Hoi An Things to Do

Being a UNESCO World Heritage place, Hoi An's old centre is considered as a whole when visiting.
You can walk through the streets for free, but if you wanna visit something, you will have to buy a "Multi-entrance" ticket. You buy them in any of the ticket offices that are in some travel agencies in the old town. With one ticket (50.000 VND, about 3 USD) you can see:
- 1 of the 3 museums
- 1 of the 3 Old Houses
- 1 of the 3 Assembly Halls
- Traditional Music Concert and Handicraft Workshop
- The Japanese Bridge or Quan Cong's Temple

The money goes to mantaining the old town.

4 more images

A tour to Cham Island is a nice days outing.

I was picked up by bus and taken to a port where I boarded the boat. I could sit downstairs or up on the top open deck, this is what I did, as I'd rather take photo's from there than from behind glass.
I was given a bottle of Water and 2 cup cakes for breakfast, [nice!] and these were FREE!
The trip to the island took about 1.5 hours. It was quite interesting as lots of fishing boats with their fishing nets were out on the water.

The town on the island is in a pretty little cove. Lots of basket boats are here and the people don't pressure you to buy like in Hoi an, a nice respite. It was enjoyable watching the locals get on with their life.
We went out on the boat for snorkelling, a bit cold and windy the day we went. Onto another nice secluded cove, just our group for lunch and rest and recreation on a sandy beach with palm trees, this was so lovely!

Then it was time to return to the Boat, and head back to the mainland, where a bus took me back to my Hotel.

A word of warning for the trip back.....
The wind had come up and the sea was very rough, so if you suffer from sea sickness, take some tablets with you.
Also, everybody was frozen, except for me, as I took a cardigan with me, and even that was not quite warm enough. There was nowhere to get away from the cold wind! Take something warm with you, even in warmer weather, as the return trip may be cold!

In 2008, I paid $19 for this tour after checking with many travel agencies. Check around, as prices DO VARY!
I see a tour in 2011 cost $32us......including lunch, but this is by speedboat which is the faster boat.

I dearly wanted to do a cooking school whilst in Hoi An but ran out of time.
But for the benefit of other travellers, I do want to tell you about Red Bridge. It seems to be the best of many cooking schools here.
They have various half & full day cooking tours. All include a visit to the markets to learn about all of the ingredients that will be used in the cooking lesson later. You then board the Red Bridge boat for a cruise along the Hoi An River to the cooking school's location. They have a swimming pool there that you are free to use after the cooking tour has finished and they provide towels & showers.
Prices in March'08 were US$18 for half day, US$30 for a full day, and they also run an evening class for US$10.

1 more image

Visiting tourist attractions of Hoi An is restricted to five places for one entrance ticket. To make things more complicated, you can't visit any five places of your choice, but each one must fall into a different category. The categories are: museums, assembly halls, old houses, cultural events ( which means either a concert of traditional music or visiting a handicraft workshop) and "other" (the choice of two temples). If you want to visit another attraction, you must buy a new ticket. Swapping the attractions doesn't seem to be possible. Tickets cost about five dollars and can be easily bought in various ticket offices in the Old Town.
Although the system may seem annoying, I do understand the town's need for funds, especially with the place being haunted by frequent floods which make the task of conservation very urgent.
From my own experience I can say that one ticket is enough to see the highlights of Hoi An. Luckily, to immerse in its unique atmosphere you don't need any ticket, at all.

1 more image

Do a tour to My Son. The scenery is good on the way there, passing by many fields of Rice, and lovely mountain views.

At My Son, the guide told my group about the site, then we had about 1.5hours to look around on our own, this was plenty of time.
On the way back, I came back by boat, ( you have a choice, either boat or bus) we stopped at a carpentry village. I didn't find it very interesting at all.

Back in the Boat again, we happened to pull up beside a Fisherman as he is throwing his net into the water. Guess what.... He had a fish, but it was dead and on a piece of string, a set up for the tourist's. Of course he came alongside the Boat with his hand held out wanting money for the demonstration!

This was the end of the tour, and we were dropped off at the markets, and you find your own way back to your hotel.
A good tour.

It cost me $10us,(2008).......
this included bus, boat, and basic lunch of rice, banana and water.

It did not include the entrance fee of 60,000dong.

1 more image

This certainly doesn't give an impression of anything worth seeing from the outside, but inside, its a different matter, nice and interesting.

It was built nearly 200 years ago. The owner of the house has preserved its interior design and old furniture, as well as many relics of the prospering trade and cultural exchanges among the Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese in the late 17 century.

The person who built the house was a Minh Huong (a Chinese native) who came to Vietnam to do business in the 17th century. Seven generations of owners have successively lived here. The house was built from traditional materials, influenced by Chinese and Japanese styles. It is charming and elegant.

The front hall used to be a shop selling cinnamon, tea, silk, wood and medicines obtained from rare animals' bones.

The second compartment is the centre of the house. It is bigger than the first one, and it used to be a guest room, but today its used for worshipping as well as receiving guests.

On 17th February 1990 Tan Ky house was listed as a national historical vestige.

In a lane full of beautiful buildings, the old Phung Hung Old House stands out. It's still a family home, having housed eight generations over 226 years.
The House is over 100 years old, has unique architecture, with high wooden ceilings and large corridors.
Here you will find information about the lifestyle of merchants who lived in Hoi An, a long time ago.

On the 29th of June 1993 the house was listed as a national historical vestige.

Its worth a wander through, some souvenirs, various handicrafts and hand embroidery is on sale here.

4 more images

Ho An is an ancient town with many impressive old architectural buildings, the Cham Nam river divided the town into two areas, the local rich tradition, and historical with settlers' remnants. This town is already famous with tourists from all over the world. Most of the Vietnam travelling video guide will cover this part of Vietnam. You can spend days covering the area with museum, architectures, foods, history, cultures, arts and many more. Overall, it is a beautiful town like living in the past.

Visit Hoi An Bookstore to buy book to learn more about this town.