MAY 2023 · ESCAPE
Hoi-an, Vietnam
Hoi An Ancient Town, Vietnam
The temperature was 44°C. Everything you do in that heat is reduced to its minimum: where to be, how long to stand in the sun, where the shade falls. The ancient town accommodates this instinctively — narrow lanes, yellow merchant house facades close together, the lanterns overhead providing interval shade.
The red silk lanterns are everywhere. Hanging above alleys, strung between yellow walls, stacked outside shops in every colour for sale, hanging from doorways in red, purple, multicolour. A vendor selling them occupies a corner, the display six feet high. This has been the town's visual identity long enough that the image is inseparable from the place.
The heritage and the working market are the same place, the same streets, the same lanes.
Hoi An Ancient Town — May 2023
But the commercial activity runs through everything. Fishing boats moored at the dock, fishermen in orange life vests. A woman on a motorbike passing a yellow building with bougainvillea trailing the wall. A produce vendor under a parasol, selling leafy greens from her bike in bright sunlight. A water vendor moving through on a motorbike, passing a storefront with blue glass jars. At a market square, colourful umbrellas, scooters, the scale of yellow colonial buildings around it.
The Thu Bon riverside at golden hour: the yellow buildings reflected in the water, traditional boats along the bank. A school courtyard with yellow stone buildings and children gathered under shelter. A street intersection with magenta bougainvillea overhead and red lanterns below.
At a market stall: wooden carved spirit masks, long straw hair, traditional character faces stacked in rows. At another: wooden religious figures on shelves. The ornate Chinese-style temple entrance with a dragon sculpture. The heritage and the working market are the same place, the same streets, the same lanes.
A three-wheeled taxi with passengers outside a yellow colonial building. The vendor on a bicycle with cargo, parked under a storefront. The lanterns overhead in the heat.
Lantern-lined street in Hoi An with tourists and locals walking under red silk lanterns hanging above
Wooden fishing boats moored at the dock with fishermen in orange life vests
Bustling market square with yellow colonial buildings, colorful umbrellas, and scooters
Narrow alley with red paper lanterns strung across between yellow buildings and green foliage
Street vendor selling vibrant silk lanterns in every color stacked outside a shop
Decorative paper lanterns in red, purple, and multicolor hung from doorway
Red lantern-lined street with local shopfronts and a person on a scooter
Covered market stall with red lantern decoration and colorful clothing and crafts
Evening golden hour reflection of yellow buildings on water with boats and lanterns
Peaceful school courtyard with yellow stone buildings and children gathered under shelter
Shaded shopfront with green ivy, vendors, and traditional Vietnamese conical hats
Golden hour riverside scene with traditional boats and town buildings along the water
Street intersection lined with magenta flowers and yellow buildings with red lanterns
Woman riding motorbike in front of old yellow building with trailing bougainvillea
Colorful three-wheeled taxi with passengers outside a yellow colonial building
Water vendor on motorbike passing decorated storefront with blue glass jars
Narrow street with red lanterns, old yellow walls, and a row of vendor stalls
Red lantern-decorated building with pink bougainvillea and motorcycles parked outside
Street scene with magenta flowers overhead, tourists walking, and yellow colonial architecture
Busy street with red lanterns, bicycles, scooters, and people among yellow buildings
Ornate Chinese-style temple entrance with dragon sculpture and man in white shirt
Green canopy walkway lined with bougainvillea and storefronts with traditional architecture
Market vendor selling wooden crafts and religious figures stacked on shelves
Quiet alley with yellow buildings, red lanterns overhead, and a vendor on a bicycle
Elaborate display of wooden carved masks and figurines with long straw hair
Produce vendor under umbrella selling vegetables with motorcycles and street life
Street vendor selling leafy greens from motorbike under parasol in bright sunlight
Red ornamental temple entrance with yellow roof tiles and decorative details
Display of wooden carved spirit masks with straw hair and traditional character faces