Hoi An (Vietnam) Is Even More Beautiful Than I Expected 🇻🇳

Hoi An is known to be one of the most beautiful places in Vietnam, with its colourful old streets, ancient architecture and lantern-lit evenings. And after travelling through Vietnam for the past few weeks, I couldn't think of a more perfect place to spend my final day. But what started as a slow morning exploring the old quarter, quickly turned into one of the most unexpected and memorable days of my trip. From a very surprising encounter with a local woman, to discovering one of the most beautiful views in the city, revisiting a place I first came to two years ago, and ending the day by making something that I could take home with me to remember my trip to Vietnam forever. This felt like the most perfect way to say goodbye to Vietnam. Good morning everyone from Hoi An, Vietnam. I cannot believe that I am finally back here after three years. So I visited this city before and I loved it so much and I always said that I was going to come back. And this time we have sunshine. So today I'm going to explore the old town, starting off with my favourite activity, a coffee. Wow, I have no idea what that was about. All of those guys dressed up in some kind of uniform. If you know, let me know in the comments. But they're all beeping and shouting something, but obviously I can't understand. But they were so friendly. Oh, I love Vietnam. Guys, so I've got my coffee at this beautiful place called My Hoi An. And you can come all the way up to the rooftop and you can see all the way over the old town. It is just so beautiful. And I'm the first one here because I come at 8am. And the lighting's perfect. It's absolutely stunning. So I'm going to sit here, drink my coffee. Oh no, I always spill it on myself. And enjoy this incredible view. Oh my goodness, it's amazing. This place is so cool, guys. You can just see an endless amount of these old rooftops and over the whole of the old town because nothing here is really that tall. So you can just see for ages. It's amazing. Wow. It's so cool to get a different perspective from up here. Now let's try the coffee. I ordered a coconut one, my favourite. Oh, it's like a blended one. Oh, I'm going to really miss this about Vietnam. Now I'm visiting Hoi An at the end of April and it's 8am and it is so hot. It's like 36 degrees or something. So I'm already so hot. So this is such a treat right now. But because of that, I'm going to break this video up and go home in the middle of the day because it's just going to be too hot. So I'm going to do what the locals do and have a little siesta. We're going to explore in the morning and then come back out this afternoon. The coffee was so good. I definitely recommend that place. It had such a unique view and the coffee was delicious. And now I've crossed the old Japanese bridge. So this was built in the 16th century to connect both sides of the river. One side was a Chinese settlement and the other side was a Japanese settlement and they built the bridge to connect the two. And this was a place that I couldn't visit last time because the whole area was flooded. So I'm going to explore the streets. They already look so beautiful. Just see what's on the other side of the bridge. It's so beautiful along these streets. There's so many different shops selling souvenirs, so many coffee shops that you can stop at and all of them are designed so nice. So you have an endless amount of things to do here. And I'm glad that I come out in the morning because it's actually not too busy. And I know that later today when all the tour groups come for the day, it gets extremely crowded. So I definitely recommend coming for a nice morning stroll before it gets too hot and without the crowds. Because you see these beautiful streets, almost empty really. Look at this beautiful piece of artwork. So it represents all the beautiful yellow houses that are here. Every building is painted this yellow colour and it's representative of the entire old town. It's so beautiful. And I just feel like this painting captures it so well. So I've just come across this beautiful temple which is part of the five historic sites that you can visit in Hoi An. But you need to grab a ticket. It's valid for 24 hours. And there's five different places that you can visit. So maybe I'll do that later, but I'm not too sure. I feel like just wandering the old town is enough for me today. But if you do want to do that, then make sure you grab yourself a ticket. Wow, look at these. These are all hand-carved pieces. They're so beautiful. You make them here? Wow, you're so talented. That's amazing. Wow, what's your name? How long you do this for? Very long. They're absolutely beautiful. Look at the detail on these. Oh my goodness. Imagine this on your wall. It's stunning. And you do this Buddha? The Buddha? You did? Wow, that's amazing. Wow, that guy was super talented. I really like places where all the artists come together and showcase their products. And Hoi An Old Town is such a good place for that. You can literally find everything. It's really beautiful. I wish I had a bigger bag to take all the souvenirs. So if you've seen videos of Hoi An before, then you would know that this lake completely transformed at night. It's covered in lanterns and you can take a boat out and it lights up and it's absolutely stunning. But as you can see, during the day it is so peaceful. It's just a really nice place to take a morning walk. Hello. She just said I was very... Lovely jubbly. Lovely jubbly, yeah. And she said I look like Vietnamese because I'm small. Yeah, you are very small. Yeah. You look like Vietnamese. Thank you. That's a compliment. Yeah. I like Vietnamese. So beautiful. You are beautiful. So are you. I'm old. Yeah, but you look young. I'm 55. Oh my goodness. Okay, you don't look 55. I'm smiling. Yeah. Every day? Every day you ride the bike? Yeah. Oh, so cool. What's your name? Nhung. Nice to meet you. I'm Ria. Okay, I'm just getting on her bike. Oh my goodness, it's scary. Okay. Oh my god. No, wait. Stop, stop, stop, stop. No, I'm not scared. I'm scared. Where do I hold on? Okay. But I wasn't expecting this on my morning walk. But here we go. So she's taking me to see her tailor shop, which is just up here. This is so cute. You're so nice. Yes, very nice. Hello. She's so friendly. I love it. Don't worry about a thing. Because every little thing is gonna be all right. Oh, I love this. What an unexpected morning with my new friend. Wow. So I didn't even have any idea that there was this beetroot and vegetable market that we're passing. So cool. Okay, thank you for the ride. Wow. Oh my goodness. This woman's crazy, but I love her. My friend, what is this market called? This is the central market. Ah, central market. Okay. How are you? Yeah, she also said this. You're very alike as family. So this is your shoe? Oh, very beautiful. Ria. Ria, nice to meet you. We are beautiful, beautiful. Oh, thank you. I have many handbags, many designs, everything. You like handbags? Yeah, I like handbags. Maybe I get a handbag. Maybe. If you give me a good price, because she said I'm her daughter now. This one is super nice. How much is a bag like this? The one you are buying now, the cheaper. I'm making different color. You like same hole or no hole? Gold. Same. Maybe. Okay. This actually looks super nice. Yeah, I really like, but maybe without the studs. But it's a very nice bag. And she quoted 1.4 million. Oh, she's coming. All right, so we're going through the leather colors. I don't want it to be like this orangy color. I want it more like a neutral brown. She's got all these different colored leather pieces to show me. Yeah, this is nice. What do you think? Nice color, right? Nice color. Yeah. Yeah, I think that color look good. With the gold piece. Gold. Yeah. Same design, gold, and same size. Yeah. So at first, she brought me to her clothing store. But I'm already very loyal to another woman that I met here three years ago. And actually, last night, I went to design some items. And I'm going to pick them up later. And I'm going to show you guys. Because she was such a gem. And I had those clothes for two years. And nothing ever happened to them until the laundry lost them. But, oh, thank you, mommy. Thank you. But she also has this store which sells leather shoes and bags. So I've designed a bag. And I'm really happy with it. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow at 5 p.m. OK, see you tomorrow. Thank you. Enjoy. That woman was so nice. I really respect the hustle. Because I wasn't going to get anything else. But she made so much effort to talk to me and bring me to her family. And sometimes, when someone's so nice, you should support them. So I'm going to pick up that bag tomorrow. My bag right now is actually breaking. She must have sensed that I needed a new one. But that is my last thing that I'm buying here. Because I'm seriously running out of money now. OK, I was in that shop so long. But I'm now starving. And I just come across this little place. And a guy was eating some noodles. And they look really good. So I'm going to order some. Looks really local. So it should be good. Plastic stalls usually mean it is. Hello. Thank you. Oh, yum. I'm absolutely melting right now. I don't know how I'm supposed to eat these noodles. They look so hot. But they look really good. And I forgot to bring my hair clip. So I'm just holding up my hair. It's like 38 degrees. And it's almost midday now. So it's really hot. So I'm going to finish these and go back to the room and relax for a while. Oh, bless the cutie. She bought me an elastic band to put my hair up. Because she can see that I'm absolutely melting right now. So I'm going to rip half my hair out with this, I think. But it's worth it. Oh, my God. I actually feel really bad for the people working here in this weather. Can you see the sweat? All right, let's tuck into these noodles. They look absolutely delicious. I don't know what's on them. It looks like we've got some egg yolks, some crispy crackers, and some rice noodles. So let's give this a try. So I like to stop on the side of the street and eat always. Because it's usually the best food. And I'm really excited about this. Oh, wow. It's got these. Oh, I think these are little quail eggs. Also got shrimp. What else have we got in here? Oh, and pork as well. And then a whole bowl of fresh salad to go in. Yummy. Oh, the flavours are going off in there. I wish I'd asked for it without coriander, though. Because I don't like coriander. But apart from that, oh, it's unbelievable. See, when you eat at a restaurant, they never make the flavour as strong. Because they cater more to tourists. But I like flavour. So I always eat at these street food stands. And I do suggest that you do the same. Everyone's scared of getting sick. But actually, the only time I've been sick travelling is eating from a restaurant. So you should definitely try the local food. Always. It's always delicious. And you'll be fine. These people have been perfecting their recipes for so many years. That's why it always tastes so much better. Oh, these are so good. Wow. This is such a delicious bowl of noodles. But I'm sweating so much that I have actual sweat dripping down the back of my legs. Oh my goodness. Hello. So this is the lovely lady that made me these noodles. And they were only 20,000. But I'll give her a little bit extra. And with water as well, which is absolutely crazy. They were so good. Thank you. Bye bye. Oh my god, I can't believe that. That's the lowest I've found so far on my trip. And probably one of the best. Oh my god, I'm so hot. So I'm going to head back to the hotel for a little while and take a midday siesta. And I will see you back tonight in the old town to see it all lit up. Okay, I siested very well, I must say. And now I've made it back to the old town. And I'm going to be doing an activity that I'm so excited about. As you know, Hoi An is known for its lanterns. So I'm going to be making one. Okay, so I've arrived at the Lantern Lady, which is where I'm going to be doing my workshop on making a lamp. So we have five shapes to choose from. So I'm going to pick my shape now. And then we're going to start picking the material and making the lamp. So these are the five shapes that they offer. And I think it's going to have to be this one. This one looks like the cutest. And hopefully the easiest because I'm not very crafty. So they have a lot of different patterns. I'm really indecisive and I don't know what to choose. But I kind of like this one because it's got kind of like the Vietnamese little boats and the lanterns on it. So I think I'm going to pick that one. Thank you. So now you will start the glue. Start the glue? Yeah, you see how I cut the black side here? You do like that way. Okay. Okay, so she just explained that you put the glue on three pieces and then two at the top. And then she's going to come and show me how to put on the material. I always feel like I'm really cack-handed when I do any art things. Oh, I don't think I should have drunk coffee before this because my hands are shaking. Okay, the next step is to spread the glue thinly until it's nearly dry. Okay, so this is the first step done. Three pieces. Oh my God, this is actually a lot harder than it looks. Because you have to make sure it's like stretched out, you know what I mean? I think that's pretty good. Oh, it actually looks cute. Oh my God, okay. So she had to come over and do like a little adjustment because I didn't stretch it too far. But now we're going to do the other side. Okay, thank you. Oh, she come over and she said that it wasn't too bad at all. So I'm doing well. So the next step is to cut the excess fabric. But be careful not to cut these little strings inside. So we'll be doing that now. Oh, she's taking shape. Look at this. It's probably the best arty thing I've ever done. But they're coming to help every few seconds. So if you're really bad, it doesn't matter because they do help out. But oh, I can't wait till it's done. Okay, last step. She's just helping me tidy. And then we're going to add the ribbons. So they give you this whole box of ribbons to choose from. So that bit goes like around the top and the bottom. And then you can also pick the tassels. I don't know what color to go for. I'm going between red and this cream color, but I'm not sure. So I'm going to go with the red. But you can see they have a lot of different patterns. But I feel like mine's already patterned enough. So I don't really need to add more pattern. And then the little tassel to match. She's done. Oh my God, that was actually so hard because I'm not artistic and it's not 100% neat. But I think it looks so cute. And I'm actually going to use it because I really love these lanterns. Okay, here's my final product lit up. Oh, it's really cute. And I'm going to try and find a little light to put inside it and hang it up in my house. But this was such a fun activity. I highly recommend you come and do this. A little bit stressful if you're not artistic, but we got there in the end. Okay, we are on the way to see my aunt Taylor. So I'm going for my first fitting. I'm going to see if the products that she's made fit well. Hopefully they're okay. If not, I have to go back tomorrow to collect the final item. But I'm excited to see her again. She's such a sweetie. Xin chào. Thank you. My Grab driver's so nice. All Grab drivers in Vietnam are super sweet, actually. Okay. Cảm ơn. Can you help? Thank you. Okay, bye-bye. Thank you. We're here at RoRo Tailoring. Okay, so yesterday I came into the shop and I looked at all the designs. They do so many things here. They do dresses, bikinis, even men's suits. So there's a lot to choose from. And then we sat down together. I picked my fabric. I already knew exactly what I wanted because I did get this same set two years ago. And the only reason that I'm coming back for another one is because the laundry in Bali lost it. So I can confirm the things here are very good quality. So now I'm going to do my first fitting. And then if there's any adjustments, they'll make them. And then I'll come and pick it up tomorrow. Okay, so this is the first set. As you can see, it is big. But this was the case last time I come here. They had to do quite a few adjustments after. But the top looks good. It just needs a little bit of order in here. But overall, very nice. And the material feels so good. Actually, it feels better than last time. Okay, and this is the black set. So this one actually is fitting a lot better. She's going to put the buttons here. But the trousers look good. She just has to take in a little bit off the waist. But I'm so happy with this already. And I cannot wait to see the end product. Oh, guys, they made me a gift. Because I come a few years ago and they remembered. So they made me a gift. So I'm going to try this as well. They're so cutie. Sister's talking to me through the camera. Thank you for my top. Oh my god, they're so nice here. I love them so much. I can't believe she made me a little top. Okay, so everything's sorted. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow. But I just want to say thank you. Thank you. For my lovely little sister. Me too. My Vietnamese sister. I'm going to come back again next time I'm in Hoi An. Okay, I promise. So everyone come to Robo Taylor. It's the best one here. Back to the old town. And oh my god, it is so busy. There are so many people. It's literally a completely different vibe to this morning. As you can see. But it comes alive at night. There's so many beautiful lanterns everywhere. And it's super pretty. So I'm going to go and find a quiet spot in a nice restaurant. And have some dinner. So found a place for dinner. It's literally right next to the river. I'm going to order some pom gà. Which is apparently chicken and rice. The table is so small that I can't put my camera down. But this food is delicious. They give me like a little bowl of garlic kind of butter. That you pour all over it. And it tastes so good. Definitely recommend. But it's so busy. I'm sitting with two people right next to me. So I'm gonna eat and then leave and talk to you. Our dinner. It was so nice. But it was such a chaotic restaurant. It was so hard to film in there. Because there was people sitting literally right on top of each other. But the food was really good. I had the chicken and rice. And I can't recommend it enough. Anyway. I'm just going for a little stroll along this beautiful lake. It looks so different in the night. Because it's all lit up with these boats. So you can actually get on one of these boats. But make sure if you do. You book with an official vendor. The ones with the red signs that are closer to the bridge. Because there are a lot of scammers around. You'll see the red board. And it should only cost you 170,000 for one boat. So don't pay more. But it's absolutely stunning. And if you do want to take the boat ride. You can also buy these little lanterns that you can release in the water. It is crazy busy right now. Look at the amount of people. It's so overwhelming. It's so much better to come in the daytime. When you can actually relax. Crossed the bridge. That was the most chaotic bridge journey ever. And I'm going to try and find a place to relax and have a beer or something. To end this video. And end this trip. But oh my god. I can't believe that I'm leaving Vietnam. It's been absolutely incredible. And I feel like there's no better way to end it than with a beer. Crossed back over to the other side of the bridge. Because over there. I feel like it's definitely more of a backpacker vibe. There's like really loud music. Live bands. And even a night market. So you can grab some food there. But already eaten obviously. So I've just come to this little place called Meat Bar. It's right by the river. It's got a really nice view. And having a nice beer to end the trip.