Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [194]
Laundry Places along Tran Hung Dao offer laundry services at around 10,000đ per kilo.
Open–tour buses For tickets and onward reservations contact Sinh Café, 186 Hai Ba Trung. Local operator Seventeen’s, 17 Tran Hung Dao, also runs minibuses to Da Nang, Hué, Nha Trang and so forth, with stops en route.
Pharmacies In addition to small pharmacies near the hospital, Bac Ai, at 68 Nguyen Thai Hoc, is well stocked.
Police 8 Hoang Dieu 0510/386 1204.
Post office The unusually fancy and well-organized GPO is at 4b Tran Hung Dao (daily 6am–10pm); there is also an ATM here. There’s a sub-post office at 89 Phan Chu Trinh.
River trips Along Bach Dang, sampan owners will take you out on the river for about 15,000đ an hour, or you can take a boat out to the craft villages and downstream as far as the Cua Dai estuary. Prices start at 100,000đ an hour for an eight-person boat, but it’s worth bargaining.
Tour agencies Hotel booking desks and tour agents along Tran Hung Dao, Phan Dinh Phung and Hai Ba Trung offer outings to My Son and craft villages around Hoi An. Sinh Café, 186 Hai Ba Trung (0510/386 3948, www.sinhcafevn.com), and Vinh Tours, 32 Le Loi (0510/391 0825, vintour74@hotmail.com), are popular but Seventeen’s, 17 Tran Hung Dao (0510/386 1947, seventeenstravel@yahoo.com), has some interesting variations, including canoeing on the Thu Bon River and trips out to the Cham Islands (see "The Cham Islands"). All these agents can arrange onward train and plane tickets from Da Nang and handle applications for visa extensions for you for a small commission.
The central provinces | Hoi An and around |
Around Hoi An
From Hoi An you can bike out along meandering paths to the white expanse of Cua Dai Beach or hop on a sampan to one of the islands of the Thu Bon River. River tours take you to low-lying, estuarine islands and the craft villages along their banks, while it’s also now possible to visit the distant Cham Islands, renowned for their sea swallows’ nests.
The central provinces | Hoi An and around | Around Hoi An |
Cua Dai Beach
A popular bike ride takes you 4km east of Hoi An to the clean, white sands of Cua Dai Beach. The inevitable hawkers patrol the area, but you can minimize the hassle by walking away from the main centre, or by taking an umbrella and deck chair for the day at one of the many beachfront café-restaurants; in return you’ll be expected to buy at least a drink, though many also serve excellent seafood – just be sure to check the prices before ordering. Be prepared, too, for the strict parking regulations, which require you to leave your bicycle or motorbike at the car park a few hundred metres from the beach for a handful of dong; these regulations don’t apply if you’re heading to one of the resort hotels (see "Cua Dai Beach") south along the beach road. En route by bike, you can take a detour through the beautiful, canal-riddled Cam Thanh area, which lies to the south of the main road; head east on Nguyen Duy Hieu and take a right when the road ends a couple of kilometres east of Hoi An. Alternatively, you can get to Cua Dai by taxi (25,000đ) or xe om (from 10,000đ) – just tell the driver when to pick you up.
The central provinces | Hoi An and around | Around Hoi An |
Cam Nam Island and the craft villages
Even closer at hand, you can take a bike over either Cam Nam or An Hoi bridge and cycle round Cam Nam Island. Sandy tracks lead off in all directions between smallholdings and private houses, but the first lane right over Cam Nam Bridge brings you to a great viewpoint with Hoi An across the other side of the river. You can then work your way round to the south side of the island (or simply follow the metalled road from Cam Nam Bridge) and you’ll reach a row of waterside restaurants serving banh dap (a sandwich of crispy and fresh rice-crackers served with a shellfish dipping sauce) and hen tron (fried clams). Even if you aren’t tempted, it’s a nice breezy place for a drink.
Specialist craft villages, inhabited by skilled artisans, developed around Hoi An during the sixteenth