Christmas in Vietnam – New Year’s Eve in Hoi An

Hey guys! 

I just realized how much I’m behind with the articles! We spent the New Year’s Eve in Hoi An, so it’s been more than a month! I promise I will fix it and every day there’s gonna be a new article. There are three more to go.

Anyways, we went to Hoi An just after the Mekong Delta. From Can Tho, we took a bus to Saigon, where we arrived late at night, grabbed a cab, got closer to the airport, stayed at an airport hotel and hopped on the first plane in the morning to Da Nang. We rented a scooter at the hotel where we stayed the very first night, and drove about thirty kilometers to Hoi An. It couldn’t be more complicated, but we made it. 

There was a typhoon hitting Vietnam, but it got much worse when we left, we only got pouring rain for three days. It’s ironic that we didn’t get ANY rain in the rainy North, and we got tons of rain in the central part of Vietnam, where is never rains. 

We stayed in Hoi An for only one day & one night. We arrived December 31st around noon and left January 1st around noon too – and it was enough. Hoi An is a small town and its downtown can be explored in one day. It’s definitely the most beautiful during night, when thousands of lanterns light up and all the bars and restaurants come alive. Hoi An is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Vietnam and I can confirm that. What I liked the most was the fact that it was clean, a little more modern than other Vietnamese cities (I found a café where they served cappuccinos!) and a bit “European-like”, on the other hand, it misses the authenticity.

During the day we went to buy the famous banh mí (the bistro is called Phuong, and the 30-minute line is definitely worth it, I’ve never had a better one!), explored the markets, browsed the shops and I got myself new customized earrings. Hoi An is actually famous for this – anything you want to have made, from shoes, handbags, suits, wedding dresses to jewelry, is possible here. Just bring a picture or just describe what you want and they will make anything for a fraction of regular price anywhere else. 

We originally wanted to go to bed before midnight, because neither of us is really excited about New Year’s Eve, but in the end we made it till the fireworks. Since it was constantly raining, we went straight to bed. In the morning we went back to Da Nang and explored a different area, but more about that next time!

E.

All pictures were taken with Nikon Z6 + Nikkor 35 mm f1.4 or 24-75 f4.0