I flew from Cambodia to Da Nang in Vietnam and then took a Grab (Asian Uber) to the popular tourist city of Hoi An about 30 minutes away. Hoi An is an attractive small city dating back to the mid- 1500s, when it was a thriving trading port with China, Japan and Portugal. In fact, its most famous site and symbol is the "Japanese Bridge" a long huge bridge whose vast span connected the distant Japanese and Chinese colonies of Hoi An back in the early 1600s-
Hoi An's old town was named a World Unesco site in 1998 and since then it has taken off and become perhaps the biggest tourist city in Vietnam, receiving over 3 million visitors per year. It is a very nice small city and is known for its lanterns-
Tailoring (there are custom tailoring shops everywhere for all types of clothing )-
And for its markets and food-
Part of the scene is to go out on the river at night and light a candle and mildly add to river pollution with all of the other lantern-lit boats-
It also seems to have perfectly captured the tattoo craze-
I noticed that Vietnamese weddings seem to be serious affairs-
On my walking tour of Hoi An I learned that the Buddhism of Vietnam is different than Thailand and others it certainly seemed that the Buddha statuary was happier and better fed-
After spending a pleasant day and a half in Hoi An, I hired a motorcycle driver by the name of Can to take me over the acclaimed Hai Van Pass and then onto Hue about 100 miles to the north. While the pass was mostly obscured in mist (per usual, I guess), it was a fun trip with some interesting scenery along the way including a dragon bridge
Can, while unafraid to pass on the twisty mountain (or other) roads, was a very good driver.
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