If you were to look up "Perfect, stereotypical image of Vietnam" in the dictionary, you would find a photo of Hoi An.
It is impossible to even try to describe how amazing ancient Hoi An really is in real life. It is like a dream. It is almost like you have stepped onto a beautiful movie set or into a postcard. True, beauty. I always knew I wanted to go to Hoi An, David wasn't as sure. I had seen a million photos of the town and had read a million blog posts on what it is like. I knew that we would love it there. It didn't take too long, but I managed to convince Dave that it was worth an afternoon/evening trip.
We put Hugh down for a morning nap instead of an afternoon nap on our chosen day and called a Grab car as soon as we finished lunch. A quick forty minute trip... on the widest, emptiest highway... with an overly cautious driver going no faster than 50km... and we were there. Step one was to barter for some iconic bamboo cone hats ($10 for all five) and then we were ready to explore!
I had done some research on the must-see places in Hoi An before we left Danang. Aside from the few historical locations in town, most bloggers focus on the most beautiful locations for photos. The ancient townsite is filled with unbelievable photo opportunities which we took full advantage of.
After a few photos we wandered. Watching the rickshaws go past and counting the lanterns hanging over the streets. We passed through some shops and I even ordered a custom silk dress (more on that later). It was all so dreamy and relaxing. The heat of the afternoon was pretty intense so we stopped for a quick ice cream cone. The window where we bought our ice cream from happened to be a bit of a famous little ice cream shop. The owner makes all of her own ice cream every day with locally bought ingredients and it is incredible!
While wandering the back streets, we ran into a family that we had seen outside of our apartment in Danang. The Taylors are a fantastic family of four from England who are also travelling long term. We clicked immediately and ended up walking to the river to take twilight photos of old town while the kids chatted and played. It was so nice to connect and make new friends.
It seemed like a good time to grab dinner, so we went our separate ways. We ended up eating at a beautiful restaurant called Cargo overlooking the river. We enjoyed our meal as we watched the sun set and the water fill with boats and lanterns. The whole scene was so surreal and calming.
After dinner brought the icing on the cake of a perfect day. We walked over to the river where we hired a boat for half an hour and bought some floating lanterns. We spent the next half hour taking in the moment, releasing our lanterns and enjoying that time as a family. It really was magical. We finished the night off with a quick walk through the night market before catching another (much quicker) Grab car home.
Our time in Hoi An was unforgettable and I really think we created memories to last a lifetime. Even the kids were fully aware of what a special experience it really was. They have been talking about it ever since.
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