Hoi An - an enchanting taste of the old Orient

We left Nha Trang not by coach for once, but by train, leaving at 5:30am (horrendous time of day for anyone!) and settled in on a 'soft seat' carriage for an 8 hour train journey to Da Nang. The journey was much smoother than the road and for the first time ever I managed to get some sleep on transport! When I wasn't dozing, I was marvelling at the stunning scenery through the window as we whizzed past mountains, beaches and rice fields.

We arrived in Da Nang just before 2pm and hopped onto a local bus that took us to Hoi An. On the way through Da Nang we crossed a large river that displayed many bridges with stunning designs-all modern too, one was particularly impressive looking like a giant golden dragon was flowing under and over the bridge.

When we got to the hotel, we did our usual: dump the bags and head out to see what we can find. After a walk of 20 minutes or so we hit the main area and were harassed constantly by people trying to sell us suits- I'd love to if I could but I'm on a strict budget here!

Then we stumbled across the first of my new-found wonders: a bar that sold glasses of beer for just 5,000 Dong- that's 15p....15p!!!!!!! So naturally we had a few. After leaving, we walked just one street down and were left feeling like we'd instantly gone back in time. The old town of Hoi An is completely protected by UNESCO as it was occupied under the Chinese dynasty and unlike many things in Vietnam that have been ravaged by multiple wars, this place had remained intact.

I've always loved places that have a lot of history, character and meaning and this ticked all of those boxes thoroughly. It was the first time since we've been out here that I'd been awestruck- and I was so glad it finally happened! I came in search of places of beauty and I could finally say that there was no doubt this was one you could never forget.

In the dusk light, the different coloured Chinese lanterns that were hanging everywhere gave it the most atmospheric of glows, whilst you could hear authentic folk songs being practiced in the street.

The next day we woke up eager to see the place properly in the daylight and headed out straight after breakfast. We went to all of the biggest sites including the assembly halls, old houses and the most famous of all - the Japanese bridge. Each time we admired the places in silence to fully take in the beautiful surroundings we were in. In one of the ancient houses, they had a board with souvenirs left by previous visitors and one had a Southampton fc badge on it! Like this place could wow me anymore!

The entrance to one of the assembly halls

But wow me further it did; before heading back to our hotel for a few hours, we stumbled upon a little place that served tea in the classic old style and we couldn't possibly miss out on it. We both had a redbush fusion tea that was good for your skin as well as your stomach and while we sat in silence we came to learn that the place was actually run by a charity for the visual and hearing impaired - so communication with waitresses was done via lip reading or pointing to signs on the table such as "more hot water" and "bill". The tea was served by serving into a tall jug and then pouring into a smaller cup which was all wonderfully quaint, plus it tasted great too. Yet another thing we'd wanted to do out here successfully ticked off the bucket list and another reason to fall deeper in love with Hoi An.

Having a real old fashioned cuppa!

We returned in the evening to eat (we had a great meal including a local speciality called 'White Rose' which is a kind of dumpling - which was awesome!), drink more cheap beer and continue to admire the place before leaving early the next day. We'd planned out our onward journey already unfortunately, so couldn't stay any longer despite wanting to. In a way though, Hoi An followed the old saying of "always leave them wanting more".

Just one of the many beautiful buildings in Hoi An

This was the most beautiful place I've visited in some time and I already know this'll be high up in my rankings when I reminisce about my travels. Personally I'm not sure if anything else in Vietnam will beat this - only Ha Long bay has the possibility to come close. If you ever come to Vietnam yourself, get yourself to Hoi An, there's places we've been that are good and places that might be able to leave off but this place is an absolute must for any traveller. If you were to come here without seeing Hoi An, then I'd say you may as well not bother coming at all.

Next up: more old sights in Hue as we visit the Imperial City!