Traveling with kids (toddlers): Hoi An

I've just come back from a trip to Hoi An (and a small side trip to My Son and Da Nang) with the little one in tow. Hoi An is a rather small place and Wikitravel pretty much covers everything that you need to see there, so I shall focus this post on what to do to keep your toddler happy in a place which is, to me, more adult-centric. We went in June (with scorching 37 degrees celcius temperatures), so it was all the more important to keep the little one cool and happy.

1. Yummy ice cream in exotic flavours
Hoi An has some really delicious fruit in the hot season - think succulent pomelo, dragonfruit, passion fruit, coconut, bananas and more. The local ice cream shops have really made full use of these in-season fruit to concoct some excellent flavours of ice cream. For some reason, the ice cream tastes a little more like sorbet than ice cream, but this to me, is even better to have in the hot climate.

Our group was impressed by Cocobox (I liked the passion fruit flavour, 30,000 dong while a friend vouched for the kumquat flavour), which is in the Hoi An ancient town and not far from Tam Tam (a nice drinks place) and Morning Glory (lovely restaurant - see below).

Passion fruit ice cream @ Cocobox

Ohh La La Socola in Da Nang was also pretty good, with the lime, dragonfruit and strawberry flavours all nicely done (25,000 dong).

2. Cyclo tour
A cyclo is a bit like a trishaw, except that the rider is behind the passenger seat. Each cyclo takes one adult and child, and there are plenty of cyclos for hire that go around the old town and along the river. The cyclos are all lit up (like the rest of Hoi An), making it a pretty sight. Plus, in the hot weather, it might be a more comfortable way to see Hoi An than walking. Be sure to haggle like crazy if flagging one down ad hoc. Some tours come with a cyclo and boat ride, so that might be another option of seeing Hoi An without having to walk around.

3. Snap away
Hoi An is very atmospheric and makes for great photos - for the adults. Your little one (3 years and older) might also enjoy snapping away if he/she is equipped with a little kiddy camera. I bought a VTech Kidizoom digital camera for my little one and he was quite happy taking photos with it. Of course, many were out of focus, blurred - some human photos had no heads in them etc. But several did turn out decent! Be careful though, as Hoi An can get very crowded in the evening and you need to keep a hawk's eye on the little one.

4. Check out the silkworms
There are silkworm farms outside of Hoi An, but there are silk shops in the Hoi An old town itself that has a small collection of silkworms. The shop assistants will show you around and explain the silk-making process, including how the silkworms grow from tiny creatures to obese ones, and how they end up in the boiling water (sigh) for the people to harvest the silk threads.

5. Fun in the pool
Toddlers will have fun in most pools anywhere, but in Hoi An and its 37 degree-weather, the pool is all the more important, especially between 12pm to 4pm when the sun is at the hottest and it is simply too dehydrating to walk around outside.

What about the adults? Hoi An is not big and all the key sights are located within the historic old town. But what I found more interesting was just walking along the river and trying to capture a slice of the locals' daily lives.

Here are photos of My Son (pronounced as "mee-sun"... rhyming with "recent" without the "t").

The best part of Hoi An was probably the food. Fresh, tasty and affordable, Here are some of my favourites.

Banh Mi Phuong is also known as Anthony Bourdain's favourite Vietnamese baguette. Do be aware of double pricing standards - tourists pay 20,000 dong while our local guide bought it for us at 15,000 dong. The number 9 (pork and pate) is very tasty indeed, sandwiched between a crusty-on-the-outside, soft-and-chewy-on-the-inside baguette.

Morning Glory restaurant has excellent food and a great ambience, all at a good price. The roast pork banh mi is nice (below), as with many other dishes such as the rice paper rolls, vermicelli with chicken served in a coconut, grilled eggplant and many more.

Nu is a small eatery but has some pretty delish food too. This is the pork belly in a bun, followed by fresh spring rolls and stuffed avocado.

I also enjoyed the fresh rice paper rolls at Seedlings, but unfortunately have no decent photos to share as the lighting there was horribly dim. 

Here are some items that made our super hot stay much more comfortable.

Clockwise from left: Gatsby body wipes, Cooler mist fan, Avene thermal spring water spray (suitable for kids as well) and Neutrogene sunblock body mist (don't need to get hands dirty!)

Try and choose a cooler time to go but if you can't, hopefully the above will make your trip more comfortable and fun!