As in my previous post about the must-visit places in Da Nang, I have mentioned Hoi An. Today I will give you top 6 things everyone wants to do in Hoi An Ancient Town.
Hoi An is located in Quang Nam Province which is about 30km from Da Nang. This Old Town is the city’s historic district. It is recognized as an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and street plan reflects a blend of indigenous and foreign influences.
1. Cycling in Hoi An Ancient Town
This below video caught my eyes when watching Tiktok and I could not help falling in love with Hoi An right from that moment.
Rent a bicycle for 40,000 VND / day only, you will have the opportunity to ride “teen bicycles”, then roam around the streets, alleys, ride along the banks of Hoai River or beyond the wings. green rice fields and then to Cua Dai beach (5 km from the old town).
2. Drop lanterns in the evening on the river of Hoi An
I think the best time for traveling Hoi An Ancient Town is from the evening until night. In the evening, you can explore the streets, the architecture and the cuisine. At night, you can join the lantern festival and take a boat to ride on the river.
3. Explore Hoi An Cuisine
Hoi An cuisine is extremely diverse. If you are in love with food from Central Vietnam, I also have written about it here. In this post, I will give you more options in Hoi An.
Quang Noodles – Mi Quang
Quang noodle is a typical specialty dish of Quang Nam and Da Nang – the Central Vietnamese food.
Noodles are usually made from finely ground rice flour with water from gardenia seeds and eggs and coated in thin layers, then sliced horizontally to have thin noodles about 5-10mm.
Under the noodles are raw vegetables, Quang noodles must be served with 9 flavors of raw vegetables to create a passionate flavor: basil, fresh lettuce, new sprouts, white bean sprouts can be cooked or left to dry, coriander, cilantro with finely chopped spring onions and thinly sliced banana flowers.
On the noodles are pork, shrimp, chicken, frog meat, snakehead fish meat (sometimes boiled eggs) along with broth made from pork bones. People also add dry roasted peanuts and pound them, finely chopped green onions, herbs, red peppers…
In addition, noodles are also served with sesame rice paper, adding crispy roasted peanuts to create a unique flavor.
Cao Lau
Cao Lau is a specialty dish that anyone coming to Hoi An should try. The origin of the name of this dish is very interesting, in the past, when traders came to Hoi An to trade, they had to eat this dish on the “high floor” to both eat and look after the goods, so from there the name Cao Lau was born.
A delicious bowl of Cao Lau has the feeling of the suddenness of the noodles, the sour, spicy, acrid, sweet taste of raw vegetables, the aroma of fish sauce, aromatic powder, soy sauce, gravy… and the crispy tortilla. You can find food at Ba Be restaurant located in the market at the beginning of Tran Phu street, the restaurant at the beginning of lane 69 Phan Chau Trinh, or at the intersection of Tran Phu and Hoang Dieu streets.
Banh Mi in Hoi An
After enjoying 15 banh mi at many different shops across Vietnam, David Farley – a BBC reporter specializing in travel and food has commented that “Vietnamese bread is the most magical in the world” in article “Is Vietnamese banh mi the best sandwich in the world?”. Among them is Hoi An bread.
Hoi An has many famous banh mi shops with foreign tourists such as Madam Khanh bread (Tran Cao Van), Phuong bread (Phan Chau Trinh) and Mrs Lanh bread (Cua Dai).
4. Enjoy a cup of coffee in Hoi An Ancient Town
Coming to Hoi An, you may love to sit at a certain cafe, enjoy a cup of pure, lightly fragrant coffee and watch the flow of people walking around. It’s one of those experiences that everyone wants to come back to Hoi An.
5. Visit Old Houses in Hoi An Ancient Town
The old houses are invaluable heritage that Hoi An preserved after the war, the speed of urbanization and the destruction of nature. Every time in the rainy season, Hoi An is flooded, there are even years of history when the water rose to the first floor of a house submerged in water.
But through many events, the old houses are still intact as the original. In which, Tan Ky ancient house is a place known to many visitors. This is the first house to be recognized as a national monument in Hoi An.
Besides Tan Ky, Hoi An also has ancient houses of Phung Hung, Quan Thang … or assembly halls of Guangdong, Fujian … with bold Chinese architecture, built by Chinese merchants to commemorate their homeland.
6. Take a photo in Hoi An Ancient Town
Website BuzzFeed Travel once ranked Hoi An at number 3 in the list of the best places to take selfies in the world. So when coming to Hoi An, don’t forget to take selfies at famous landmarks such as: An Hoi bridge, Japanese bridge, legendary wall at Hoang Van Thu, alley well, Hoai river bank…
I hope that you will have great time traveling to Hoi An Ancient Town and enjoying the beauty and peace here.
