Hoi an - week 3 in Vietnam 3 -

We came to Hoi an by bus from Hue, which didn't take too long so it was all smooth journey. This town is known as a lantan city so there are many boats with it and lantan shop lit at night, and they were so picturesque. It is said lantan brought by Chinese because this suburb was used to be a port trading with not only them but also the Japanese and the Dutch, so it was already diverse culture. One of the tourist spots is called the Japan Bridge, built by the Japanese, which was to protect this area from natural disasters such as floods due to heavy rain. In olden days, a flood destroyed this beautiful little town, so the bridge was a hope.

There are so many lantan shops and tour boats in the river, it was so pretty, but I felt it was overtouristy like Disneyland because the boat owner was trying to catch us, selling something to us, loud music from the bar in the street... Every 1 m we walked, we were caught by someone like this and needed to say "No thank you." I am sure others love it here in the current situation, but it was not our cup of tea. However, the back alley was so lovely though.

Night walk was fun to discover the minor streets and capture the locals' normal life.

These photos below were randomly taken at a tourist spot. There was a Japanese house.

The guy on the right was the owner of the book shop plus cafe, which was a little bit out of the centre. We stopped by for drinks after our walk, and he spoke to me and we started to chat. He used to work in the fish industry, then the wooden furniture sector in the south of Vietnam, and came back to take over this house from his parents after COVID. What an interesting guy. It was always fascinating to talk to locals and to listen to their back ground and thought.

The phones in the afternoon. The contrast of sky, trees and bicycles was pretty.

The Vietnamese hat can't be more practical than any other type of hat! Design always has reasons.

This is somebody's house garden that was well-maintained and spacious. The lady who lives in this house happened to come out from inside while I was watching the garden, she kindly offered us to enter to view. The big tree in the centre blocks the view in this picture but the house was beautiful too.