Hoi An travel guide

Hoi An travel guide
Located some 25km southeast of Danang is the ancient town of Hoi An. One of the key attractions of central Vietnam, it occupies a scenic location along the banks of the Thu Bon River, just a few kilometres inland from the coast and the charms of lovely Cua Dai Beach. To the south is the Unesco-listed Cham site of My Son. Indochina holidays In Vietnam
Hoi An Accommodation and Shopping
One shall find his accommodation options ranging from lowly affordable motel rooms as low as $8 per day to the world-class 6-star top-of-the-line allegedly-best-in Southeast-Asia Nam Hai resort nearby, which starts at a whooping $600. Vietnam may be small, but there will always be an extra bedroom for the staying- over guest. These days, the guests may well outnumber the homeowners however. True to its origin, Hoi An today still boasts a booming trade.
Nam Hai Resort amongst the most luxury in the world's hotel industry
Of the things sold in town, there are only 3 different categories. First is souvenir, the second being clothing and the last is food, both western and Vietnamese. The souvenir is not something to write home about, since offerings are limited in diversity throughout the country. Hoi An is better known for its tailor shops, which mostly service personal bespoke orders. Tourists circulate rumor that people stay in this little sleepy town for entire weeks doing nothing, waiting just to have their shirts made to the perfect fit. Most designs are traditional Vietnamese in nature, with some offer contemporary twists and touches of foreign taste as well. Vietnam tours packages

Hoi An lantern makes a perfect house deco - and inexpensive
Coupled with the right prices, Hoi An is truly a shoppers’ paradise, one that dictates its western customers on a unique oriental sense of style. Paradox does not end. One imagines never being able to find western food in such a hardcore Vietnamese setting. That turns out not the case. Hoi An is home to multiple restaurants that serve big hearty American meals with only a small portion of the menu dedicated to local food. The locals prefer their sidewalk vendors to the many re-innovated house-turned-restaurants out there.
Places to see near Hoi An
Cua Dai Beach
Just 5km (3 miles) from Hoi An is the broad silvery expanse of Cua Dai Beach. This stretch of sand is lined with several good beachside resorts, including one of Vietnam’s most expensive, the fabulously indulgent Nam Hai. Some 20km (12 miles), or 25 minutes by speedboat, from Hoi An and Cua Dai Beach is Cu Lao Cham Marine Park, which comprises eight islands that make up the Cham Islands archipelago. The marine park is one of the finest diving spots in central Vietnam. The main Cham Island is known for its rich bounty of swallows’ nests (the species in question is, in fact, German’s swiftlet), used in birds’ nest soup – a prized delicacy in Chinese communities all over Asia.
My Son
The ancient kingdom of Champa, which is thought to date back to the second century AD and flourished from the fifth to the 15th centuries, once occupied the central Vietnamese coast all the way to the Dong Nai River in the south. After many struggles, Champa was conquered by the Vietnamese – but the Cham people remained. As their kingdom was swallowed piecemeal by the invading Viet (Kinh), increasing numbers of Cham fled to neighbouring Cambodia, though others chose to remain under Viet tutelage in their former homelands. My Son, nestled under the green slopes of Cat’s Tooth Mountain (Nui Rang Meo) some 50km (31 miles) from Hoi An, is the site of Vietnam’s most important Cham monuments and was declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 1999. It is one of the most atmospheric locations anywhere in the country, with the crumbling ruins set in a verdant jungle. Chosen as a religious sanctuary by King Bhadravarman I in the fourth century, many temples and towers (kalan) were built in this area. There are 11 designated temple groups in My Son, and there are likely to be other groups of ruins that are either unpublicised or undiscovered.