Our flight from HCMC to Da Nang was delayed by about 4 hours, so we requested the VietJet associates on station to possibly find an alternative flight, they got us something that was just a couple of hours away. The flight was uneventful and we reached Da Nang around 2100h. Luckily, Ritwik had the foresight to book a cab beforehand, which would take us to our hotel in Hoi An. I highly recommend this. Yes, it will cost you some money, but it shall be totally worth it. We were picked up by a Ford Endevour and off we went to our hotel, the Green Apple hotel in Hoi An.
We were welcomed with a plates of fruits and fruit juices.
By the time we were ready to go out and eat, most of the nearby shops had shut down, so we asked the ladies in the hotel to help us out, and they pointed us out to a nearby restaurant.
We found the food to be outright delicious. We retired, excited that we had an entire day to roam about the town the next day.
Next day at Hoi An began with us gorging on enormous quantities of bacon, sausages, eggs, boiled chicken, bread, jam and butter; not forgetting the juices and coffee, all in the amazing buffet breakfast at the hotel. We began the day trip by getting ourselves cycles from the hotel. The cycles were free to use, and all you had to do was ensure that at the end of the day, you brought them back in one piece.
Now, in Hoi An, there is an old town area, which has the typical french charm to it. There are some old houses which are preserved in their original conditions, community halls and assembly halls, etc, strewn all about the place.
To enter these, you shall need a ticket. On a single ticket, there are 5 tiny slips of paper, which are torn away as and when you enter these ticketed places. There are a total of 11 such places within the Old Town area. Also, the area is marked walking and cycling only.
We went to the Cantonese Assembly Hall, the covered Japanese Bridge and the Cam Pho Communal House during the day.
These places were quite fine, in my opinion, but not exactly spell binding sorts. Yes, the work done on the murals and the sculptures are quite artistic, yet I didn’t feel them to be absolutely amazing.
Instead, what I did like was the An Hoi Bridge, which bridges the Thu Bon river.
This river is also known as the bridge of lights.
There were these heads, made of plants, up for sale. Found them a tiny bit creepy!
Hawkers were highly enthusiastic about selling a flying object, which resembled a bird. It was powered by a twisted rubber band and once released would flap its wings and fly.
We also got ourselves some pop up cards. These greeting cards come in various themes and tones. Choose your favourite and always bargain.
By this time, it was past noon and we felt hungry. So, after roaming aimlessly for sometime within the Old Town area, we crossed to the other side and found a place where the sign board signed the presence of cheap beer; and egg coffee.
We made peace with beer, spring rolls and egg coffee. The spring rolls are different from what we have here. These were not fried, and the covering was made of thin rice film.
The egg coffee was a different matter all together. Rich strong coffee, sweetened using condensed milk and sugar, with an egg added to it, while it was piping hot, and then served. It was very filling, and very sweet. Had to tick it off the checklist, done that.
Then, we were on our way back to take a bit of rest. Later we would go out again, to the beach, and then we had plans to come back to the night market.
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