We knew that we were packing in the action at the beginning and end of our trip, so we planned a little downtime in the middle, with relatively leisurely visits to Hoi An and Hanoi. Let me sum up the visits in one word…HOT!! Sample forecast below – are you sweating just looking at it?
I’m a big fan of powering through when there’s a new place to see, but it was truly a challenge to be out in the sun in the middle of the day. So we let ourselves relax a little, and saw just enough sights to make us feel like we weren’t wasting our travel opportunity.
Hoi An
We hopped on a Vietnam Airlines flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hoi An (via Danang) in Central Vietnam. 
Hoi An is a former trading post with a beautifully preserved Ancient Town that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999. There were more tourists here than we’d see in most other areas, but we could easily see why, with its mix of ancient and modern, and a small town feel.
One thing Hoi An is known for is having over 400 tailor shops where you can get custom-made clothes sewn for you in a day – so that was our first order of business. The women of Bebe Tailors were skilled and gracious – in no time we were getting measured and fitted, with beautiful clothing ready for pickup the next day. Six custom shirts for hubby, shorts for our girl, and a robe for me. Ridiculously inexpensive, too!
Our AirBnb villa provided bicycles to make it easier to get around town – every little bit helped to conserve energy walking in the hot sun. Still no helmets, but much less death-defying than riding in the Mekong Delta!
There were some beautiful temples to explore – we chose to skip anything that required you to cover up – long pants, etc. (Did I mention…HOT??). There were beautiful incense cones hung from the ceiling that burned in a slow spiral to honor ancestors.
Despite the intense heat, we noticed that many people – especially women – covered themselves head to toe when out and about. We found out that this was partially due to protection from sun, smog and pollution, but also because many Vietnamese consider lighter skin to be more beautiful. Lots to unpack there.
A lot of our focus in these locations was on food. We ate delicious Banh Mi at what is reported to be one of the best in Vietnam – always a long line to get in – made even more famous by Anthony Bourdain. Definitely delicious – but I thought our street food sample in HCMC beat it out.
In the afternoon, it cooled off just enough to take a leisurely bike ride. Just a few minutes out of town, and you’re riding through lively local neighborhoods, lush rice paddies and farmland.
Hoi An in the evening was bustling and filled with activity – vendors, colorful lights, boats on the river, and people making wishes by floating candle lanterns out into the water. Also, many restaurants and craft shops in Hoi An have a charitable focus – we enjoyed a lovely one for dinner on our first evening. On the second evening, we had a little more trouble, as the government instituted a rolling blackout to conserve power in the heat – many places were without power, so we had to do some extra wandering to find an open spot. Anything to stay out of our villa until the power (and A/C!) came back on.
Hanoi
Another short flight took us north to Hanoi, where we had an afternoon to spend before heading out on an overnight train to Sa Pa for some trekking. The heat continued to get the best of us, but we took in as much as we could – once we got past the scare of the taxi driver starting to pull away from the airport with the back door still open and our daughter not yet in the car!
Daily city life was endlessly interesting, and we felt safe everywhere we walked, no matter the time of day or how lost we were. People were always out socializing on the street, and each tiny storefront was a new discovery – from high-end clothing, to trinkets, to motorbike repair, to three mannequin shops in a row – the variety was mind boggling. Some everyday street scenes captured below.
Our one sightseeing stop in Hanoi was Hua Lo prison, sometimes known as the Hanoi Hilton or the Heartbreak Hotel, where John McCain was held prisoner.
I was interested in hubby’s take on it, given his background in and love of history. He found it really informative, especially learning a more complete history of Vietnam and the many foreign occupations it experienced before the Vietnam War – the country has had a long road to independence. It made for complicated viewing because you did get a taste of propaganda around how well the American prisoners were treated – making it seem almost like a summer camp. Maybe it did seem that way to them compared to how they as prisoners had been treated there in decades prior to that. Eye opening to consider it from the perspective of the Vietnamese.
To end the evening, a stop at our hotel, and a delicious, authentic dinner with a beautiful view of Hanoi at night.
