High-Five Adventures: Vietnam Days 24-27: Hoi An Old Town

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Vietnam Days 24-27: Hoi An Old Town

I'm going to come right out and say it: we LOVED Hoi An! It is such an atmospheric town! It's hard to even pick a favourite thing...the lanterns, the winding river filled with colourful rowboats, the lively markets, the incredible fruit selection, the restaurants... it's all good!

Coconut coffee

We really enjoyed wandering and people-watching. We ate breakfast our first morning here across the street from a whole coconut operation. Right before our eyes, coconuts were transformed from whole fruit, to de-husked fruit; then, the water was poured out and the flesh carved out. Next, there was someone grinding dried flesh into coconut flakes, while someone else sold drinks of coconut cream; it was truly coconut in every possible form all in one stop! It was fascinating to watch.

We did our best haggling for fruit in the market and brought home an entire watermelon, mangosteen, custard apples, rose apples, rambutan, bananas, yellow mango, and longan. We wandered stalls and luxuriated in doing some souvenir shopping since we only have to carry our bags home at this point.

The absolute best was watching the river come alive at night with the glow of lanterns. People start to gather around 5 pm, getting into rowboats (or motorboats at the far end), each lit with its own coloured lantern or two. People release paper lanterns from the boats themselves to add additional colour to the river. Its reflection sparkled with colour and light!

We enjoyed several five star dinners along the riverfront with incredible food like slow roasted duck curry, pumpkin curry served in a mini pumpkin, braised pork rib, mango and papaya salad, and more! Craig and Erin had a date night, thanks to Alex and Beth, at The Spice Route. Erin's herbaceous cocktail with local Hoi An gin and herbs was delectable.