I really can’t believe that after spending more than half a year here, I will be leaving Vietnam in a little over a week. Hoi An is probably the place I will miss most.
Coming back here after five months away, we can already see quite a change. Quite a few new and trendy cafes have popped up, I wouldn’t be surprised if in about 10-20 years, Hoi An will become a bit like Canggu. I think once there is a coworking space here, more and more digital nomads will come. There already is so much good food, Vietnamese and Western, to satisfy the foodies.
One thing that still manages to surprise me is the price disparity between tailors, bag and shoemakers here. I bought a leather bag for 1 mill VND. The exact same bag was priced at 4.7 mill a few stores down. I had my backpack zipper and button repaired a few months back for 40K, a woman told me today she could fix it for 200K. Another lady told me she would try and get it fixed for me for 25K.
I try to avoid going into the Old Town as much as I can. Too many people, too much hassle. But, it is still beautiful and I still do enjoy it.
I can see myself now in Berlin, holed up inside while it’s grey and dreary or snowy outside, thinking of sunny weather in Hoi An, early morning yoga classes and reading on An Bang beach.
