Hoi An Ancient town is the UNESCO Heritage Site on December 4th, 1999. Hoi An has so much to offer to visitors from local cuisines, special architectures of old buildings, to nice beaches, traditional villages and so on. However, like other places or any cities in the world, Hoi An has something you should avoid to do so that you can have a wonderful holiday in this so called ‘Little Venice of Vietnam”. Hereinafter, Premium Travel Vietnam lists 11 things that you should not do when you are in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Contents
- 1 Avoid buying entrance tickets
- 2 Don’t disrespect the local culture
- 3 When purchasing early in the morning, avoid to haggle
- 4 Don’t disrespect religious sites
- 5 Enter the ancient town on a motorcycle in prohibited hours
- 6 Don’t disregard traffic rules
- 7 Don’t wear offensive clothes
- 8 Noisy and careless
- 9 Don’t be disrespectful with photography
- 10 Do not enjoy your night time too late
- 11 Don’t leave Hoi An so soon
Avoid buying entrance tickets
The sale of tickets to Hoi As opposed to many well-known landmarks around the world, an old settlement is less rigid. If you try to avoid buying tickets into the old town of Hoi An, so you can not enter some places of interests that you are allowed to see. Skip buying the entrance tickets makes you more worried and you do not feel confident when walking around the old town.
In addition, your buying of entrance tickets contributes to the restoration of Hoi An Ancient town. Thus, you can share a little bit of your money to the remain of UNESCO Heritage Site in Vietnam.
Furthermore, you should pay the entrance fee because it is one of the ways the old town is funded in order to be preserved and restored. Visitors who purchase tickets will then have a choice of 5 out of 21 locations, including museums, cultural attractions, historic buildings, and assembly halls. Visitors will also receive thorough directions on maps and locations.
And if you go in groups of eight or more, a local tour guide will be assigned to the group then you will know more of Hoi An culture. For now, admission to the old town of Hoi An costs 80,000 VND for local visitors and 120,000 VND for foreigners; kids under 14 years old go free.
>> See Ba Na Hills Tour from Hoi An here
Don’t disrespect the local culture
Hoi An has a rich cultural heritage, so it’s important to respect local customs and traditions. Avoid offensive behavior, such as touching people’s heads (considered sacred), pointing with your finger, or shouting in public places.
When purchasing early in the morning, avoid to haggle
The third thing that you should not do in Hoi An is to bargaining in early morning as you want to buy something because of the fact that local residents pay close attention to early-morning shoppers.
So, let’s avoid haggling and bidding if you visit a certain store early in the morning. If you can, buy a small item and enjoy a friendly conversation with the shipper to make them lucky for the day.
The Hoi An local people are quite religious so sometimes they will burn a piece of paper to send away bad luck if early morning shoppers negotiate the price too much.
>> Book Hoi An Half Day Biking Tour
Don’t disrespect religious sites
The other things that you should not do in Hoi An is when visiting temples or pagodas, adhere to the dress code, maintain silence, and follow the customs and rules of each site. Do not touch or remove sacred objects without permission, and always be mindful of your actions and behavior.
Next, try to speak calmly to respect the local culture and obey the rules of the sites. Being a civilized tourist makes you more respectful and nice person in front of the eyes of locals.
Enter the ancient town on a motorcycle in prohibited hours
In many Hoi An streets, it is illegal for motorized vehicles to go by hour. Particularly, motorbikes are prohibited from Tran Phu, Nguyen Hue, Cong Nu Ngoc Hoa, and the entire road in front of the Square (along the Hoai River) from 9 am to 11 am and from 15 am to 21 30 pm every day of the week. And Hoi An Ancient Town is not very large, so you can slowly tour every nook by foot, bicycle, or cyclo.
Don’t disregard traffic rules
Vietnamese traffic can be chaotic, so it’s important to follow traffic rules and exercise caution when crossing the street. Look both ways, walk confidently and steadily, and try to flow with the traffic when walking or cycling.
Don’t wear offensive clothes
When visiting sites of worship in Hoi An, visitors should dress appropriately because the city is home to numerous spiritual relics, including Fujian Temple, Cantonese Temple, Quan Cong Temple, Phuoc Lam, Chuc Thanh, and Long Tuyen. Visitors have occasionally been sent away just because their skirts and slacks are too short.
Noisy and careless
Hoi An is highly congested during the busiest travel season. Some well-known sites or restaurants are frequently crowded. If you visit the old town at this time, you should patiently wait in line without pushing or shoving anyone. Visitors should also refrain from bringing loud speakers when exploring the old town to reduce noise in public spaces.
Don’t be disrespectful with photography
Please ask for permission before taking photos of people, particularly locals or religious ceremonies. Respect privacy and cultural sensitivity. Avoid using flash in temples or pagodas as it can be disruptive. When taking pictures of vendors or the local people, let’s ask for permission and smile to be more friendly.
Do not enjoy your night time too late
Hoi An is not only pretty in the night with all colors and lanterns lit you, Hoi An is also nice and exciting with lots of bars located by the banks of the Hoai river. So, our advice is that you should not spend too much time in the bar too late. As something happens, for instance, you get drunk and easily cheated by the local motorbike drivers who will charge you wrong amount of money when taking you back to the hotel.
Especially, it is too late and too drunk and you are sometimes confused with all notes of Vietnamese currencies.
Don’t leave Hoi An so soon
Finally, what not to do in Hoi An is that people who enjoy an energetic, boisterous lifestyle should not attempt to live rapidly in Hoi An Old Town. Here, mornings typically begin pretty late and end very early. Hoi An is not very huge, but you should spend two to three days there to have time to explore Hoi An and its surroundings such as My Son Hindu Temples, traditional villages in Hoi An or enjoy half day trip to Cham island and get a sense of the pace of life.
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