Đà Nẵng is the biggest city in Central Vietnam and one of Vietnam’s most important ports. That said, we had no intention of staying in another big city for very long and we caught a taxi 30 kilometers south as the busses don’t run late at night, and our flight had been delayed to put us in close to midnight. We arrived at our Hotel in Hội An to find it rather dark and quiet, this small town does not rage late like most big cities in Asia. Our taxi driver finally got someones attention and they let us in and checked us in, the front desk attendants sleep on a mattress right behind the desk. We stayed at the Hai Au hotel in Hội An and we would absolutely recommend it as one of the best places we stayed in Vietnam. The next morning we grabbed a couple bikes from the front of the hotel and went off to explore town.

Before the river silted up at the mouth, Hội An was a major trading destination from the 15th-18th century at which point Đà Nẵng took over as the major hub of the area. Today Hội An’s economy is situated around tourism for the most part, and in your travels in Vietnam it will be one of the best places to pick up some of those custom tailored clothing pieces for a very good price and for exceptional quality.

A lot of different cultures and heritage have gone into the architecture here.

Separating two parts of town is the Ancient Japanese bridge that also contains a Buddhist temple.

Getting all measured up

Yep.

Touring the old town temples and museums.

Elisabeth got conned. Price for the photo was having to buy $1 worth of fruit.

The second night we spent in Hội An we spent at the Dive Bar taking a Cocktail class. The girl teaching the class was working to make it through school, and she actually taught us a couple of pretty cool drinks that we had never heard of.

Xa Tao Brezee
–2 Lemongrass Smashed
–1/2 a lemon
–1.5 oz of Vodka of your choice
–1 shot Amaretto
–2 limes cut into 6 pieces
–1 cup of apple juice

Stir together all ingredients and garnish with a lime wheel and Mint Leaves

Xa Tao Brezee

Chom Chom Fizz
–5 fresh rambutans cut without seeds and pounding to get the juice
–3 fresh longans (dragon’s eyes)
–1/2 fresh lemon
–2 shots of gin
–1/2 shot of cointreau
–1/4 teaspoon of honey

Shake all ingredients with ice for about 3 minutes. Pour and strain into a long glass. Garnish with Rambutan peels and mint leaves.

Elisabeth and I with our Chom Chom Fizz drinks that we made ourselves.

Snake Wine! Elisabeth was stoked on this let me tell you.

The next day we woke up without too bad of a hangover and walked back to the tailor to get fit and resized for our clothes and then hopped back on some bikes for a little bit of beach time. It wasn’t exactly sunny out as we were there in the middle of the typhoon, but it was warm enough and the body surfing was top notch.

The waves rolling in. Along with the storm.

After picking up the remainder of what we had tailored and grabbing some dinner it was off to bed and ready to travel by train to Hue the following day.