Hi guys. How are you today? I hope you are doing well. The weather today is very pleasant to go for a walk somewhere, so my roommate and I decided to drive down to the ancient town of Hoi An for a walk and take some pictures. We started going at 3pm when it wasn't hot anymore. We drove down to Hoi An from my hostel near Da Nang city center, it took us about 30 minutes by motorbike. Arriving at the place, since this is a pedestrian street, we had to find a parking space and started our walking tour of the old town. We started walking along the Hoai River to enter the old town, where there are many ancient restaurants selling specialties here such as Cao Lau, Chicken Rice, Quang noodles, etc. As you can see, there are many bougainvillea blooms on the rooftops in the summer, creating a special highlight for the old town. Tourists from many places both at domestic and foreign are returning to Hoi An in large numbers, I am partly surprised because since the covid-19 epidemic is completely controlled, this is the time when tourists come to Hoi An old town more and more. Therefore, the shops are all reopened to serve tourists with items such as paintings, silks, lanterns, etc. On the street there are old people with peddlers on their shoulders, they also have to work to make a living.
There are many bicycle rental services for walking in the old town, while resting for a while, I saw a lot of people cycling past in front of me, sometimes a couple, sometimes a father carrying a child, sometimes mother carrying a child, it looks very interesting. As I mentioned earlier, bougainvillea blooms a lot in the summer, in these small streets there are also a lot of bougainvillea growing on the roofs that look very poetic.
After walking for a while, we felt a bit hungry, so we found a small eatery in the old town to eat. We ate crushed rice cracker, and fried mussels, although I've eaten it many times before, they are absolutely delicious. After eating, we went to look for a Mot tea - one of the most famous and delicious herbal teas here, you can't miss when you have the opportunity to come here. A glass of water decorated with a tea leaf and a lotus leaf on top, looks very unique, the price is 13,000VND/cup ~ $0.5/cup. The shop is very nicely decorated, you can buy take away and sit in the shop. Because we were a bit tired, we ordered and used it at the restaurant, the view here is quite nice, there is also a memory book, you can write down anything you want in it to save as a souvenir.
When you walk the whole street, I'm sure you always see the lantern because almost everywhere is decorated with it. Lanterns are a symbol of the beauty of Hoi An ancient town from the past to the present. In the evening, the streets and alleys of Hoi An ancient town will be lit up, you will see the old town become more sparkling and fanciful through the colored lights of lanterns. Not only decorated in shops and houses of people in the old town, but underwater, on tourist boats, people also decorate lanterns around the boat to illuminate and increase the beauty of the boat. When looking at the river, I am sure you will be mesmerized by the shimmering and shining of Hoai River. Me and my friend decided to experience the river by boat to see the old town. There were also flower garlands and colored lanterns on the boat, so we decided to buy 2 to pray. After praying, we dropped it into the water, besides us many people also released it, which made the river more sparkling.
After sailing for about 10 minutes, we went back to the shore and walked a bit more to photograph Hoi An walking street at night. There is also a calligraphy painter by the roadside, you can buy paintings to decorate your home. Going a little way, I heard the sound of an instrument playing, so I followed it, and I caught sight of 3 middle-aged guys playing musical instruments like guitar, lute, and flute. The sound was very hand-shake, I stood melodious to the music for a long time. To another place, I met another artist sculpting on bamboo roots, it was amazing. She was very passionate about the work she was doing, some of her works are hung on the shelves, it is very beautiful and unique, you can buy it to decorate your home. There are also some souvenir shops on the road, you can buy them for relatives and friends. Our trip ended with a Vietnamese candy, this is the kind of candy that I used to eat when I was a child, it was very delicious for me.
It was already around 8pm, we took the motorbike and left. Thanks for reading my article and see you in my next posts. Have a great time. Love all!