Its best to get an early start, simply to try avoid the heat and to see Hoi An in its best light. Starting from the town centre, you hop onto your bicycle and head to the main boat ferry pier for the 10-minute journey across the Thu Bon River. Once on back on dry land, you are now in the countryside – peddle past picturesque villages, through rice paddies, water coconut forests and waterways. The riding is easy and flat, but still plenty of water will be supplied, essential in the hotter months.
You visit local cottage industries such as boat building yards, wood-carving workshops which produce everything from furniture to ornate statues, traditional brickworks (between March and September only), basket makers and even an ice works. A Vietnamese lunch is served in the family home of a family who weave traditional mats. Following the meal head back to Hoi An town, but this time abandoning the bikes and instead taking a 45-minute boat cruise.
You arrive back at your hotel, be it in Hoi An or on the beach, by mid-afternoon. The total distance on your bike is about 6 miles, along very flat roads with very little traffic. Obviously, the itinerary may need to change if it starts raining heavily.
