From the South Asian port cities, I've only been to Malacca before travelling to Hoi An. The former seemed much larger, with more expansive streets and overall it had a sense of more space overall. It was charming with classic Asian chaos. With Hoi An, I felt it was a bit more manicured, a bit conditioned by the amount of tourists that visit such a small town anually. However, it was very charming and we enjoyed our stay.

We arrived in the afternoon, coming from Hue - the transfer took about three hours. We went through the mountain pass as our driver claimed the tunnel was closed for the lunch hours. Many people have Da Nang as their base, usually staying in one of ther seaside resort. If you're there, you can hail a taxi via the Grab app, however it's limited in Vietnam for certain urban areas and won't work on the way back. We chose Hoian Central Residence as our base, it's close to the Ancient Town, but not directly in it. We started by having the legendary banh mi at Banh Mi Phuong - it's a long queue there since Anthony Bourdain was there and there's another joint right next to it. It was quite sad to see the poor owner of that place, looking at the massive crowds waiting to get served by their neighbours. However, it is delicious and cheap - about euro fifty. While I was waiting, Ivan went to buy the tickets for the places you can visit. We bough five entries each.

The streets of Hoi An Ancient Town turn pedestrian by the afternoon and they're very crowded, prepare for many people and some rickshaws. We started with the Fukian Assembly hall, a lovely ensemble of buildings with large shrine. We also visited one of the tradesmen houses, Japanese bridge and two shrines. Then we just walked around, enjoying the atmosphere, waiting until the sun goes down to enjoy all of the lanterns lit up. I really liked the fact it's a WHS which combines culture, history and great atmosphere that allows for wandering around and just letting you soak up the atmosphere. We walked around the Night Market, but it was super crowded, so we quickly returned to the other side of the river. The biggest nuisance I'd guess were the hawkers trying to make you take a boat ride.

In the morning we woke up early and were back to the historical centre, now much less crowded. It was great. The atmosphere is much more relaxed, the souvenir vendors are also very chill.