Hoi An Things to Do

This tour was recommended to us by fellow travellers when we were in Ha Long Bay. I booked the two hour "Herb Village" but there is a variety of tours available - half day, overnight homestay. The company is run by Pascal, ex pat French, and his Vietnamese wife, Thu. I set off down to their office on one of our hotel bikes, crossed the bridge to the southern part of Ho An, and followed the map on their card.

I swapped bikes for a more robust and newer model and we set off - five of us, with guide Chum (spelling?!) and an assistant guide at the back. Both spoke good English and were enthusiastic and informative. We headed north out of town, and headed into the fields on a path. Chum told us about the rice and peanut crops and was open to questions. Then we headed on a path through a village to a house where the family rice at 3am to make rice noodles. The process is complicated as the rice is soaked, pounded to a dough, steamed in layered oven over a big fire. Then the noodles are put in a mixer before they are rolled out, and sliced on a hand machine. THEN they are steamed again before being delivered to restaurants. Some are dried under fishing nets (to protect from birds).

It was very peaceful to be away from the honing of horns, past roosters and chicks, water buffalo. Next stop was at a market garden where we smelled fresh herbs and tried at hands at watering the garden, Vietnamese style.

Sometimes we crossed a road, or rode along one but mainly you are in the country. The pace is easy and the road flat. Fortunately there was a little cloud so it wasn't too hot.

Highly recommended. $5

I recently went on a bike tour with heaven and earth tours. It was not a touristy set up and was a wonderful way to see the authentic countryside.

I did the morning tour and was travelling with a nice group of six. we started with a short ride through the streets of Hoi An (a cyclist's paradise) before taking a short ferry ride to nearby traffic free islands.

We visited a boat builder, mother of pearl woodcraft 'studio, an ice factory and then those who wanted to try the basket boat.

Great for families or anyone who would like to see more of the rural life outside Hoi An.

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Hoi An is -- as are Ouro Preto, Firenze, Takayama, and other UNESCO World Heritage Sites -- a wonderful place just to walk around, admire the architecture and the ambience, and pop into buildings that interest you.

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Also known as the Fujian Chinese Congregation Assembly Hall, this temple complex was begun in the 18th century to commemorate six families that fled China during the chaos accompanying the Manchu (Ching Dynasty) overthrow of the Ming. Its original purpose was a meeting place for the Fujian Chinese; additions were made and the complex was converted into a temple.

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The Tan Ky house was built four centuries ago, according to a local I met, by a Japanese merchant who was stranded when the Tokugawa shogun closed Japan, forbidding Japanese to leave their country and Japanese abroad to return.

It's an interesting story and accounts for the unusual construction: a Japanse-style ground floor, a Chinese-like first story. Interesting but not true. The house was built in the 1800s.

While the curators prefer you enter from Nguyen Thai Hoc St, you may also come in from the Bach Dang St door -- so long as you have a pip left on your visitors' card.

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A must-see in Hoi An is the Japanese Bridge. Constructed in the 1590s its exterior has remained unchanged while its interior has undergone many modifications. The French, for example, flatened its pathway to accommodate automobiles; following independence and unification in 1975, the roadway was returned to its original shape.

While it would not be extraordinary if found in Kyoto or Nara, the bridge is striking in Hoi An because it is so much more subtle in design and color than the town's many exhuberantly colorful Chinese and Chinese-influenced structures.

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Another of the beautiful Chinese congregation halls, this one was begun in 1776, a year in which Vietnamese independence was ending just as American independence was beginning.