped with cooling down after a day of cycling/walking in the heat to take a dip in the pool before dinner.
4. Unless you are literally passing through, say for one day, I would not advise buying anything on the first day you are there - although very tempting. Spend the initial time browsing, comparing prices, and deciding how much you can spend in this town while considering how much time you still intend on spending in the country. This is vital because, the prices for big ticket items like leather jackets or bags are far cheaper than what I would pay back home, making it an ideal opportunity to stock up. But if you didn't budget to buy a leather jacket on your trip this will very quickly deplete your funds, making for an unpleasant you, for the rest of the trip. You can't have it all, so sleep on it and come back the next day and you will be more rational with your spending.
5. If you decide to have something tailor made, you will need at least 24 hours in the town. But be fair in your request. We spent 3 nights in this precious town. We spent the first afternoon just browsing and maybe purchasing a few small and affordable items. The next day we got an early start and went to place orders for our tailor made goodies. The factory had the rest of the day and the full day the next day to work on our items. Although our flight was later in the evening of the 4th day, we went back to collect our goodies around in the morning to make sure we were happy with them and that they would have time to make quick alterations if necessary. They were surprisingly very quick with our orders and very honest as to how much time they needed and so everything was ready on time for us to head to the airport comfortably.
6. There are many cooking classes on offer in the town through various establishments and although probably much cheaper than the one we went on, the Morning Glory cooking class was worth every penny spent - and the cook book on sale makes for a great reference for when you get back home or an awesome gift for your kitchen savvy sister - autographed by the author herself.
Final thoughts
Hoi An is so small but stole my heart in a big big way. It's worth the effort of getting there - which surprisingly was n't that difficult either. Have a super time in Hoi An :)
Last insert coming soon: Visiting Vietnam:Ho Chi Min City (Saigon)
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