Hoi An was the first city in Vietnam I visited 7 years ago. In the video Hoi An Travel Vlog 2022, I return to the ancient town spending a few days,(of the rainy season), admiring the many sites of the Unesco World Heritage “Old Town”. Obviously being protected as a Unesco site very little would have changed within the village area in that time other than perhaps some restaurant or shop changes. I did notice more shops with closed doors than I recall however despite visiting during the rainy season Hoi An seemed quite busy and the popular tourist restaurants that many foreigners like to visit were packed in the evenings.
This is easily the most popular place to visit in Central Vietnam. Within Vietnam it’s considered the country’s most competitive city for international tourism beating out Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An. In 2021 it was the winner of Asia's leading cultural city destination category at the 2021 World Travel Awards, beating out Beijing, Delhi, Kyoto, Seoul and it’s neighbor to the north, the ancient imperial capital of Hue.
As I mentioned in the video despite the crowds, it’s a wonderful experience almost anytime of year, even during the rainy season. There’s even a boat service for tourists that will take them through the town if it’s flooded.
I hope you enjoy this video. It’s always a privilege and pleasure to share these experiences with you, whether they inspire you to visit or simply give you joy just to watch and travel from your armchair.
Chickpea Eatery-Hoi An and Da Nang-chickpeaeatery.com (Dung is an absolutely wonderful host)
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00:00 Introduction
02:07 Getting Acquainted With Hoi An
03:31 Chatting With A Street Food Seller In Hoi An
06:00 Despite The Rainy Season Hoi An Is Busy
06:37 Hoi An Culinary Destination/Getting a Banh Mi
08:53 Hoi An "Old Town" Pass Cost
11:04 Hoi An Nightly Boat Rides Cost
12:16 Hoi An-Visiting Local Pagodas, Assembly Halls, Japanese Bridge
14:28 Hoi An's Japanese Covered Bridge
15:06 Hoi An Traditional Market
16:10 Rooftop Cafe-Views of Hoi An Old Town
17:11 Chickpea Eatery Plant based spring rolls, pasta in Hoi An
19:39 Interview with Dung, Language/Food Chickpea Eatery Hoi An
24:15 Hoi An Lanterns/Nightmarkets/Rainy Season
25:36 Hoi An Flooding
Video Transcript(portion)
I’m back in Hoi An getting reacquainted with the town that I first fell in love with 7 years ago on my introductory trip to Vietnam.
Much time has passed since that first visit. I think I know more about Vietnam than I did then, but I’m far from being an expert at anything to do with the culture and way of life here. There’s more to learn, things to see I undoubtedly missed the first time through and new people to meet, and as always it’s a privilege to share this experience with you. Hoi An is indeed one of the top attractions to see in Southeast Asia. It’s another pearl in the strand of must see places and despite it’s overcrowded streets, restaurants, and places of interest it’s beauty is never tarnished. I’m grateful and thrilled to once again spend some time here in the Venice Of The East, Hoi An, Vietnam. I’m John Saboe and these are my Far East Travels.
Being one of the top tourist attractions of Vietnam of course there are places to eat and get a drink every few steps. I’m having a cold Lychee tea while I figure out where I should start. The ancestral or clan houses, pagodas, and assembly halls are brightly painted and hypnotizing and because I’m here during the rainy season it’s of particular interest to me to spend some time later admiring their beauty and fortitude in weathering, in some cases, hundreds of years of storms and typhoons that pound Central Vietnam at this time of year.
But what I’m just as interested in seeing are the people and faces of the town that I may recognize from my first visits here many years ago. I’m looking for one woman who used to sit in the market everyday with a few vegetables while she looked for foreigners like me who would want a photo. Her pitches were always memorable and made me laugh. But I spot another woman who sells Vietnamese pizzas or Bánh Tráng Nướng and prawn cakes that I recognize from the past.
It’s the rainy season, but that hasn’t put the brakes on travel for many. There are lots of tours groups everywhere and the town seems pretty busy.
The boats are starting to gather for the nightly lantern spectacle on the Hoai River the tributary of the Thu Bon River that cradles the old town. You can thank in part mud or silt for preserving the Ancient Town of Hoi An. The silting of the Thu Bon among other things caused the once busy port to slow down and subsequently gave way to Da Nang and it’s attractive deep water port in the north as the major shipping center of the region.