If light is in your heart..

You will find your way home..Rumi

Lights..lanterns..beauty..peace..that’s how I would describe one of my favorite cities that I have ever been to- Hoi An in Vietnam. My post on my backpacking trip to Vietnam will be up soon, that will give out all the details on travelling part but even before that I wanted to write about the part that I loved most- 2 days in Hoi An-the lantern city.

On how to reach there- You can either take a flight to Da Nang from either Ho chi Minh city or Hanoi. I actually took a train from Binh Thuan station to Da Nang. One tip- always travel first class in vietnam its cheap and the first class is fairly good to travel. From Da Nang you can take a cab and reach Hoi An in 45 minutes to 1 Hour.

Its a beautiful small town with small quirky cafes all around, you can take a bicycle for hire. I got mine from the home stay that I was staying for free of cost.

Once you enter the old part of the city which is also a world heritage site. The city is such a beautiful example of cohesive existence of different architectural styles from quaint wooden chinese houses to french colonial architecture and then like the shining jewel, all the beautiful lanterns. There are no words to describe that experience of being in midst of so many lanterns, each unique and alluring.

There is so much to see in the town, that you can easily spend a week, from old japanese bridge to the ancient temples and the beautiful riverside and then indulge in great food in the small cafes that dot the town. For me the highlight was discovering the unexplored riverside on the bike with the cool breeze swaying my hair.

As a traveller I believe in just taking time to soak in the city spirit and biking around the town was just an amazing experience. But just wait till the evening approaches and the lanterns show their magic, with the entire town dotted with them from shops selling them to lanterns hung in houses and lining the entire streets. Its romantic, its magical and its one of those experiences that will stay with you for a long, long time. So go ahead, discover and fall in love with the beautiful city of Hoi An..as I have fallen in love.

Hope you discover and enjoy Hoi An as much as I had!!