How to go to Hoi An?

40km away from Da Nang, this tiny little ancient town receives many millions of visitors every year. I don't know exactly how many millions but in 2015 something the town was in the top list of most visited towns in the world. I hope that list was valid. Even if it was not, let's just say it's a must visit town.

I lived in Hoi An for around a year in 2014 - 2015. Since then, the town has changed drastically. But the nearest time I came back there in October 2018, it was still very enjoyable.

I have been back to Hoi An several more times after I left the town in 2015 and settled again in Ha Noi, my home town. The town has a lot of memories, the friends I had, ex boyfriend shits, troublesome dramas :)))) the people I knew, and very important, some TOURIST HACKS I discovered.

If you go to Hoi An from somewhere else, you would still need to go to Da Nang first, maybe by train or airplane or sleeping bus (I don't like sleeping bus, but it's cheap yes). Then how to reach Hoi An from Da Nang? EASY PEASY.

First of all, If you are rich, and you don't have to be that rich actually, grab any taxi and hop! on the way. You can ask them to go along the beach, named Hoang Sa Road, see all the resorts on the way and that road passes by Ngu Hanh Son, the Five Elements Moutains. It's a tourist destination. I don't think I have been inside, but around it and on that same road to Hoi An, there are a lot of marble crafts stores, where they sell statues and Feng Shui decor crafted from local marbles. They ship to your door, whenever you live in the world. Problem is that if you go on a taxi the taxi driver will probably be like: "Excuse me, can you please just help me checking out one marble store for just a while, because I have a deal with them to bring customers over their place?". Yeah, when taxi drivers bring you there, no matter you buy or not, the store will have a small commission for them. I think we don't have to rush anyway and having a look doesn't harm anyone? If that bring the drivers some extra then that's great for him. But not all drivers will bring you there, and not all drivers go that way. They can go to the way in land. It looked like a village path way when I lived there, but last time I checked they are making a nice highway from it. The time we took taxi we paid about 500,000VND or more, so this is the most expensive way to go to Hoi An I guess?

You can also ask receptionist to order you a car to Da Nang for some fixed price. It will not be a taxi. You can google yourself "xe đi Hội An" and pick just any phone number, I think they are the same price. About 350-450 thousand VND depends on who drives you and how big the car is. I just picked random drivers and they all had good service and very nice clean cars. At night it may be more expensive so a taxi can be quicker.

Some hotels in Hoi An, especially if you stay in an expensive one, offer to pick you up. Ask them, if they don't, maybe they can also arrange you someone.

If you are adventurous, rent a motorbike and ride yourself to Hoi An! It's not dangerous, and it's not too long. It's a fun enjoyable ride and maybe you can check some places out on your own. My experience is that how ever much you love the sun, cover your face, like a bandida, because the sand and dust and ocean wind will throw a lot into your face and eyes.

If you want a super local experience, catch the bus from Da Nang to Hoi An. It's crazy cheap. I remember I paid 17,000VND (a dollar is 23,000VND, guys). The bus only run until 6 pm or something. It's bus number 1 and this is where it runs: http://xe-buyt.com/lotrinh/quang-nam-tuyen-so-01-hoi-an-da-nang.html

Sorry it's in Vietnamese :))) but you can see it runs through Tran Phu street, that is like a main street in Da Nang, parallel to Bach Dang str that runs along the Han River. This bus is for local people, it's very local. There is a bus conductor who help people climb up and down the bus, screaming local language to inform the next stops. If you have luggages you may have to pay extra, but not expensive.

And last but not least, a friend of mine used to BICYCLE between the towns. That's an option too I guess.