When I first decided to visit Vietnam back in January I was a little worried. Vietnam observes the Lunar New Year; this nation-wide holiday is called Tet and sees the whole country all but shut down for ten days during the festivities! This is was the source of my worries; what was I going to do for ten days when nothing was open, what would I eat, where would I go?! I needn’t have feared however, Vietnam during Tet turned out to be one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve had while travelling. I ended up spending the bulk of the festive period in Da Nang and Hoi An which I am happy to say was definitely the right decision. Why? I hear you ask, well look no further than the next few paragraphs my friend and all your questions will be answered.
Hoi An is a popular destination among tourists the year round, its beautiful beaches are just a short cycle from the main town and to get there you pass through beautiful rice paddies that look like a scene straight out of “Eat, Pray, Love”! Situated right in the middle of this long coastal country Da Nang has an international airport as well as good rail links with the rest of the main cities in Vietnam. The only trouble I had visiting Vietnam during Tet was finding train tickets as every train I looked at was full. This left me with the slightly pricier option of travelling by plane but I had saved my pennies for this trip so I wasn’t so upset with paying a bit extra to get to my destination.
The reason I fell so in love with Hoi An wasn’t because of its beautiful beaches or rural rice paddies (although they definitely helped). It wasn’t even the gorgeous hotel we stayed in or the vegan restaurant we stumbled across. No, the reason I fell in love with this quaint little tourist trap was the way it came to life after dark. Hoi An is famous for its lantern filled market streets and this multicoloured light display only intensifies during the Tet holiday. The old quarter was full of locals celebrating the festival by releasing floating lanterns with tiny candles into the water. Street vendors lined the streets that were draped in hanging paper lanterns, lit up in rainbow colours. There was something to see everywhere I looked!
The town was quiet during the day with little tourists opting to visit at this awkward time of year, this made it a lot easier to navigate the maze like layout that is Hoi An’s old quarter. It was also a lot easier to bargain for a great deal in the many tailors and souvenir shops in the area than it had been in the rest of Vietnam. Be aware when bargaining though, this time of year means a lot to the Vietnamese and any bad sales, no sales or arguments with customers will be seen as bad luck for the year to come. So bargain if you must but be respectful of the people you are bargaining with.
The quiet beaches and mesmerising night markets made Hoi An the absolute highlight of my trip to Vietnam. Any worries I had about having nothing to do went out the window as soon as I checked into the hotel and we were told that we could rent bicycles for free. If you are thinking about visiting Vietnam during Tet then I would definitely recommend Hoi An as the place to go. Hanoi becomes a ghost town as I discovered on my last day there before flying down to Da Nang. I was warned by a friend to hold off on visiting Ho Chi Minh until well after Tet was over for the same reason. Hoi An might not be as busy as it usually is over this festive period but if anything that’s a positive not a negative. It’s the perfect place to go after the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities with the added advantage of pretty lights and sun kissed beaches!
For more of my adventures take a look at one of these posts:
Well Travelled Lass 