After Ho Chi Minh City, we took a flight up to Hoi An, Vietnam. We were tired of long bus rides and with flights around $30 each, we were about to rationalize traveling in a bit more comfort for once! Although trading a 16 hour bus ride for a 45 minute flight didn't take much rationalization. Hoi An is a town with a historic feel as the original merchant houses survived the war. Near the larger town of Danang and China Beach, Hoi An has a local beach, good restaurants, and a lot of old-timey atmosphere.
Unfortunately, I got fairly sick in Hoi An and was laid up for a couple of days. We took advantage of the TV and air con and relaxed in the room. I did manage to get out on one sunny day to go to the beach for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, this exhausted me! Sad when going to the beach for just two hours and sitting on your rear makes you tired...
It was good we made it to the beach that day because it poured rain the next day. In fact, the streets flooded and I might have seen a cat, dog or two fall out of the sky. It turns out we were feeling the effects of a typhoon that hit further up north. After it cleared up, we did get to the river to see the Japanese/Vietnamese cultural festival. The lanterns on the river were really a cool thing to see.
