About an hour's car ride south of DaNang is a former trade center called Hoi An. Recently recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site, the town has been maintained in its former state, with small alleyways separating several hundred year old wooden buildings, displaying a unique combination of Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese influences. We had a blast poking around town on foot/bicycle (there are no cars allowed in the downtown) with our friends Liz and Vanessa, and of course paying a visit to Hoi An's famous tailors for a few dresses and shirts. I enjoyed just sitting in the cool interior courtyard of B'lan (the tailor we visited), admiring the intricate woodworking and chatting with the staff while they proceeded to crank out 8 perfectly fitted dresses/shirts for us in a little over 24 hours. We took advantage of the warm weather to ride about 4km to the beach (the southernmost part of the famous China Beach) and enjoy cold beer and a refreshing dip in the South China/East Sea. As always, we enjoyed the particularly delicious local specialties, including a Cao Lau (a pork, noodle, soup-y thing), White Rose (shrimp dumplings), Com Ga (chicken rice), and Banh Xeo (crepe/pancake thing, wrapped in lettuce/rice paper – a bit different than the version down south). While we were sad to leave, we enjoyed a free upgrade to first class on the way home (I guess Vietnam Airlines has decided 20 flights in 5 months makes us frequent fliers!) – chúng tôi là high rollers! Above are some of the best shots from our trip; I've also put a few more on picasa: https://picasaweb.google.com/evanwfox/HoiAn#
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