After 2 nights in Hoi An itself, we made the decision to get out of the city and head for the beach. But first we took a morning trip to My Son.
After 2 nights and a full day in Hoi An itself, we made the decision to get out of the city and head for the beach. The weather forecast was also (finally) looking good, so we decided to bring forward the beachy part of our trip and make the most of it – this might be the last time we see the sun this year…
My Son Sanctuary
But before we could get our toes in the sand, there’s another big reason to visit Hoi An, and that’s the My Son cham temples – the 6th and final UNESCO-listed site of this trip. We booked a tour through our homestay which cost only 150,000d (5.68 EUR), and included a return journey by bus then boat on the way back and with lunch provided. Suspiciously cheap, you might think.
The ride there was in a kind of school bus that was on its last legs 20 years ago. We were were one of the last ones to be picked up from our homestay but then we sat a good half an hour waiting for some others to join us (with the engine running of course). The bus was full as most people get to My Son this way. You can also take a motorbike the 50 or so kms there, and we’d recommend that if you have your own wheels, but for the rest, a group bus tour booked where you’re staying is probably the best you’ll get.
Our tour guide was on the bus with us for the journey where he gave us some basic info about the site. But his English was pretty bad so it took a while to ‘learn’ his language quirks before I could really follow. When we arrived it was all painfully slow. 10 mins so everyone could go to the toilet (we didn’t need to), another 10 mins while we got tickets, then a bit more waiting around for a golf buggy (yes, that’s right) to take us the 2km to the actual site. If it had been a bit cooler we would have just walked it but it was around 38 degrees C. At the end of the tour there was another drink and toilet stop…we’d only been there about 2 hours.
The site was a bit busy but not too bad. Our guide gave us more of a tour and we took some photos. But Angkor Wat it ain’t. The site itself has a few signs in English and the path is very easy to walk around. There are also a couple of cafes/toilets dotted about so you can spend quite a bit of time there if you want. I think the most interesting thing was the craters left by American bombs.
Back on the bus we drove for about 40 minutes before being dropped by the side of the road where our guide took us round the back of some building site to board a super unofficial looking tourist boat back to the city. The boat ride was about as exciting as the rice/veg lunch we got. Well, I guess you get what you pay for…
Retreating to An Bang Beach
We were happy to be back in Hoi An by 2.30pm so that we could enjoy the rest of the afternoon on the beach. We only went by our homestay to pick up our bags but the mama there gave us more tea and arranged a taxi (300,000d/11.34 EUR) to take us to An Bang, 30 mins away.
We checked into Life Beach Villa for our glamorous 2 night stay. This was the most we’d spent on accommodation so far so we were delighted with the bamboo bathroom, free toiletries (that weren’t in sachets) and the gentle waft of lemongrass and cinnamon – it was Christmas after all.
We spent our time in An Bang just on the beach, and were pleasantly surprised. I was expecting lines of sunloungers and tacky shops and bars lining the seafront (having driven through Danang). But it was all bamboo huts and palm trees, and pretty empty really. At night I think we could count about 10 people staying there. The locals still take out their bowl-shaped fishing boats each day and you can see them bobbing about the horizon before they come in with a basket of fish for the restaurants.
Food and drink-wise, An Bang was maybe slightly better value for money than Hoi An, but still more expensive than the other places we went. And there was a noticeable difference between the more Westernised restaurants to the north (like Shore Club/Deckhouse) compared to those in the south, and in the village itself. We particularly liked Soul Kitchen. Really tasty food, and a daiquiri that took me 3 hours to drink it was so strong.