Of course Hoi An will get spoiled

I found myself thinking, during our recent week away, that if only Hoi An was closer we’d come here more often.

Not that it’s far.  An hour’s flight or an overnight train trip, but still a minimum of four hours door to door.  Of course, if it was closer it would already be wrecked. Halong Bay can be wonderful but I think I’ve made my last trip there.

Arriving at the new Danang Airport, it’s a comfortable, modern, slick operation, easily outshining Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Hoi An is expanding because of the increased interest.  Those one or two streets at its heart are least changed because they’re not allowed to. But the town will become a city.  What will wreck it for some will make it more attractive to others.

In the meantime the growth will provide employment for more people.  Luring more young workers from the countryside to staff hotels and restaurants.

Then, one day, the crowds will head somewhere else.  Just as the little cafe we go to on Cua Dai street is now suffering quiet times as cycling backpackers choose the other road to the more bustling An Bang beach.

You can slow the spoiling but in the end, to take full advantage of the money and opportunities available, you have to give into it.  Eventually, unavoidably, it’ll be someone else’s turn.

For now it’s still the best escape from Hanoi and the best place to take a visitor.  There’s still something for everybody.  And there’s that beach.  Once deserted, now developed.  Not yet full.