Making Plans in Hội An
By Justin Hayes & Lauren Gerzina
Measurements, Massages, and Mood Lighting
Today, we said goodbye to our executive lounge with one last breakfast.
Of course we got the soup - Chicken Pho!!! We worked on the blog a bit during breakfast and then returned to the room to pack up for our flight to Da Nang. We caught a Grab to the airport and arrived approximately two hours before the flight. Our large suitcase was about 3kg over the weight limit but the Vietnam Airlines Sky Priority checkin desk let it slide (thanks Delta status!).
After going through security, we found a priority pass lounge and relaxed a bit before our flight by watching the Great British Bake Off. At boarding, we were placed in “Zone 2” where Zone 1 was business class, Zone 2 was Sky Priority, and Zone 3 was economy. We got through quickly and went downstairs to board a bus to get to our plane — we were ushered towards the premium bus which only held about 10 people with seats for everyone! Once we were seated, we looked over at the economy bus which was MUCH bigger and packed to the brim with people shoved as tightly as possible onto it. Again - thank you, status.
Our bus boarded first, and we had plenty of time to put our baggage in the overhead bins and relax in our emergency exit seats with allll the leg room. The flight was supposed to be 1.5 hours, but we got in 30 min early. We grabbed our bags and met our driver who was pre-arranged with our Airbnb.
The drive was about 45 minutes from the Da Nang Airport to Hoi An, and we took the scenic beach route, passing beach resorts that looked completely empty. On the other side of the street, it seemed deserted, except for the miles and miles of stores selling enormous marble statues (that come from nearby marble mountains). It seems like that people who come here for vacation would likely stay at their resorts or on the beach the entire time since getting outside food would take about 15-20 minutes by car.
We finally arrived in Hoi An, and this town is so incredibly cute! Our Airbnb hosts were very nice and helpful and gave great recommendations of things to do, see, and eat.
We were starving and Lauren was craving non-Vietnamese food so we went to a restaurant near our Airbnb called Emily’s Cafe. We had some delicious California-style grain bowls that hit the spot. The owner was very nice and asking a lot of questions about our travels (we’ve noticed that way more people here like making small talk with tourists, sometimes to sell things, sometimes just to be hospitable). It was also nice that the menu had gluten-free labels and options.
Our hosts also recommended a place to get custom-tailored clothing. When we had originally researched where to go and what to do in Vietnam, we learned that Hoi An was well-known as the place to get clothes — so it is something we both had been anticipating for months. Lauren wanted a dress, and Justin wanted a custom suit, but we ended up getting . . . a little bit extra. We realized that we would never get custom clothing at this price in the states, especially on certain items. So Lauren ordered a dress, a suit, a peacoat, and some linen shorts. Justin ordered a suit, a dress shirt, a linen shirt, and a peacoat. We will post more about them after we have some pictures from our fittings, but needless to say we are both excited.
We didn’t really have anything planned before dinner, so why not get a foot massage! Our hosts also recommended a great foot massage place right around the corner, and we will likely be back (Lauren will probably go back multiple times).
After our hour of relaxation (and Lauren’s nap), we headed back to the Old Town center for dinner, and it was gorgeous. Tourists were starting to go out on the lantern boats and gathering on the infamous bridge (the lit up yellow one in our header picture) for selfies. We stopped in a few shops to look around on our way to dinner at a restaurant called Morning Glory. It was certainly a touristy spot, but the food was surprisingly good and the restaurant was accommodating with allergies. Lauren had a mango salad with chicken and pork, and the server recommended King fish wrapped in banana leaves for Justin. Justin was a little skeptical but it ended up being delicious.
We concluded our night with a stroll down the Hoi An Night Market. It was surprisingly similar to European Christmas markets in that pretty much every vendor was selling basically the same stuff plus the smells of the street food cooking.
After another long day of traveling, we headed back to the room to work on the blog and try to get some rest for our early morning tour we booked, which we’ll talk more about in the next post!
