Hoi An, Ancient City

We've spent the past two days about 3 hours drive south of Hue in the small city of Hoi An, another UNESCO world heritage site.  Hoi An ws major trading center in the region up until the late 18th century when the river upon which it is located silted up too much for larger ships to continue use it as a port.  It subsequently fell into a long economic decline, and was largely forgotten and bypassed by the turmoils of the 20th century which brought destruction to many more important places in Vietnam. By the time Vietnam began to pursue tourism development in the early 1990's, 200 years of salutary neglect made Hoi An a perfect example of 17th century Vietnamese architecture and town planning, an a prime candidate for UNESCO recognition.

While the core of the old trading settlement is almost wholey intact, it's still a bit overun by tourist centered business, particularly on the weekends, when most visitors appear to be other Vietnamese.  Still, behind all the restaurants, bars, hotels, and souvenir shops, the buildings are really remarkable. Here's a few examples:We were fortunate to have nearly perfect weather for our stay, and again enjoyed some outstanding local food at ridiculously cheap prices.  The night market also had some really interesting street food... 

You pick out what you want, and they just toss it on the bbq ;-) 

Cheers!