I had planned to put together a single coffee guide highlighting all of my favourite coffee and cafe discoveries from my recent trip to Vietnam. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover a lot of great places on my two-week trip, so I've decided to split the guide into two parts. This first part covers Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hoi An; part two, which I will post next week, will focus on Hanoi. I also spent two days in Hué but didn't find any particularly good coffee shops.

Vietnam has been on my travel to-do list for a number of years. I hadn't been to Southeast Asia and decided that Vietnam with its rich culture and history, bustling cities and beautiful scenery, and, of course, delicious food was the best place to start. I had 15 full days in the country; this meant I could take advantage of the current visa waiver for UK visitors to Vietnam for stays of up to 15 days.

In a country filled with fine food destinations, Hoi An is rightly viewed as one of the finest. One of the reasons I wanted to stay there a little longer than most of the other cities on my Vietnam itinerary was so that I could sample as many of the restaurants and local dishes as I could. It didn't hurt that Hoi An has a burgeoning speciality coffee scene, which I did my best to explore.

After rushing to pack everything into my short stays in Hué and Saigon, I changed gear once I got to Hoi An, a beautiful town on the Central Vietnam coast. Hoi An doesn't have an airport or train station so most visitors fly or take the train to Da Nang, which is 20 miles north. I took the train from Hué and it was a beautiful ride through the misty mountains.