Hoi An and Ba Na Hill Station July 2012

Hoi An, on the mid-central coast, is an historic town that almost every foreign tourist wants to visit.   We rented a very nice room in Thanh Binh 2 Hotel on the corner of Tran Hung Dao and Ba Trieu Streets. It was large, bright and airy, with a big bath in the bedroom and separate showere and toilet.  The staff  had arranged for a double and single two double bed to be pushed together so that An could sleep with us.  She just loved the room at first sight


 













Nga and I like visiting Hoi An very much, but because it is so popular, hotels are not short of guests and can overcharge.  The Thanh Binh Hotel was no exception.  The normal charge for our room was 800,000 dong a night, but because we booked for five nights we paid only 650,000 dong a night.  

Ba Trieu Street from out hotel room, Thanh Binh 3 Hotel on left

Breakfast was included in the tariff, but we had to go around the corner to Thanh Binh 3 Hotel to eat it.  Since many guests book for day tours, there is a huge rush at 0800, almost nothing is left on the breakfast bar by 0830, and the staff are very slow to replenish it.  You must also go to Thanh Binh 3 if you wish to swim in the dirty water of hotel pool or have an overpriced, 400,000 dong massage.  I don't mind paying 3-star prices for 3 star service, but the service was not good enough.

 The massage was, however, excellent and the nurse/masseuse surprised me when she put my bad back into place by pushing on my shoulder blade.  She advised. "You don't have a back problem, you have a shoulder problem.  Next time, relax your shoulder and get some one to shake your arm."

An playing

Paper and bamboo lanterns, Hoi An

Ba Na Hill Station, elevation 1485m, is listed in the 2009 Lonely Planet guide book, but not in the 2011 edition.  The 2009 edition says, "Near the top, the Linh Ung Pagoda (1999) is a supremely peaceful spot  ... The provincial government has high hopes of once again making Ba Na a magnet for tourists."

Ba Na Hill Station, a faux medieval fun park

Instead of the old and cheap price for a cable car ride to the top, it now cost 400,000 each adult and a little less for children under 1.00 metre tall. What you get at the top is a work site busily constructing a mock up of a medieval French village.  Above are hotels whose restaurants don't want you unless you come with a packaged tour, outdoor food stalls selling assorted rubbish, and a noisy, indoor fun park for kids. Our 1 million dong taxi fares, nearly 2 million dong for cable car/fun park fare, plus refreshments and food added up to a completely wasted day, as fun parks are the last places I need to go.

John and Lisa inside the fun park