Travels in Vietnam: Return to Hoi An

After our pleasant afternoon in Hoi An, we decided to return for a few days to break up our month long stay in Da Nang. Our first stop was for more Bahn Mi Queen, and our second stop was the tailor shop, where Jessica was measured for her custom made clothes. Then we were on to our hotel, which was not in the Old Town; rather we elected to stay in a boutique hotel on a thin road that bordered the green rice fields. It was a cute place that even had its own art gallery (most of the art was done by the owner and her husband, who was also the expert coffee maker on site). Directly out front was the sea of green.

Some pictures from the hotel and the Gallery:

They prepared really good breakfast, western or Vietnamese, and even had old bikes to ride on the narrow paths through the rice fields, which we did on our last day. On our arrival day, we walked through the fields under grayish-blue skies and the occasional drizzle, past field workers, motorbikes, and water buffaloes, gently grazing.

We spent the next day walking into Hoi An proper under the bright, hot sun amongst the rice fields. We were able to see a different part of the city than we saw on our first visit. The pink bougainvilleas were blooming everywhere.

We took a rest at the Hoi An Catholic Church (but couldn’t go inside), in front of the Virgin Mary Grotto.

Nearby, we visited a small temple, this one called the Chinese Assembly Hall of Hoi An.

Our last day we woke up early and took the ancient bicycles that the hotel provided on a ride; we haven’t ridden bikes since we were teenagers. We didn’t forget, but it was not the most fun experience as we had to worry about the motorbikes zooming by, it was super hot, and they really hurt our rear ends (oh no!). After our bike ride, Jessica had her final fitting at the tailor shop and we grabbed lunch at Bahn Mi Queen before heading off, back to Da Nang. The three days were well spent in Hoi An, and I would definitely recommend it while visiting Vietnam. One last post from Da Nang coming up next!