Hội An
Hội An is nestled along the coastline of Vietnam, yet is so much more than a quaint beach town. Dubbed the city of lanterns and tailors, the streets of Hội An are packed with charming local shops bustling with travelers in search of affordable (in comparison to back home) tailor-made goods. This stop along our north to south motorcycling journey was highly anticipated, thanks to firsthand stories from our friends and scouting the interweb to find nothing but great reviews!
And so it began..
Where to Sleep
Paddy’s Hostel
The beds and facilities (bathroom, outdoor patio, and pool) were the nicest we’ve stayed at during our entire 5 weeks in Vietnam. As we move further South we find it increasingly common to have single beds (pictured below), rather than dorm-style bunk beds. This bed arrangement definitely makes dead-of-the-night restroom runs much easier without the dreaded “trust jump.”
Paddy’s was an Irish themed hostel with Irish-style food and had a billiards table, which became Sean’s second love.
We also loved the free bike rentals, hands down the best way to see the town and vast surrounding countryside which offered a delightful contrast to the bustling city center.
Side story: Sean went for a morning dip at in the refreshing swimming pool at Paddy’s, forgetting his iPhone was stashed in his swim trunks…after scouring the hostel room when he couldn’t find his phone, we realized where it might be. He shyly walked to the pool edge and strained his eyes to see the bottom, where, yup, the iPhone! If you haven’t made the investment in a LifeProof phone case yet, we highly recommend you do as Sean’s phone is still in perfect working condition!
DK’s House
If you’re looking for the party palace of Hội An, look no further. Combined with nightly happy hours, free beer every evening and Halloween costume competitions, DK’s House was the place to be. DK House has 2 sister properties in Hanoi, both of which we have stayed at so we knew it would be a great experience!
Luckily we chose to stay here on Sean’s birthday and we’re able to properly celebrate his special day and Halloween respectively!
Meet: Shane. DK’s House had the best staff who took us on a wild bar crawl which led to dance offs, karaoke competitions and new friends.
We were introduced to the dangerous Tiger Tiger Bar, a popular backpacker spot where most vagabonds flock to and then grab a street-side bành mì sandwich (Exhibit A) while trying to find their way “home.”
Speaking of Food..
What to Eat
Bành Mì Phuong
Thanks to the renowned Anthony Bourdain, this local bành mì stand is now a gold mine. There is always a “cue” out front, a line of half-starved backpackers, tourists, and locals who have awaited this moment and are ready for their bành mì fix.
Maybe it’s the sauces, maybe it’s the BBQ pork or marinated chicken, maybe it’s the popularity, whatever it is, these crunchy, toasted, flavorful bành mì(s) are damn good.
Phi Bành Mì
Once a bành mì fanatic, always a bành mì fanatic. Word on the streets of Vietnam was that Hội An has the world’s best bành mì. Therefore, we waited 6 weeks to sink our teeth in to one, even though they were readily available in other cities we have visited. Was it worth the wait? Most definitely.
Especially for this score at Phi Bành Mì where add avocado was a menu option (is that even a question?).
One last reason we loved this place was the family photos displayed on the walls of the dining area (which doubled as the family’s living room after-hours, a common sight in Vietnam). The photos progressed over the years from black and white, to a family of eight, and the family today. As we were eating, the grandmother (a much younger version of herself in the black and white photo), walked out of the back room and started to help make the sandwiches. Loved seeing the tradition never stops!
Wow, with all those sandwiches, you must have needed something to wash it down with?
The Hill Station
Our typical travel day ends with free beer happy hour at a hostel or grabbing a cheap 50 cent beer at dinner or from a street vendor. But once in awhile, we crave a taste of home and a nice hoppy IPA. In Hội An, our “Happy Birthday to Sean!” search of quality beer landed us at The Hill Station.
We drank a citrus IPA is from a brewery out of Saigon, Vietnam called Pasteur Brewing Company. Lucky for us, the brewery distributes at over 80 locations in Vietnam, now that we know what to look for, you know where to find us!
Felina Cantina – Another Taste of Home
Recently my mom asked me if I miss pizza and burgers yet. I responded, “not really, mostly just chips, guac and some smothered Mexican food.” You can imagine how STOKED we were to discover that there was a new Mexican restaurant near the beach, owned by a former California resident who knows what good Mexican food looks, and tastes like.
White Rose
This local snack is native to the Hội An and Da Nang regions. We giggled when they brought the menu over which was a screenshot of their Facebook page – a unique way to display food options. On the menu were only 2 dumpling choices – fresh rice vermicelli filled with shrimp and shrimp paste sprinkled with crispy onions and fried rice vermicelli dumplings.
Worth a taste if you’re in the province, “white rose” can also be found at other restaurants, usually in the appetizers section.
Bale Well
For almost every town we visit, Sean has a short list of things he would like us to do, see, or eat. On that list for Hội An was the Bale Well Restaurant, if you could call it a restaurant. This eatery was more like a few tables outside of someone’s house in an alleyway you had to zig-zag down to find, certainly our style! Yes, you can find the restaurant on the Google Machine, but when it is as popular with the locals as it is with tourists you know it must be something to try. The Bale Well restaurant has a set menu famous for their roll-it-yourself style spring rolls. Including, slow-cooked charcoal pork and beef, vegetables, rice pancakes, nem nuong, and rice paper to roll it all up. I personally have not mastered the art of rolling spring rolls but Sean considers himself to be a seasoned veteran.
The Bale Well Restaurant is also located close to the legendary and mythical “Bale Well.” An actual well that dates back to the 10th century, built by the Cham dynasty. Water from the 1,100-year-old well is told to be the cleanest and most pure in all of Hội An and the original water source for the broth of the Hội An specialty Cao Lau.
Morning Glory
It isn’t often that we treat ourselves to a sit-down dinner in a nice restaurant, now that I think about it, the last time we did was 6 weeks ago in Hong Kong.
Since delicious street food is abundant and incredibly affordable ($1 – $3 per meal), we never feel the need to eat at restaurants offering the same dish at inflated prices and smaller portions.
Morning Glory was the exception to our rule. Highly recommended by our friend Vance and other travelers we met in Hội An, we had to see what the fuss was all about!
One pork stuffed squid and glass noodle seafood stir fry later, we understood why people speak so highly of this culinary treasure.
Street Side Cao Lầu
Eating at Morning Glory cost us around 165,000 ($7) Vietnamese Dong per dish, whereas this delicious local meal, Cao Lầu only dented our daily budget by 30,000 Dong ($1.5 USD).
When looking for the dank, we look at three factors:
- Are many locals eating there?
- Does the food look hot & fresh?
- Do they have plastic red chairs and tables?
If the answer is yes to all three questions, that’s where we’ll dine. Over the course of our week spent in Hội An, we developed an affinity for this local lady selling Cao Lầu and went back to dine at her “restaurant” at least 3 times, but we may have lost count…
Boulevard Gelato & Coffee
Sometimes, you just need a scoop (or 2) of gelato to end a fabulous day of travel.
Custom Tailoring
This experience was by far our favorite in Hội An. Since Sean and I were in need of different items of opposite spectrum quality, we went to 2 tailor shops in Hội An – Be Be and Violet’s.
Both tailor shops were recommended to us by the staff at DK’s House.
Violet’s
Violet’s was just down an alleyway from the hostel and a hub of backpackers just like myself. Our first visit to the shop happened to be on Halloween day, which ended up being a chaotic, moneymaking day for Violet, the shop owner. Although she was up to her head in mountains of textiles and half-finished costumes, she still dedicated proper time and attention to finding out the styles, patterns and looks I wanted for my new outfits. This was my first experience with custom fitting and design for clothing during which I had a “wow” moment of realization that all our clothes have to come from somewhere, from someone who made them.
We often take for granted the ease of purchasing clothes back home – just a simple stop at Nordstroms or the local boutique right? Personally, I’ve never put much thought into how the clothes make it to the rack and eventually my closet, until now.
In Violet’s shop, I scoured books of patterns, sifted through mounds of sample patterns and finally (much to Sean’s relief) decided on what to order. We returned a mere 24 hours later to have a fitting for the goods and take the final product home.
Here are the results:
Grand total: 5 completely customized items cost me about $50 USD…absolutely unheard of at home!
Be Be Tailor
From the moment we stepped foot in Be Be, we felt as though we were wandering through a magical, luxurious wonderland of suits, ball gowns, and displays of textiles stacked floor to ceiling. We were greeted with two freezing cold water bottles, and a towel to wipe off our sweaty, glistening faces (thanks, humidity).
Sean was on a mission to purchase 2 suits for when we return to the United States, but how were we ever going to pick out the right materials, fabrics , nd styles amidst this overwhelming plethora of options?? Fortunately ,at Be Be, you are paired with a personal assistant and consultant for your entire custom tailoring journey.
Thank goodness for Jenny. She ushered us to a table, sat us down to figure out what Sean wanted and proceeded to narrow our options down in a no-bullshit manner. After much deliberation, we were swayed by her upselling and decided to purchase an additional 3-piece suit, only if she threw in 2 free long sleeve shirts, 3 pocket handkerchiefs and 3 ties.
Once the measurements were taken and recorded (I didn’t know you could take so many measurements, but every small detail counts!), we were told to return just 24 hours later for the first fitting.
We were once again greeted in the most hospitable manner when we returned, waters, towels, but this time they remembered our names and welcomed us with open arms. We felt right at home. The first fitting consisted of many ladies surrounding Sean, chatting back and forth about what adjustments to make, pinching, poking and marking with chalk on the suit where to cut, snip and alter.
We came back the next day (same wonderful greeting) expecting to have a repeat fitting for final adjustments, but when he re-tried the suits, they were perfect! The tailor came out to approve the final fit and then we sat down to iron out the final small details.
Custom Tailoring..Not Just For Clothes!
Thời Trang Túi Da AKA “Fashion Leather Bags”
During a somewhat hungover breakfast during our stay at DK’s, we were chatting with a fellow backpacker, Allie, who mentioned she’d had a custom leather backpack made for an extremely affordable price. I couldn’t help myself to a new leather purse since my cheap cross body bag from Hanoi had conveniently broke the night before mid bar crawl.
The leather shop had walls lined with impressive knockoffs of designer purses, luggage and wallets, as well as impressive original pieces created by the owners for display.
I should have come prepared with the shape, style, size and leather color I wanted but ended up using their wifi to do some quick Pinterest and Etsy research to create exactly what I wanted them to make.
Together we pieced together a little bit of this purse photo combined with this buckle and that color accent leather. After about an hour, we had the final sketch and leathers chosen, yay!
The ladies at Fashion Leather Bags were incredibly kind, easy to speak with and produced a speedy return on my investment by having my custom leather purse ready in just one day!
Aside from eating & shopping your way through Ho’i An, what the heck did you guys do?
What to Do
A simple cat adoption of a male cat named Jack, turned in to Jack’s Cat Café when the owners quickly learned that Jack was actually a female, and she gave birth to kittens shortly after her rescue.
The couple became known as the town rescue center for abandoned or abused cats, a common occurrence in Vietnam. Now, the kitty safe haven has 63 cats and counting. We spent a few hours enjoying a chilled Vietnamese coffee and petting some furry friends.
My Son Sanctuary – A World Cultural Heritage Site
A short excursion of 45 kilometers outside of Hội An, My Son is definitely worth the visit. It is the ancient ruins site of temples for the gods and remnants of a village pillaged by bombs that have forever indented craters into the Earth’s surface at My Son.
We spent an afternoon wandering through the ruins and staring in awe at what ancient peoples were capable of creating.
Check Out the Japanese Covered Bridge
Tours are available, we just went for the photo-op.
Hit the Local Market for Fresh Fruits & Veggies
(Or in our case, cover from a torrential downpour).
Get An $8 Per Hour Massage
Or perhaps, simply walk around town and enjoy the lanterns on every street, the beautiful warm yellow buildings and the charming town of Ho’i An!
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It is about dancing in the rain.”
-Unknown
