The bar on the balcony of the cloth market

Hội An Cloth Market sits at the corner of Bạch Đằng and Hoàng Diệu Streets, right on the river. Most people know the ground floor: stalls, tailors, fabric by the metre. Fewer make it up the stairs at the river end of the building, to the first-floor balcony where Market Bar pours its drinks.

From up here the reason for the name is obvious. Below is the market itself. Ahead is the Hoài River, wide and slow, with the Cẩm Nam bridge crossing it. Behind you, the Old Town. It is a heritage building, so there is no glass and no air conditioning: a roof, a rail, lanterns, and whatever breeze comes off the water.

It is an easy place to stay longer than planned, especially through happy hour, four to six, when a fish bowl on the table and the light going gold over the bridge is reason enough not to move.