Created 16th May 2000, last updated 16th May 2000.
A pretty town on the Thu Boàn river , the previous Chinese and Japanese populations have both left their marks along with the more common French influence. Its main interest is historical buildings of which there are a prolific number in the centre of town, including the Chinese Assembly Halls and the Japanese bridge (on Tran Phu street) which forms the basis of the towns logo. The town retains a wonderful charm with many art galleries and cosy looking pubs to entice the visitor. All the restaurants we ate in were fantastic, especially a local delicacy called white rose, a pasta dish served in a petal shape with seafood in the middle.
Many travellers (not the cultured ones maybe) head to Hoi An for cheap clothing, as a huge number of tailors now exist and will make a tailored suit for around $30. You can choose the fabric you want including silk, wool and cashmere. Inside one of these tailors we were shown the entire silk making process from 300 year old weaving machines, to the silk worm housings. It takes 15 cocoons to make a single 500m thread, and thousands of these threads to make a single garment!
We had garments made at both Lyna's and ADong, at 36 Le Loi St. ADong was slightly more expensive but gave a better cut - they also posted our clothing back home safely. Recommended.
The rain started during our second day in Hoi An and it didn't stop for another three days. The town of Hoi An in central Vietnam tends to flood most years, lying as it does beside a river on the lowlands, flanked to the west by mountains and to the east by the coast. One of the residents of our hotel had worked in Vietnam for two years and thought himself lucky to the there when it flooded! This year however, things were a little different.... the central region of Vietnam was declared a National Disaster area.
We awoke on our third morning to find the road into town under a couple of feet of water, with enterprising locals offering a boat ride over the flooded sections. Rain was still coming down as we made out way into town for a meal and to order some clothing from a tailor, still impressed at this point by the unexpected rainfall. By mid afternoon we could see the water level had come up a long way from the river. Houses at the riverside we'd seen two days before were now under four feet of water and half hour boat trips around the flooded part of town were on offer. Kids were playing in the flooded streets, although the whole town was now without power.
We stayed in town until evening and then headed back to our hotel. What we hadn't realised was just how high the water had come - we had to pay for our fifteen minute boat ride out of town to reach our hotel which was also now under three feet of water. The front door was locked and we could see people on the second floor balcony. Luckily the hotel had an external staircase up to the second floor, and the boats were perfectly sized to fit down the narrow side passage which led to this staircase.
We stayed at the Thuy Duong II hotel, a three storey place west of the town centre. During the floods the staff looked after us and fed us for free. When some hotels in town were doubling their prices and throwing out current tenants who couldn't afford the new rates, our rate stated fixed. Highly recommended.
For the next few days we were monitoring the water level by counting the number of visible steps on the hotel stairway. Other backpackers were now talking about trying to leave town, but after another boat into town it became obvious that no-one was going anywhere. The airport was flooded and no buses or trains were running. The bank was shut after running out of money - we were lucky to have a good amount already on us in cash. Power was still out and not expected to be restored for several days. More worrying still, the rain was set to continue for another two days at least with the possibility of another four days. Amazingly our tailor was still working despite the conditions. Using a personal generator for power it was business as usual - luckily the shop was on high ground. On return to our hotel we discovered that there was now no running water. By the end of the evening the hotel also ran out of candles and we had to resort to torchlight.
Headlines in the English language papers over the next few days summed things up;
"In Hoäi An District, the water level was expected to rise to 3.40m on Wednesday afternoon - 1.70m higher than during the peak in 1964 in the district which was the worst flood in the central coast so far"
"The flooded area covers about 700km of the central coast from Quaûng Bình to Bình Ñònh provinces, affecting seven provinces and particularly affecting the famous old ancient port tourist town of Hoäi An...."
"The most devastating floods in four decades have made the 700km or so a long the central coast that joins north and south Vieät Nam, the centre of attention and concern of the nation since early last week. "
"Nearly 1.1 million people overall are now in immediate need of food, according to the Central Committee for Floods and Storms Control (CCFSC)."
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