Our second of six UNESCO World Heritage sites in Vietnam was the beautiful city of Hoi An. It was a short ride from the modern built-up city of Da Nang, which stood in stark contrast to this quaint city stuck in time, except of course, for us tourists. It reminded me of the World Showcase at Disney World’s EPCOT Center, which recreates various countries around the world. Therese likened it to Venice because of the river that cuts through Old Town. Even with the massive amount of tourists, we enjoyed it thoroughly!
In addition to the town itself, Hoi An has some nice beaches that we were able to reach by a leisurely bike ride through rice paddies and vegetable villages. They’re smaller than Da Nang’s beaches and we were told that some spots have been affected by erosion, but there was still plenty of sand for everyone.
Unfortunately, the only diving we planned to do in Vietnam was from Hoi An, and they ended up cancelling the trip due to bad visibility. Vietnam is not really known for diving so we weren’t too upset about it, but it would have been nice to add another country to our logbooks.
The most memorable thing about Hoi An is definitely the beautiful lanterns! Hoi An at night is a sight to see. All along the streets, waterfront, and even in the river, lanterns light up the night. Putting lanterns in the water is a form of worship and remembering ancestors. Every month there is a lantern festival where the city lights are turned off and the only light comes from lanterns floating in the water. We missed the festival, but you can still put lanterns in the water any night.
