Hoi An is a picture postcard town on the central coast of Vietnam and an easy getaway from Hanoi. We spent a weekend of visiting the old town and playing in the waves.
The city was spared the ravages of bombing during the American War and has benefitted from substantial funding from Japanese cultural foundations for its restauration.
The coiled incense below is sold to wishers and burned in this pagoda. Inscriptions in Vietnamese and occasional other languages request favors, prosperity and other successes.
Our hotel was on the river. One evening we came back to our rooms to see these lanterns floating magically along in front of the hotel restaurant. They were set afloat upstream and then collected a little ways downstream, creating a dancing light show in the pitch black night.
Simple boats set out to sea in front of Cham islands.
No cars allowed in the center of town. This is a happy change from the honking and pollution of the streets of Hanoi.
The weekend ended with dragonboat racing on the river in front of the hotel. The banks were lined with spectators and racers waiting their turn. Men's and women's teams lined up to paddle ferociously up and down the river. All under the watchful, benevolent eye of Uncle Ho, pictured below - can you find him?
