This part of the trip was along with the drive through the highlands my favorite in Vietnam.

Hoi An is a historical town which was little affected by the war in contrast to Hue. It used to be a major harbor in the area until Danang became larger and more modern. There are many old buldings and a famous bridge, built by the Japanese in about 1600. We enjoyed rides in bicycle buggies and the highlight for me was a class in Vietnamese cooking in a very good local restaurant. Unfortunately Vickie missed it that day because of some not so uncommon tourist ailment.

On another day we organized a trip to My Son (pronounced "me son"), a Cham site, very similar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. This was basically a Hindu dominated empire that reached from India all the way to Vietnam. From My Son we took a river trip back to Hoi An.