Why EVERYONE is Obsessed with HOI AN Vietnam 🏮 (We Get It Now!)

Why EVERYONE is Obsessed with HOI AN Vietnam 🏮 (We Get It Now!)

(Music) (Blank Audio) (Blank Audio) Hoi Ana is were centuries collide beautifully. A UNESCO World Heritage trading port where Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and French influences merged into architecture that feels like walking through a dream. Wooden houses painted in moody yellows, French balconies draped with bougainvillea, and cobbled streets winding alongside canals. At night, thousands of lanterns transform these ancient streets into something otherworldly. We floated down the river in lantern boats, drifted through palm forests in coconut boats while rain whispered above us, and rode bikes through rice paddies where time seemed negotiable. Three nights wasn’t enough. Even with the crowds, you realize everyone’s there for the same reason. This place casts a spell. We sat under cover when the rain came, drinks in hand, watching Hoi An work his magic. This isn’t a place you visit just once, and we’re already planning our return. (Music) (Music) So yes, we have made it to the ancient city of Hoi An. We’ve checked into our hotel, which is actually called Hoi An Four Seasons Villas. It’s right alongside of some rice fields here. As you’re seeing right now, the bedroom is very nice and bright, and it has an amazing view as well. So we’re excited to stay here and show you guys what Hoi An has to offer. So it’s definitely not the Four Seasons we’re staying at. Maybe one day, but this is a very nice place. Yeah, the fields are so vibrant green. It’s just amazing. I mean, you can see on camera, but that doesn’t even do it justice to standing here and seeing how green these beautiful rice fields are. We’ve got such a nice sunny blue sky day. It was pouring rain yesterday and the day before, and we didn’t know how the weather was going to be when we got here, but we’ve got beautiful weather. We’ve got a nice breeze. It’s not too hot. Yeah. And yeah, it’s already feeling like paradise. So this actually is not a first impressions video. We came here about five days ago with our two teenage boys, Jayden and Lakai. (Music) We just wanted to spend the day together as a family exploring around Hoi An, especially the ancient town, just to show them what it’s like. Since they’re getting older into their teenage years, they’re at that age now where sometimes they want to be in the vlogs and most of the times they don’t. And they don’t always want to come places with us. So they’re back at our condo in Da Nang and they’re having a great time. They’re going to hang out with some friends, probably eat too much junk food and play too many video games and stay up too late. I mean, just kidding. They listened to our instructions before we left and they’re not going to do any of that, right? But yeah, so they’re doing their own thing, but we had a really nice family day. Just the four of us a few days ago got to explore around, but it’s just, it’s so beautiful and so magical here that Chris and I said to each other, like, we got to go back next week and film, do more things and share it with you guys. So yeah, so this video is going to be kind of a few bits throughout the three days that we’re here. We’re also going to be shooting some other videos as well. So stay tuned for those ones, some food ones and yeah, just a variety of stuff. Some raw walk videos to show you what it’s like just walking through the ancient town in the day and the night. So yeah, looking forward to just, yeah, spending some time here, a little R&R, but a work trip as well in the beautiful area. So we’re actually going to head into town now. We’re going to walk around and show you what to expect there. Again, I’m not going to show you too much because there will be a raw walk, but we’ll have some B roll in there and we have a place that we went to for a couple cold beers. We’re going to stop there and then we also have a reservation for dinner tonight. A really cool spot we want to show you. So yeah, let’s get a grab and head on into town. (Music) I’m so excited to be back in Hoi An. It is just so charming, this ancient town. There are lanterns everywhere and I am obsessed with lanterns ever since I was a really young child. I love the Asian lanterns and everywhere you look, they’re hanging. It’s just so beautiful, so magical feeling and really special. And we can’t wait to see these streets at night because we haven’t actually seen them at night. We went to the river when we were here last and we didn’t come to hear where all the lanterns are so you’re probably really gonna like that. Yeah, when everything’s lit up. We saw, yeah, by the river everything was lit up really nice but to be able to walk down these cozy little quaint streets and have everything all lit is gonna be super super nice to see. Yeah, so Hoi An is actually a UNESCO heritage site. It’s an old trading port from like 100 years ago or so and it’s cool because architecture is so unique because you got a mix of French, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese and it’s just all kind of built in together and it just gives off a really good vibe, really nice vibe. This is a awesome spot to come take photos and yeah there’s just so many colors and stuff like that. Yeah, you guys gotta come check it out. Just the feel right now just walking down this this road again here and the into the ancient town is just like major wow factor. Yeah, like for example you have this gate here so there are these temples that you do have to get tickets for which is a little yellow booth just up there where we walked past when we first got to the street. I will pin the location to the street in the description below so if you do want to get dropped off at the same spot we did you can easily find it on Google Maps. But yeah you get the tickets there’s a couple places along here that you can go into that you do need the tickets to get into so make sure you get those don’t try to go in and then you have to go back and get tickets because then you got to walk all the way back and get them. You can rent bikes everywhere as well. This main street we’re walking down actually goes to the Japanese covered bridge in this street and then one over and pretty much all of them in this main area are photographer’s dream. There’s so many spots to take photos again you can see a lot of people that’ll dress up and come down and take photos for social media. You can rent everything. That’s one thing if you are planning on coming to Hoi An or Vietnam in general you want to stay connected with an Holafly eSim. You want to have unlimited data so that you can come to places like this. Shoot all the photos and videos you want. Share them in real time and not worry about going over your usage because it is unlimited data. You can get from one to 90 days of unlimited data in Vietnam and a single purchase. So if you’re coming for a while just know that you can choose the amount of days you need and have that unlimited data. And again it’s great for Google Maps, Google Translate. Translate’s a huge thing we use all the time. Not everybody speaks English so we use that to communicate with the people whether it’s in a restaurant or just in the street. It’s so convenient being able to have that conversation with people in these countries by using Google Translate. And again being able to use all your apps and not worry about going over usage or running out of data in a situation where you need it. If you use our discount code THEDUFRESNES you will save 5% off the traditional eSims. That’s whether it’s country, regional, or the global eSim. Or if you’re getting the Holafly plans you’ll save 10% off that. And yeah so it is linked in the description below if you want to click that or you can scan the QR code that’s here. But yeah we’ve used Holafly for over three and a half years while we travel and we always stay connected. It’s nice when you cross borders too if you have the regional one you’re just automatically connected when you get to the new country. You don’t have to go searching around for a sim card trying to get into your phone things like that. But yeah it’s just it’s great for places like this. Again you’re gonna be loading up on the Instagram and the Facebook and TikTok. You want to make sure you have unlimited data. The actual Japanese covered bridges coming up we want to show you that as well. So we’re going to shoot a little bit of b-roll but it’s coming up and yeah it’s really cool. (Music) We were just talking about how we have heard so many people complaining lately saying, “Oh I don’t like Hoi An because it’s just so busy and there’s too many tourists and stuff.” Yeah, you know what? All the people are here for the same reasons that we are and the same reasons that you are. Yeah.
So stop complaining. Yeah, just come enjoy it. It’s beautiful here, you know what? Everybody’s enjoying it, embrace it. Yeah. Enjoy it while you’re here. There’s people. I mean it’s no different than if you were to go shopping in a mall or anywhere else in the world you need to go to an airport sometimes there’s gonna be people. Yeah, stop complaining when you come to places like this. There’s people from all over the world that want to come to these places. Think about it. You’ve probably been to Disneyland. You paid to go to that place where there’s a lot of people. This is free but there’s a lot of people. It’s a good energy. Everyone’s having a good time so yeah just expect it when you come. You’re not gonna have Hoi An to yourself. It’s not gonna happen. Yeah. Enjoy it. Yes. (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) Alright so we walked over here to our favorite little spot that’s right on the water called Sao Mai and they have the coldest beer that we found in a long time so cheers. Cheers. (Music) (Music) Much needed. Yeah.
It is a warm day. It is.
We have such a beautiful view here of the boats going by with all the lanterns on them up and down the river. Lots of people coming and going back and forth so good for people watching for sure. Yeah.
It’s definitely a good mix of the local Vietnamese people here in Hoi An mixed in with the tourists and other expats and foreigners that are living here full time as well so that’s nice to see. It’s not just a tourist haven where it’s over saturated or anything. You get to intermingle with the local people and everybody wants to chat and say hi everyone’s really friendly. So.
Especially the people here. They’re super nice. They like remembered us and right away brought the fan over and stuff so definitely recommend. We’ll put the link to this place in the description like we always do and yeah just further down there’s actually a full-on like working market so I’ll show you a little bit of that in a bit once I once I have one. Cool.
I’ll walk down there and cool off a bit and then I’ll show you what that’s like. It looks really cool. Again typical market here in Asia and yeah it’s nice that it’s right by the water here but yeah we’re gonna enjoy this for a bit and I’ll see you when we go over there. Alright so like I said just further down here there is a full-on working market. Fresh produce, meat, ingredients for cooking but yeah it’s uh we just love these markets. Even this lady here on the street. Look at this. All the fresh ingredients. No it’s in town. No. They didn’t want the photo taken. Some people do, some people don’t but that’s fine we get it. But yeah again this is all a full-on working market here. There’s actually places inside you can eat. You can get different souvenirs here as well so not only in these shops across here but over in the market. Souvenirs, cooking, implements, cups, chopsticks and again all the ingredients that you could want for cooking if you are living here. This would be a good place to do your weekly shopping that’s for sure. But yeah it’s uh nice to see that there’s still like traditional markets still here where there’s a lot of commerce of like souvenirs and leather goods and restaurants and stuff like that. But yeah again if you’re in the area you’re staying for a few nights and an Airbnb you want to do some cooking then definitely come down here. You can get some fruit too so if you want to take that back get some fruit get some coffee things like that. But it’s nice that you know this whole area is just like all these different buildings and shopping and things like that. Like this whole street is cool. Can’t wait to come back at night and show you guys what that’s like. But yeah get ahead back now. We’re still relaxing. We do have a reservation at the restaurant at six o’clock. We’ll get to see it turn to night time while we’re there. Yeah such a cool spot. You’ll see. (Music) All right so we’re sitting here and all of these carts come out and they’ve got sections marked off on the road. So they must set up every night. It’s kind of like a night market. There’s some up on the sidewalk and then there’s these ones here as you can see parking up right in the middle. And it’s uh 4 30 right now. So it’s starting to set up. So it’ll be interesting to see what what this all is. (Music) (Music) All right so even during the daytime it is 5 30 right now. So before we start there are people going down the river in the boats right now. Obviously you want to do it at night because that’s when you get the lanterns the lighting all that stuff which you guys will see later. But if you are just here for a certain amount of time you can do it in the daytime. You still get the effect of the river but you don’t get the effect of the lanterns. Still very colorful. (Music) All right so we’re heading over to dinner now just across the river. The bridge is right here. It has gotten a lot busier for those of you like oh my god it’s so busy in Hoi An. Yeah it it gets even busier at night. And it’s definitely cooled down. It’s a very nice temperature so of course everyone’s coming out and they are almost got hit by a bike. Only on a bike. You gotta really navigate your way around. Yeah that’s that’s Vietnam. I was gonna say that’s Vietnam. Oh where are we going? There’s a lot of people. Yeah.
For all the same reasons we’re here. Yeah. And uh yeah it’s it’s nice though like it’s still chill. Everyone’s happy having fun and yeah nobody’s yelling or anything nobody’s being loud they’re just enjoying their time. Lots of families. Lots of people from all different parts of the world. Yeah. The big mix. Yeah it’s cool seeing everyone from Korea, Japan, Russia, Europe. Like a lot of people from Spain just overall like everyone from around the world is coming here because they’ve heard such great things about the area and the historic city. It’s so charming. Yeah it is. Honestly I’ve said this already it’s magical. Yeah. We’re actually going to go back to the same restaurant we went to when we came a few days ago with our two boys just because it was really good. There’s a very big menu. Everything was delicious. Great prices and the service was exceptional. Yeah it was super good. Everybody is so friendly and welcoming. So we told them we would be back. We made a reservation and we get to sit at the same spot that we did which is up here. Up here yeah. So we have this beautiful view of all the lights and the river while we sit there and enjoy some drinks and our dinner tonight. Yeah and we’ll show you obviously the river and stuff as it gets darker maybe do a little bit of a time lapse or something like that but yeah we’re excited. Like there’s a lot of different places you can eat here but this is one place that we can get more. We go to the food, the service is good like Shana said. Yeah.
We’re excited to show you guys what it’s like. So let’s head on up. (Music) Come on thank you. (Music) All right so not only do you get this amazing view as you guys can see behind me of the river the boats going down they’ve got this big setup of huda lots of people around lots of energy it’s amazing. They have an amazing menu as well so not only Vietnamese food they have all sorts of different things if you want like the white rose dumplings or anything else that’s from the area you can get that here but if you have picky kids or a picky husband they got you covered. They got pizzas, they got burgers, they got sandwiches, they even have nasi goreng which we had last time which had the chicken skewers on it which were amazing. I asked last time if the just the normal skewers you can get on the menu are the same chicken they said yes so might end up getting those just because they were so delicious but yeah there’s a lot of choice here as far as Vietnamese food goes and it’s elevated it’s a nice setting and yeah I can’t say anything more like we just had a good time last time we had to come back and show you guys what it’s like. Of course we had to go with our beer of choice in the area which is Huda it’s from hué you find it everywhere it is a good beer we’ve had a few of them one night with friends Adam and Linz you guys know we’re talking about just a few 57 and we felt fine between four of us so we did I don’t know how they felt comment below Adam and Linds how did you feel all right let’s try one of these delicious chicken skewers that we came back for I mean we came back for the ambiance the service the excellent food the view of course but this is kind of one of the most important reasons that we came back because it was so good last time when we had it on the nasi grain I don’t know what they do to this chicken but it is so good it’s so tender you can tell that it’s chicken breast it’s not chicken thigh but it’s very very tender chicken breast the marinade on it is a little bit kind of tangy savory it’s not sweet and it just has a really nice texture and balance of flavors in general with the sesame seeds and stuff on top yeah it’s actually some of the most tender chicken breast I’ve ever had it’s got a little bit of a smoky flavor on the chicken as well and just whatever that marinade is I don’t know what’s in it but it is so good and I like it because sometimes you get things in Asia that are too sweet when you want something savory this is not sweet at all as far as the marinade that they put on this chicken and yeah it’s not no it’s not there’s maybe a little hint of spice but in a pleasant way not in a overbearing way or anything if you don’t like anything spicy I like spice so it would be okay if it was spicy but it’s like barely anything as far as spice goes so yeah this is uh this is a must try when you’re here for sure all right my turn is she telling the truth probably I try I try she tries yeah it’s the same it’s such a good flavor now again this came on the nasi goreng we’ve never been to Malaysia or Indonesia to actually have nasi goreng in the flesh but I’m guessing whoever came up with this dish has been there and they’ve modeled that after that it’s just overall a really good flavor if you guys are in Hoi An you need to come here and try this again just get these to start they’re so good all right so since we tried those delicious chicken skewers we decided that we need to also try the grilled pork and see how that is and it looks and smells amazing already it does come with the rice paper wraps and all the veggies and the peanut sauce to dip it in but we’re just going to try it on its own first and see how it is and see how it compares to the chicken that’s very good as well just like the chicken skewers there’s definitely a little bit of a different marinade on the pork it’s a little bit sweeter I kind of taste a little bit of coconut so maybe it’s marinated in some coconut milk with some other spices and a little bit of a different blend than the chicken but it’s still very very good it does come with the peanut sauce so I’m going to dip it in the peanut sauce now and see how that is absolutely love any type of peanut sauce that peanut sauce is amazing and it goes really really well with this pork yeah I really like that the peanut sauce actually has a little bit of a kick to it a little bit of spice lots of sesame seeds in there so you get a really nice sesame flavor yeah aside from the chicken skewers being amazing the pork is also good and I do like how they have the rice paper to wrap it in with all the fresh veggies and then dip it in the peanut sauce and make a little vietnamese wrap as well that’s that’s a nice added touch so another thing to recommend at this restaurant all right so I’m going to do it as an actual wrap with the rice paper funny they actually have the pork pinched in between the bamboo here try and get it off of there no they’re good that’s the thing in vietnam you got to have fun with your food you use your hands a lot which isn’t a bad thing all right so there’s the pork off a little piece of cucumber you got some lettuce it’s almost like a mixed bunch of lettuce and herbs all together which is kind of nice and that’s it and you just roll it up we learned this from Phuc in Quy Nhon how to do it there you go and then you dip it in the peanut sauce try not to drip on yourself I’m gonna try a little piece of pork just to see what it’s like on its own really good very fresh that’s the thing about Vietnam you have the vegetables the herbs and the grilled meat it’s very healthy eating so definitely try them out okay so I also got the Vietnamese curry which actually looks more like a Thai yellow curry it’s got potato carrot chicken in it you’ll see how it is see if it’s similar try to get a piece of chicken and potato in it all right here we go that’s exactly what it’s like it’s like a the yellow curry like if you got a yellow curry paste coconut milk carrots potato chicken does come with rice as well it has a little bit of spice not too much it’s not like if you were to get it in Thailand but overall the flavor is really good so if you like a mild curry or if you’re new to curry definitely give this a try it’s really good they give you a lot of rice for the amount of curry you get but yeah overall like all the flavors are so well balanced here and just presentation everything is so good as you guys saw in the b-roll but yeah highly recommend this place if you’re in Hoi An (Upbeat Music) Good morning. So we ended up having another beer at the restaurant last night. We were gonna go on the boats, but we decided just to come back, have a restful sleep and get started with the day early, which we’re gonna go out on bikes in the rice field now. I’m wearing my rice field shirt today. No one’s gonna be able to find me. Yeah, you’re gonna go, don’t walk, I’ll find you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, if I fall off the bike into the rice fields, just send help. Yeah, here you go.
No one’s gonna be able to see where I am. We’ll have to get helicopters out to hopefully find you. You should change that, you should have read. That’s true. Yeah. Too late now. Oh well. But yeah, we get bikes here at the place we’re staying so we can ride around. We can actually ride in a town if we wanted to, but we thought we’d just ride in the rice fields a little bit just to show you what it’s like. It’s really cool that it’s like right on the edge of the rice fields like this. There’s water buffalo out there. I saw people working earlier and stuff too. Yeah, it looks beautiful. Yeah, so we’re just, she’s gonna pump up the tires a bit for us. Then we’re gonna head out and yeah, can’t wait to show you guys what it’s like. (Upbeat Music) (Upbeat Music) We ended up filming our food video, or most of it anyway. We got three restaurants done and we are gonna try and find some dessert tonight along the river. So stay tuned for that video. It was fun, really good food. Had some really good places. And yeah, we went back, had to dump footage. This camera takes up a lot of space. I could have dumped the footage all the time and just cooled off a bit. And now we’re out again. We’re gonna do the boats as long as it doesn’t storm. It looks like the storm is passing, thankfully, so we’ll see. And then, yeah, I’m doing a walk video, a night walk video as soon as it gets dark. But right now we’re just hanging out at a place called Three Dragons Sports Bar Restaurant. William, a guy we met in Quy Nhon, recommended this. We saw him in Danang one day and he’s like, when you guys go, you gotta check out this place. It’s right on the river. It’s a really nice setting. There’s a few different restaurants down here. There’s a smoke house, a craft beer place. Looks like a couple other restaurants and some other nice lounge-y chairs over there. So yeah, come down this end. I’ll, again, link this in the description below if you guys wanna come here. Again, right on the river. And again, more places that way. So yeah, we’re gonna have a pint of Huda here. It’s a happy hour, so you get a discount on it. And then, yeah, head into town. Shane is gonna do a little shopping. There’s some really nice leather goods here. She wants to get a wallet, so she’ll do that as I do the walk. And again, stay tuned for that video. It’s gonna look cool with all the lanterns once everything’s dark and lit up. So yeah, we’ll see you a little bit later. (Upbeat Music) (Upbeat Music) All right, so there is a lot of shopping down on this end. So just past the kind of food market. Again, I’m gonna put the pin to this location in the description below if you wanna come here. But you can buy everything down here. There’s purses, clothes, lanterns, which you wanna take home. Those would be cool. There’s different bowls, cups. Basically anything you’d find in a market. This is kind of a market area right here. So yeah, again, this would be cool to come down and do some shopping if you’re only here for a bit. You wanna take some souvenirs home. You probably find a suitcase as well if you wanna bring more stuff home. But yeah, this is cool. Good to know. It’s like, I wanna get a couple more t-shirts. This is the area I can come and get those. So yeah, we’re just walking now to the other side of Old Town. Gonna do the walk video, Shayna is back here shopping. We found a cool place to hang out. We gotta find a boat. A spot to get a boat too. So we’ll see what we can find down in this area. (People Chattering) All right, so I just finished doing the walk. Met up with Shayna again. She did find a wallet. I haven’t seen it yet. But we’re gonna jump on a boat. So I actually have the pricing right here. So 170,000 here for one boat. One to three people. I did, when I was, the other night when I went to the other place, they said 150, so. Is it worth walking over for 20,000 Dong? No, we’ll just do it here. So 170,000. So 170, yeah, okay. Perfect, okay, so we’ll do that. Two? Yeah, two. (People Chattering) All right, so we made it onto the boat. We get to wear these beautiful fashionable life jackets as well. Really doing the tourist thing. This is actually a big bucket list thing for me though, to be honest. I have been dreaming of the day that I was gonna be in Hoi An and able to come and float down the river at night with all the beautiful lanterns and that’s happening tonight. And yeah, it’s very special feeling, very magical being on the water here with all the beautiful lanterns and just nice and peaceful and calm going down the river. So definitely enjoying it already. Okay, so I have my beautiful little lantern here that I’m gonna let go into the river. This wants to stay by the boat. Yeah, it wants to stay with you. It’s cool how they have that though. Where you can put the little lanterns down the river beside the boats. Yeah, you don’t even have to do the boat to do that. Like I said, like I did it and you guys saw. Yeah, just do it from the shore. Just do it from the shore, which is cool that they have that option. Hi. Hi, how are you? (Laughing) Say hi YouTube. Hello. Hi. Are you having fun? Yeah, have fun. Good. Yeah, so nice being down on the water. Like it just gives a whole different perspective of this whole waterway area and like all the restaurants and all the lanterns and stuff. Definitely do this for sure. I mean, for the 170,000 Dong, why wouldn’t you? It’s about 20 minutes, the whole round trip. There are other boats that you can take that go further down the river. Again, we’ll be doing that in a different video, but this is just, yeah, like Shayna said, so magical, cozy. And yeah, just definitely a once in a lifetime experience. If you are coming to Vietnam, put this on your list to do for sure. Yeah, it’s really cool. (Gentle Music) (Gentle Music) (Gentle Music) (Gentle Music) (Gentle Music) Good morning. We are a little bit tired this morning. We ended up staying out till about one o’clock at the Shamrock, which is a really cool spot. Really good vibe there. I’m gonna put a couple of clips in now of what we experienced. I can only put a little bit in because of copyright music, but it was really fun and yeah, check it out. (Upbeat Music) And all the stars breathing All is thinking over Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Until the hours are through my 28 Everybody wants to hear me Say hi, say hi (Cheering) (Music) (Music) Yeah, it was definitely worth hanging out there late. It was actually really hard to leave. That band was absolutely amazing. I don’t know where those guys get their voices from. Yeah, that’s crazy. It’s like, but hours and hours of using their voices that way and stuff. It’s like screamo and everything. Yeah, they must have had a sore throat this morning, just a little bit. But I’m sure they’re used to it. But yeah, that’s a really cool spot, the Shamrock. We’re definitely going to be going back. We highly recommend that you guys visit that spot when you are in Hoi An. And it had excellent drinks. We didn’t eat anything there. You had fries and gravy. They had fries and gravy. If he sees fries and gravy on a menu, it’s going to happen. But yeah, they were good. We just wanted to have a little snack. We were still full from doing our food tour yesterday. So yeah, that was a really good place to hang out. It was really nice that it just started getting even more lively and packed as the night went on. And everyone was just dancing in the street and having so much fun. But yeah, the whole vibe and the atmosphere there at the Shamrock is really, really good. So you got to go. I also want to say a big thank you to the owner for covering part of our bill because we’re filming. We didn’t expect that. We just were walking by like, “Oh, this place looks cool. There’s music.” Just started filming and she was so appreciative. She actually gave us her information. So she has other restaurants around. We look forward to coming back and checking those out as well and possibly working with her to show you guys what those places are like. Yeah. And all the other staff that was working there, they were amazing. That place was packed and they did such a great job. We didn’t wait very long for a drink. Everyone was tended to very, very efficiently. And yeah, overall, it was just a really great experience. Yeah, for sure. So we’re going to head off for breakfast now. It is raining a bit today. We’re going to go get a good hearty breakfast because we need it. And then we’re planning on going over to the coconut boats. If it’s raining, we won’t be using this camera. If it is, we’ll be using the GoPro. You can see it’s a bit foggy right now. The camera was inside an AC, so it takes a bit for a walk. And it’s so humid out. It’s so humid out. So that does happen, unfortunately, with cameras. But yeah, let’s head over to a breakfast place we went to with the boys. We’ll show you what it is when we get there. All right.
So we have come to the Front Porch Cafe. It has really good food here. We came, like I said, with the boys. We had a really good breakfast. We had a chicken burger, and they had buffalo sauce in New York City. That’s one of his favorite things. But yeah, nice little cafe here. They have really good food. Like I said, they have different drinks, coffee, smoothies. They do have evening drinks as well, if you want those. There’s cocktails, beer, and wine. So if you come in the evening, you can get those. If you sit on the Front Porch, they have little rocking chairs and swings. That’s really cool. So yeah, again, like a nice menu, different type of stuff. Bacon here is awesome. It’s like almost like a beef jerky flavor to it. Yeah, it’s very smoky. It’s really good. So definitely going to go with the breakfast again. I’ll show you what it’s like. All right.
So we got dropped off down in the area where they have the basket boats. The one that we wanted to go to wasn’t on grab. So we went to one called Hang, and right away they’re trying to like, like usher us in there and stuff. But the one we have saved is called Hoi An basket boat. That’s based on research that we did just pricing wise. And then they, the price is a price. Like they’re really good apparently. So we’ve never been, we’ll see how it is. So I don’t know if it’s an actual place that’s called that or if it’s just this area, but they have all the boats and stuff right here. So we’re just going to jump on one of these ones. I’m excited. It’s going to be fun. Yeah, it looks fun. Everybody’s going around. And you can like get them to do like spins and stuff too, but we’re not going to do that. I got this camera and Shane doesn’t want to get sick after having breakfast. No.
Neither do I. So yeah, we’re going to talk to the guys here, see how much it is. We’ll let you know everything as we go through. And yeah, it looks fun. It looks nice with all the palm trees around. And it is perfect weather for this as well. It’s not too hot. It’s a little bit overcast. There’s a bit of a breeze. Yeah, super nice. It’s not going to get scorched. So just look for this sign again. I’ll have this pinned in the description below the exact location. Okay. Come on. Bye, see you later. I know how to paddle. We’ll be back one hour. Oh, yes. Thank you. Yeah. You’re going to have a hat on. Perfect. Well, we are feeling very traditional here on the coconut boat. This is the first time I’ve worn one of these hats. Yeah. And last time I did is when I bought them for Mark and Steve. It’s funny. Our friends bought them in Thailand and brought them back to Canada for them. We’ve never wore them over here. They’re actually quite comfortable.
They are. Yeah. It’s funny because your voice echoes off of it. It sounds funny. So this is a hundred and fifty thousand dong for two people at this one. So that’s a really reasonable price. Yeah. And yeah, again, you can do spins and all that kind of stuff, but we’re just going for a nice chill cruise down the river. Yeah, we’re going to we’re going to stay calm. We’ve got some expensive gear with us. So I don’t think it’s a good idea to be spinning around. And yeah, we just don’t want to get sick. No, we’re getting too old for spins and wild rides. Leave that leave that to our kids. They can show you that stuff. But yeah, we’re just going to film as we’re going down here, show you guys what it’s like. So beautiful with all the palm trees. It is.
It really is. The fishing boats and stuff like that. Yeah.
Yeah. Check it out. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh. Have you been working on the boat? Yeah. Five years. Five years? Yeah. Yeah. So this must be good, actually. It tastes good. Yeah.
Yeah. And it’s like a small no-worker. Can you swim? Yeah, but I don’t want to. Jump. You jump. You first. You first. No, you first. You first and then I’ll go. Okay. I know what you’re up to. You’re trying to trick me. I’m going to try fishing. Crap. Crap. Crap. No. No, no, no. No, no.
No, no. You want to try it? Okay. Well, I got to put my. What is that? So I’m going to get a crab. No, wait. Hold on. You see first on the tree. Oh, I’m going to try to fish for a crab on a tree on a tree. I see. Oh, wait. Oh, there he is. What do we got here? A shrimp for him. I’m not a very good fisherwoman. Oh, there we go. Okay. Oh, no, no, no, no. He’s got it really good. Yes. Yeah. We do video. No, because you’re going to put him on me. I know what you’re up to. No, you put that away. I’ll get you with it. I saved his life. I saved his life. I caught that guy quick. Find another one. Okay.
Let’s find another one. One kilo. One kilo. One more time. We need some butter and garlic. Yeah. This is our lunch for today. I got to find another one and see if he wants this shrimp. What is that? Pork? Is that pork? Yeah.
Yeah. Not shrimp? No. Little crabby crabby. Where is he? We’re crab hunters. The crab hunters of the forest. Oh, there. Oh, okay. Oh, he’s pulling that way. No, no, no. Yeah. He went around the. Yeah. Yeah. He’s not. Okay.
Get him on this side, baby. Oh, yeah. Okay. I’m going to get them all. Nice try, buddy. Yeah.
You want that, don’t you? You want that. See? He’s not as strong as he thinks he is. He is. I am the best crab fisher lady you’ll ever meet. See? I’m a professional. He’s like, I don’t want that. Look at this is a trick. Oh, yeah. Okay. Good grip. He’s too tired. He wants to take a nap. That was actually fun, though. That’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time. It was fun. Oh, there’s another one. Okay.
I’m going to catch every crab in this palm forest today. Watch. You have enough pork for that. Yeah. Look at that other guy was lazy. He wanted to sleep. So he saved this guy some pork. Come on. Let’s go. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
There you go. Got him. Yeah. I am a professional. Sorry, what was that? I take that back. Okay. That’s enough fishing for one day, sir. Thank you. Thank you. No lunch for us. Now we have to be hungry. No barbecue. No barbecue. No barbecue. No barbecue.
I wanted crab and a huda for lunch. What kind of boat ride is this? Ripoff. Doesn’t supply lunch. Yeah. No huda. No. No crabs. All right. So he’s handed me a paddle, but he’s helping me out because he doesn’t trust my Indian skills, my Pocahontas skills. Little native ancestry, smoking salmon and rowing boats. He thinks we’re going to go in circles if I do it. He’s nervous, I think. Yeah, but look at this thing. This is skinny. I’m nervous with you driving this boat. I got us out of the forest with the help of him. Faster? Oh, we’re going to race? No, we’re going to go in circles then. See? I know how this works. Now he wants. Now he doesn’t want to help. Yeah.
Spin it. Now you can take a break and let Chris do all the work. We’ll spin around. A little 360 cam. Who needs 360 cams when he got boats like this? Oh yeah. Look how far we’re not going. Hi. My name is Cheung. Cheung. Yes. This is the guy that you want to do this boat ride with for sure. Yeah. If you want a nice calm ride, Cheung is your guy. Yeah. He’s made it really fun, but he’s also let it be peaceful at the same time. Okay. Cheung is going to swim. Swim back. Cheung is going to swim. Okay. See ya. We’re going to take his boat down there again. Yeah. We’re going to go spin in the… Yeah, together. One, two, three. Yo. Yo, yo. Swim and have a beer. Yo. It’s fun. You’ll like it. Say hello. Welcome to Coconut Island. Thank you. These are who you want to go on the ride with. So again, it’s going to be linked in the description. You guys come to it. They’re amazing. They’re great. Yep. So we finished the boat ride just in time. It’s actually raining a lot harder now. So we’ve come back to the old town just to hang out and yeah, it’s a nice atmosphere with the rain. Yeah, I’m actually really glad that it started raining a little bit while we were doing the boat ride. It just made it that much more majestic and just given overall really cool feel and just that really wet palm forest, you know, fresh and the rain on the water of course just yeah. I think it made it a little bit more special actually. Yeah, I did. Yeah, because you don’t always get it that way. You go there and it’s usually clear and different, but yeah, that was nice. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it’s really nice sitting here. We’re in a restaurant. It’s in an old building, which is cool. Yeah, we strolled around and we were trying to see like, you know, which place we wanted. There’s so many places on the river that you can sit and really, really nice spots too. And when we crossed over the bridge, we came over here and I was like, oh, those little like really traditional heritage looking buildings are like, they look like little heritage houses. I’m sure way back in the day years and years ago, this was once somebody’s beautiful home. So yeah, they’re, I don’t know, it’s just so like cozy, especially with the rain. We’re sitting in this doorway actually with these like nice wooden doors that have these little slats on them and stuff. So really gives that that true old feel. Yeah, it does. Yeah. So we’re going to go for the afternoon and have a drink and enjoy the view. Yeah, check it out. So you get the people going by on bikes every once in a while and then motorbikes and just walk walking as well. The little girl went by with some bubbles earlier. So cute. But yeah, it’s like we got the old boats in the back, old buildings in the background and the river. What more can you ask for? And a Saigon beer. It’s happy hour. Yeah, we usually go Huda, but you get the bigger bottles and it’s a, you buy two, get one free. So why not? Yeah. Hang out here for a while. Maybe get a massage later too. Yeah, I think massage might be in order. We’ve been walking around a little bit. Yeah.
There’s plenty of places to get a really good massage. So we won’t, we won’t have a hard time finding one. They’re all trying to get us to go in because it’s rainy. Yeah. The one lady’s like, you just want to come into my shop and have a massage all afternoon. It’s raining. What else is there to do? Like, yeah, that’s actually kind of true. You got a point lady. Yeah. Good sales pitch. (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) Good morning. As you guys saw, I had a nice little stroll through the rice fields this morning. And yeah, it was just cool to go through and see the workers checking their crops and other people riding their bikes through and stuff like that. Last night we ended up hanging out at a place called Three Dragons. It’s an Aussie bar. They had some rugby playing. We actually met a couple families from Australia, so hi to you guys if you’re watching this. Their kids did want to say something to you guys, so I’m going to put that in now. Come to Vietnam! It’s amazing! So cute. Yeah.
Yeah, we really enjoyed meeting that family. Very nice people. Yeah, it was nice to meet people around the world when we go to places like this. Hoi An has definitely exceeded our expectations. It’s so nice here. Absolutely. If you’re coming to Vietnam, you have to visit Hoi An. It has to be at the top of your list. It’s easy to see why so many people from all over the world come and visit here. We are so blessed that we live in Da Nang, which is only 40 minutes away. We can come here anytime. But if you’re coming to Vietnam and maybe you’re only going to go to two or three different areas, come to Hoi An and then you’re not far from Da Nang, you can go back and forth. You can see both places really quickly. But the magical feeling, the charm that it has, the historic feel, very authentic, such a great mix of everything. We had such a great stay at the Hoi An Four Seasons Villas as well. Very comfortable. The lady that runs it is super friendly, the rest of the staff as well. So whenever we come back to Hoi An, we’ll definitely be staying there. Loved how it was by those beautiful, bright green rice fields. I want to ride a bike through there again. We will, yeah, for sure. Definitely.
I want to ride longer through there. It was starting to get hot. We’ve got to go early one morning and ride through the entire field from start to finish. Or maybe move over to the beach. Or go to the beach, yeah. But yeah, overall, we actually have a whole list of other videos to make here that we’ve made while we’ve been here, just things that we thought of or come across. So we will be coming back, making more videos in between here and Da Nang. There’s going to be a lot of content coming. So we’ll leave the video off there. If you guys did like this video, please leave a thumbs up. Comment below, have you been to Hoi An or are you planning on coming here? What did you think of the video? Are there any spots that you’ve been to? Or if you have any recommendations for our next visit here, definitely drop them in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you. And if you haven’t yet, hit the subscribe button, hit the little bell icon to get notified when we come out new videos. God bless and we’ll see you in the next one. Bye.

Experience the magic of Hoi An Vietnam as we explore the stunning ancient town during our 3 nights here, float down the river in traditional lantern boats, and discover the best food this UNESCO World Heritage Site has to offer! From the enchanting lantern-lit streets at night to the vibrant markets and incredible Vietnamese cuisine, this complete Hoi An travel guide shows you everything you need to know for your trip to Vietnam’s most charming destination.

In this Hoi An travel vlog, we’ll take you through the historic ancient town, show you the famous Japanese Covered Bridge, enjoy sunset river boat rides surrounded by glowing lanterns, explore traditional markets, taste authentic Vietnamese dishes at local restaurants, ride bikes through stunning rice fields, experience the unique coconut basket boats, and give you all our best tips for visiting Hoi An in 2025.

Whether you’re planning your first trip to Vietnam or returning to explore Central Vietnam, this Hoi An guide covers the best things to do, where to eat, how much activities cost, and why this magical town should be at the top of your Vietnam itinerary!
📍 LOCATIONS MENTIONED:

Hoi An Four Seasons Villas (Our Accommodation) https://maps.app.goo.gl/dirKfZKEeTE457zx9
Hoi An Ancient Town Entrance: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HVBV7e1cMhCNfGmTA
Sao Mai (Riverside Bar) https://maps.app.goo.gl/FsQkoE4pXixkQrwS6
Front Porch Cafe: https://maps.app.goo.gl/rMX8TR8qTHbatzAG7
Three Dragons Sports Bar: https://maps.app.goo.gl/1BVb8pLBBsxnvPYn9
The Shamrock Irish Pub: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kcJwBAvHMQavw7Wb7
Hoi An Central Market: https://maps.app.goo.gl/H1Fsj3guMpQ9wDtMA
Coconut Basket Boats: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6AtAd27V1BrV9b2c9

#HoiAn #VietnamTravel #HoiAnVietnam #TravelVietnam

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MAGICAL HOI AN Vietnam 🏮 Ancient Town, Lantern Boats & Food | Travel Guide
CHAPTERS:
0:00 – Intro to Hoi An Ancient Town
2:42 – Arriving at Hoi An Four Seasons Villas
7:09 – First Impressions & Lantern Streets
13:23 – About the Crowds (Don’t Worry!)
17:08 – Sao Mai Riverside Bar
18:51 – Traditional Market Tour
21:32 – Riverside Night Market Setting Up
23:32 – Daytime Boat Rides on the River
24:23 – Walking to Dinner at Sunset
27:02 – Dinner at Riverside Restaurant (Food Review)
35:00 – Morning Bike Ride Through Rice Fields
38:11 – Filming Our Food Tour
39:39 – Three Dragons Sports Bar (Storm Break)
41:12 – Night Walk & Finding the Boat Spot
42:15 – Traditional Lantern Boat Ride on the River
46:25 – The Shamrock Irish Pub Night Out
50:26 – Front Porch Cafe Breakfast
51:20 – Heading to Coconut Basket Boats
53:00 – Coconut Boat Ride Begins
54:37 – Coconut Boat Ride
1:00:39 – Crab Fishing in the Palm Forest
1:05:50 – Learning to Paddle the Coconut Boat
1:07:27 – Saying Goodbye to Our Guide
1:08:50 – Getting Out of the Rain at Riverside Restaurant
1:14:58 – Morning Rice Field Walk
1:15:48 – Final Thoughts & Recommendations

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