Hoi An was simply lovely. The street picture is very authetic, and since the ancient town center is closed for cars in the evening it is a peacefull and relaxing place. Hoi An has a lot to offer: besides its well preserved townscape it offers a varied bunch of cultural highlights like temples, assembly halls, old houses and museums and also a huge amount of great locations to recover, eat and drink. There are a lot of tailors: just point a picture in one of the fashion magazines they store - 24 hours later you can collect your choice - fitting perfect. So you can imagine: it is already very tourist-orientated. Only three miles away is the nice Cua Dai beach. From Hoi An you can do serveral tours, we went to the ruins of My Son - 1500 years old Cham temple, rediscoverd at the beginning of the 20th century, destoyed in the Vietnam war.
We stayed in a very friendly guest house called Hoang Trinh Hotel, only a few steps away from the old town centre. A bit curious decoration style but very clean, great food and very, very nice and helpfull staff. We can definitive recomment it.
I am slightly concerned about the future of Hoi An. Since the numbes of tourists (like we were) will rise massively in the next years (number of tourists in 1997: 140.00; in 2007: more than one million;* upcoming years in the light of accomodation developement: unrateable) authorities have to take care that Hoi An will keep its charm. Not an easy job to do...
*Source: UNESCO
