Up to Hoi An in Central Vietnam

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On Tuesday we left the island of Phu Quoc, where we had spent 4 days of leisure so as to get our strength up for the remainder of our journey. Our destination was the historic town of Hoi An which in 1999 was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our flight from Phu Quoc to Hoi An took us via Saigon on two very efficient Vietnan Airways planes but took us the best part of the day.

On Wednesday we set about exploring this delightful town which was comparatively easy as the preserved part is a pedestian only and it was such a relief not to do battle with the scooters and motorbikes. The reason that Hoi An came to prominence was as a result of it being an important trading port from 16th to 18th century. It attracted traders from China, Japan and even Europe and as a result it acquired a rich cultural heritage.

It is still very much a thriving town with almost every building alive with some form of trade and in particular tailors. Hoi An is famous in Vietnam for its tailors and the ready production of made to measure clothing. However we were not tempted.

It addition to the shops there are Chinese pagodas, ornate community halls, family shrines and the imposing Japenese Bridge which was constructed by the prosperous Japanese trading community in 1593. A very relaxing place to stroll through and take in the atsmosphere. If only more town centres were traffic free!!!

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Photos

Japanese Bridge
One of the town's most prominent landmarks and illustrating its trading history

Silkworms at work
The start of the silk making process which is one of the many cottage industries in Hoi An

Comments

[Jane J]

Wonderful!
You two do get to some fabulous places! It looks so colourful .... particularly when it's so cold and drab here. Good to hear from you after news report this morning of a tourist boating accident out there. love Jane x

[Duncan]

Hi from son
Looks like you are having a good time, reading the blog. Maybe speak at weekend lots of love Dunk

[Alex]

So enjoy reading your blog and love the photo's. Love to you bothxxxxxxxx

[Cherryll]

We're enjoying your blog very much. Lovely to see all the photos- they are making us wish we'd visited Vietnam instead of Bali!!! Hope you're enjoying the food and what's the weather like? Not too hot we hope. We're all well but fed up with our very hot humid weather. Laura is threatning to move away to a cooler climate?? Brian and William have been busy over the last two weekends tiling Thomas' bathroom at the unit - think Brian will be glad when its all finished. Take care. Love Brian and Cherryll