We decided to slow down the place and settle into Hoi An for 12 days: 5 days near downtown at the nicest $29/night room I’ve ever stayed in, and 7 days on ‘herb island’, not too far from the beach. The plan was to relax, hang out around the room and do nothing a lot, and have a place for Christine to practice what she learned in her cooking class. It turns out our timing was perfect, as Typhoon Damrey ensured that we’d have 4-5 days where we had no other choice other than stay inside and relax.
Before the Typhoon hit Christine did a cooking class, and I went to Marble Mountain. I also found a club with live music that let me sit in on ‘lap snare’ and cajon for 2 nights. Unfortunately the bike I rented from our hotel (for $1/day) got stolen while I was drumming, and they charged me $75. Bring a lock from home if you want to rent a bike here.
Then the typhoon rolled in, and it was raining and windy for the next 5 days. Luckily we were north of the worst of it, and there was no flooding where we were, but it made going outside pretty miserable. Downtown Hoi An was under about 4 ft of water. We had a great studio apartment from AirBNB with a full kitchen, so we didnt need to leave the house, and Christine got to try out all she learned in her cooking class!
We also did a lantern making class with Hoi An Handicraft, which we really enjoyed. We tried to do more classes with them, but they were all cancelled due to the storm.
We loved our time here, and highly recommend a visit of you can.
Trump arrived the day we left. We cant seem to escape his influence! We went by his hotel, a brand new Sheraton that apparently they worked on 24×7 to get ready in time, on our way to Da Nang.
A selection of photos from our time in Hoi An is here.
