We headed down to the central part of Vietnam, to visit the old trading town of Hoi An, & and then drove up along the coast – through Da Nang & over the scenic Hai Van mountain pass, eventually joining National Highway 1 into Hue, the imperial capital of the country during the Nguyen dynasty.

Hoi An’s Japanese Bridge

Hoi An was an international trading center during the 16th and 17th centuries, and ships from China, Japan, the Netherlands, India and many other countries visited…. & established trading emporiums and quarters within the town. These have been quite well preserved, and the Ancient Town does a brisk tourist trade today. One of the notable sites is the Japanese Covered Bridge, built in the Japanese district at that same time—and proudly displayed on the country’s 20,000 Dong note (worth just a little less than a U.S. dollar).

The Citadel at Hue

Hue is the site of the Citadel, a part of the Imperial City complex in the heart of the city, on the banks of the Huong (i.e., Perfume) River. We took a cruise up the river to visit the Thien Mu Pagoda, a Buddhist sanctuary built in 1601 by the first Lord of the Nguyen family – and later came back to explore the Citadel and its surrounding area. Hue was also the site of a major battle during the Tet Offensive in 1968, one of the bloodiest and longest of the war. Considerable portions of the city (including the Imperial City’s grounds) were destroyed during the battle, with American aerial bombing playing a key role — but the communist side did its own damage, with a purge of civilians (the massacre at Hue) that later led to tremendous fears in the South, especially as the victorious People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) moved onto Saigon.