Hanoi to Hoi An

The pace of life is pretty slow in Hoi An.  I think that’s why I like it so much.

Waking up to birds chirping in the rice fields instead of cars honking in a concrete sprawl.  Taking daily bike rides along the river that never had an ending in mind.  This is what life look and feels like in the city of Hoi An.

The buildings here have so much charm, it doesn’t feel like a normal high-growth Vietnamese city, but one that was preserved for everyone to admire.  A great move by the government to protect this trading port from 1700s, the traditional architecture really shines through.

A family of birds crossing the busy road.  Wildlife here often takes part in daily life.

With all my recent travel I always find myself gravitating towards smaller cities, my brain is sending a pretty clear message.  The larger mega-cities built today have so much stimulus it overloads me.  Saigon taking the cake in that regard.  I think a doctor could prescribe anxiety medication just by looking at a Saigon intersection.  There’s obviously a level of city that may be “too small” but everytime I shrink my surroundings I become more content with my day-to-day activities.  Hoi An feels about 1/3 the size of Chiang Mai.  Wikipedia says population here is 120,000.  I could see myself coming back on a yearly basis just because it has so much charm.

Even though its small, the city still features over 100 different cafes, and 100 restaurants to explore.  Before dinner I would choose a random direction and bike for about an hour, as I like to “earn my calories”.  It’s a great natural feeling to put the body to work before a meal instead of the constant sitting.

And the best part of all is that proximity to the beach.  The old-city sits on a group of rivers and islands, but a mere 20 minute bike ride away is the Pacific Ocean to enjoy.  The development on this side, much like Da Nang, is happening at a blistering speed.  Every Vietnamese i talk with has a friend, brother, or cousin working in the construction industry.  The Chinese and Western investors can all see the writing in the sand, they have jumped in head-first to build their resorts of the future.

The final and most important factor to experiencing these cities is the people.  Even the best area of the world can seem awful if you run into the wrong humans.  Thankfully my guesthouse has some amazingly friendly staff.  They invite me to Vietnamese meals and are always smiling throughout the day.  It’s not a big surprise that a small town will have friendlier people than the hustle and bustle.  I also get daily neighbors, travelers coming through on their journeys from Spain, Israel, South Korea, and many more.  Many nationalities are widely represented.

Anyway, it’s my final day here as tomorrow I will be in Thailand.

So I will be heading out my final bike ride to find a cafe for my morning coffee.