Postcard from Vietnam

Hoi An is half way up the 1,200 mile coastline of Vietnam which is about the same length as the British coastline from Brighton to Inverness. It is about 15 miles south of Da Nang  a big, modern city that is infamous for having the busiest airport in the world at the time of the Vietnam War.

The histories of Da Nang and Hoi An are inextricably linked. Hoi An (peaceful meeting place) was the major port of central Vietnam for over a thousand years until a Chinese emperor took exception to all the Europeans and Japanese trading ships that were muscling in on this wealthy trading centre. The emperor banished the foreigners to Da Nang (mouth of a big river) and the rest is history. 

Hoi An is now a sleepy historic town that somehow escaped all the bombing of the Vietnam (American) war and, together with the ruined temples of the Champa people at My Son, is listed as a World Heritage site.http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/948  

Hoi An is not just a beautiful settlement beside the Thu Bon River, it is also a place where Vietnam's culture is nurtured and the full moon festival that takes place every lunar month is just one example of an ancient tradition which, in other parts of the country, has largely disappeared.

Nguyen Thai Hoc Street