Compared with Saigon and Hanoi, extending your visa in Hoi An can be a costly and complicated process. Rules and prices change with every travel agent you speak to and prices can spiral out of control if time is not on your side. We spent a day finding out the options, from extending a first … read the full post

Hanoi and Saigon may be steaming ahead when it comes to modern development, but rural Vietnam and in particular Hoi An has kept a firm handle on its roots in tradition where generations of families still hold faith in myths, legends, fables and folklore which for thousands of years has formed the heart of the … read the full post

Cheesy though it may sound, a cruise down the Thu Bon river is one of the best ways to idle away an hour or two when in Hoi An, and although you can do it the posh way by jumping aboard a tourist boat, it’s far better to go local; and by local I mean … read the full post

If you are one of those travellers with a tendency to lose your bearings, the towering Thanh Van 2 with its illuminated rooftop sign screams “I’m here!”, making it an easy hotel to find your way back to. But even if you’ve got an inbuilt compass, Thanh Van 2 packs a punch with its huge … read the full post

One of the most popular half-day trips from Hoi An is a visit to the Cham ruins of My Son, approximately 35 kilometres from the old town. Now, the hype surrounding the UNESCO-protected Champa temple complex built in the years between the fourth to 14th century, generally makes for a rather disappointing trip if you … read the full post

You might just recognise this beautiful wooden Chinese trading house from the iconic Michael Caine film, The Quiet American. From the outside, it oozes old world charm, with red silk lanterns adding pops of colour; take a peek into the reception of the Vinh Hung One Hotel in Hoi An and it is indeed like … read the full post

Think casuarina-lined white sandy beaches, just the right balance of great restaurants and bars, green lawns, island views and year round swimming in the tropical East Sea and you’ve got An Bang Beach in Hoi An. Just four kilometres from the UNESCO-listed town of Hoi An and 30 kilometres from the international airport in Da … read the full post

I’m going to quickly establish that there are not actually many bars in this Hoi An bar crawl guide, but plenty of plastic chairs on the street and quite a few restaurants, not all of which have what you would call toilet facilities, but that’s part of the fun, surely? Prices are based on two … read the full post

If you have a proper look around Hoi An you can’t fail to notice that the tailor shops win hands down in terms of numbers, with restaurants coming in a close second, shoes third and sneaking in at number four a whole new wave of spas. It would seem that this is a town for … read the full post

I always feel a bit embarrassed saying this, but that bloody Top Gear Vietnam special a few years back was the final nail in the coffin for a comfortable life back in good ol’ Blighty. Seeing the cast struggle with the Hai Van Pass also put achieving it on the top of my must-do list … read the full post