Hoi An

Hoi An is a quiet riverside village of 130,000 people! It has a long history as a trading port, and there are still many Chinese and Japanese influences, unusual for Vietnam. It is famous as a silk and fabric centre, with many tailors to be found with a special deal just for you! Lots of westerners go there with a bag full of favourite outfits which they have copied there. Not us, we bought T shirts and dvds.

We took a trip to see the remains of the ancient Cham Empire, similar to Angkor Wat on a smaller scale. Most buildings were about 1000 years old, yet had been forgotten by the Vietnamese until some lost soldiers stumbled upon the remains during the American War!

They are a brick construction, without mortar as we know it today, and the people working on restoring them still don't know how they stick together.

But the real highlight of Hoi An was the hotel pool, (swimming, not the table - that's another story) which was a great antidote to the heat and humidity of the trip so far.

Next: off to Dalat at 4 am!