Hoi An

Hoi An is about forty kilometers south of Danang, on the coast. It is a tourist town, with seemingly as many westerners as Vietnamese. Expect to be nagged at to buy something everytime you step outside your hotel. If you are looking for tailor made clothes at a good price, you might consider going there. But that shouldn’t be the only reason. Though I avoid tourist towns like this, you can rent a motorbike and take trips out into the country, where tourists apparently never go. A motorbike for the day will cost about 5-6USDs, gas not included. Make sure you get the tank filled before starting off, and maybe the telephone number of the lender, just in case you need to make contact. There are countless roads to take to the west which meander through the countryside.

You can reach Hoi An from the Danang train station by either taxi or motorbike. I rode on the back of a motorbike, my bag tied onto the back. My driver, Duong, furnished me with a helmet and took me along what he described as the scenic route along the beach, passing a former American airbase and Marble Mountain, where VC had a tunnel complex. The cost was 5 USDs. I suppose a taxi will be twice that.

If you come to Danang by train from the north you will have some dramatic views of the sea when the train climbs up a pass just north of Danang. Note that lunch is served on the train and is part of the fare. I came from Hue, a couple of hours away.

The Than Binh III Hotel has wonderful rooms for as low as 15USDs during the low season. This includes a good breakfast. My room, in the rear, which is quieter, had a balcony, a tile floor, a vaulted ceiling, a ceiling fan, and AC. The TV has HBO and CNN. There is also a swimming pool. The staff is very helpful and can assist you with tours or transportation for a small fee. Email: vothihong@dng.vnn.vn; telephone: 84.510.916.777.

I can’t say I liked Hoi An so much. The place is overrun with tourists—in restaurants, shops, bars—but I enjoyed motorbike trips out into the country, and the hotel room was the best I had in Vietnam for the price. I doubted anything to the south would be better and so I stayed until the day before my visa expired, flying from Danang to Saigon on Vietnam Airlines, where I got a Tiger Airlines flight to Singapore. I don’t regret that decision.