Last week I completed 3 months in dazzling town of Ho Chi Minh City and I heard my traveller soul’s calling for a new experience.Since the day I decided to move to Vietnam, it was always on my mind to explore and experience the vast landscape of un-spoilt and still true to their origin destinations of Vietnam.I have been doing my research, talking to local people as well as foreign visitors and collecting their experience and reviews.Vietnam being a country of tropical lowlands, hills and densely forested highlands has a marked variation in climate, so if you have checked weather forecasts before you planned your trip it can qualify you for a smart traveller’s award.May to October is the time of southwesterly summer monsoon so be prepared for high humidity with distinct dry and wet seasons.After a lot of considerations we decided to make a weekend trip to Hội An, a perfect weekend destination and friendly entry on your weather woes list.Here is my first travel experience from my Vietnam sojourn.

• Plan early and enjoyyyy…

I booked my flights to Danang (closest airport to city of Hội An ) with Jetstar Pacific.Domestic flights tickets in Vietnam can really push you to travel more if you can plan things in advance.There is a lot of competition among carriers causing a fare war but there is always a winner(or may be in most of the cases).Another carrier Vietjet also offers some tempting deals but they have a proven record of delay.My colleagues shared their experience with Vietjet flights and on some occasions they had to wait by 3-4 hrs for a 30 min flight, it can quickly turn into a “pulled my hair out” situation.

If you are planning a weekend trip, you can book a Friday evening flight (1 hr 15 min) and return early morning on Monday.In case you go cranky with early morning flights , taking a day off is totally worth it.

Well the most testing time while creating a travel plan just got over(Hooray…), next is the accommodation.

It’s another big motivation to travel in Vietnam, you have hostels for every budget available in even the remotest destination here.Search for hostels in Hội An on any hostel booking site like Hostelbookers, Hostelworld or Agoda will give you some really amazing deals and you can make a selection based on your budget and reviews.

• Let’s fly to destination.

So it’s time to pack your bags and ride to Airport, you are expected to arrive at least an hour before the flight time for domestic flights in Vietnam.If you are flying to some frequented destination in a peak travel season please account for some extra screening time.In my case it wasn’t a perfect travel season but there was a good crowd at the airport.People in Vietnam do take a lot of short vacation so the airports are usually packed on weekends even in off-season.

After you land in Danang, you need to take a taxi to Hội An.Travel time from Danang to Hội An is 30 min and it’s a beautiful scenic road running along the coast all the way to Hoi An city.You can confirm with your hostel guy if they can arrange a pickup from Airport to their place otherwise you can take a taxi outside the airport for 20USD (Tip:negotiate hard for better deal…), show them the address(most of the drivers have decent english speaking skills) and enjoy the ride.

We stayed in a homestay in the center of Hội An and we were really happy with the service quality.Our wonderful host Mr Phung and family were willing to help with anything you need making it a memorable trip.They have a beautiful small cafe on the lakeside and also offered some delicious Vietnamese breakfast.

• Exploring Hội An Ancient Town

Hội An is an ancient town on the central coast of Vietnam, its also a former port city where influence of Chinese, Japanese and French culture and architecture comes alive with colorful colonial buildings, wooden Chinese shophouses and iconic Japanese bridge.Ancient town is a well preserved area of city where no vehicles are allowed.The whole city is around 8 km end to end stretch.At one end you have ancient town, local markets and villages while on the other end you have two beautiful beaches, Cua Dai and An Bang.

Best way to explore the town is to rent a motorbike and ride like a native( if you want to cover everything over weekend) or a bicycle for a casual ride around the places if you have time in hand.First day you can plan to visit the ancient town in the morning and enjoy some really intriguing and ancient buildings or museums. You’d have to park your bike at one of the streets which enters ancient town and then you can walk along the colorful buildings and dazzling shops to explore the area.The whole town runs through 3 parallel streets with a canal running on the southern end.You can also buy tickets to visit some of the highlights of the town like ancient Chinese houses and Japanese bridge( you need to select any 5 places you want to visit from the list) at the tourist booth on all the street entrance.Hội An is at its best during night with mesmerizing display of lamps lightning the whole town, but some of the buildings get closed in evening so its a good idea to explore them during day.

However you should not forget you are still in Vietnam and it can get really humid and hot during day, you can always take a break at one of the many beautiful cafes serving one of the best coffee in world(I mean it, talking of coffee they also serve weasel coffee, one of the costliest in world).If you think you have done enough walking, you can head towards the beaches in the evening, you can swim, relax and sip a cold coffee under a beach umbrella.

As I mentioned earlier, you can’t miss ancient town in night, it’s like a festival everyday where tourist from all parts of the world are strolling on the streets and beautifully illuminated bridges.You are going to have an enthralling experience.You can also plan a dinner in a restaurants serving your favorite cuisine along the canal road.

Day 2 can be a lazy day out or you may plan a trip to visit Cham Islands, most of the hostel/hotel owners have contact with tour agency conducting tour for Cham Islands.It’s a biosphere reserve and marine park with beautiful seascapes.For the adventurous souls there is also a diving center on the island, you can contact them at their office in Hội An and they will also arrange boat/speedboat to island. You can take a half day or a full day tour.

To add some interesting variety, there are also many tour companies providing village tour of Hội An, it’s an amazing experience if you are interested in spending some time with native people and explore paddy fields, ride  a buffalo and boating across the rivers and you can also them in their daily chores 😉 .So just take a bicycle and ride on…..

If you are looking for some short duration activity, you can plan a tour to Cam Thanh Coconut Village , in our case hostel owner contacted a local guy running his small tour company to visit Coconut village.They will arrange a vehicle for pick up, take you through the trip and drop you back to hostel.A word of caution, don’t expect this to be a lethargic ride, you might have to row the boat with carved wooden paddle and trust me it’s a truly testing time.It gets really frustrating when you hear boatman singing and rowing while you are pushing your limits.It was really a memorable experience for us.You might get lucky to find someone who can also teach you how to throw fishing net in river.

As the sun goes down, you might want to enjoy some time on the beach but I would strongly recommend getting back to Ancient town during night again. If you want to avoid the hustle bustle , you can cross to the other side of canal , find a bench on the pavements facing the illuminated rustic town and soak up the vibes which truly testify centuries old fusion of culture and architecture.

Well it’s going to be a truly amazing experience in itself but if you can find some time out you must visit local market at the eastern end of ancient town, buy some some souvenirs from the streets and try some delicious bánh mì at Banh Mi Phoung.

Checkout this photo blog from my Hội An trip.

Keep Travelling !!