Hoi An

The city of Hoi An is particularly notable as it avoided bombing during the war, and thus retains many of its traditional older buildings. Furthermore, a local planning law keeps the majority of buildings to just two storeys, giving the place a simpler, almost quaint feel. Designated a UNESCO heritage site, the old town area is a vibrant place full of shops, bars and restaurants.

It's Saturday morning, and we stroll along the banks of the river, admiring the architecture and enjoying the relative peace and quiet (with most tourists only coming out of the woodwork in late afternoon). After treating ourselves to an excellent massage, we get lunch on the riverside and watch the world go by. We spend much of the afternoon by the hotel pool before returning to the riverside in the evening to enjoy a meal amidst the lights and noise of a Saturday night in Hoi An.

The focus for Sunday is on visiting some of the ancient houses and temples, and checking out the local shops.

There are a few traditional buildings in the town that serve as museums of ancient homes in the area. Inside you get a feel for the furniture and layout of a Vietnamese family home back in the day, although the small spaces and constant cycle of tour groups make it difficult to fully immerse yourself!

There are multiple ornate temples in the old town, most with pretty landscaped gardens. Admittedly there's only so many temples you can see without the sense of repetition, but the pink-bricked entrance to to the Phuoc Kien temple and the dragon sculptures of Quang Dong do stand out.

Our final day in Hoi An is spent taking it easy and dropping into an American bar that serves excellent craft beers (a nice break from the basic but cheap local lagers) and even better cocktails. We get chatting to the owner, David, who shares some of the trials and tribulations of a foreigner running a business in Vietnam. It's very quiet when we are there, but it's out of season and he appears to have a reasonable stream of regulars, mostly other foreigners based in the area.

It's time to move on, but this time we are actually briefly heading back north, to Da Nang, so we can catch the mainline train south towards Nha Trang.