On the tourist Autobahn...

When we got to Hoi An we had spent wonderful quite days on the back roads of Vietnam’s central highland with only very few foreign tourists and no hassle at all. This was over now. We were right back on the tourist Autobahn.

The streets of Hoi An

Hoi An is a beautiful old city that used to be the capitol of the country during the Chinese occupation. Its old buildings and nice small roads, the location at the river and the tropical beach front only a couple of km away make it a beautiful place to stay, with many things to do and see. So it’s really no wonder that all the tourists flock here – and that the Vietnamese make the best of that situation by turning every building into a handicraft shop, a souvenir shop, a café, bar or restaurant or a tailor (yes, we suited up). Hoi An is definitely the Vietnamese pendant to Pingyao in China. But even with the herds of tourists and the dollar signs in the eyes of the Vietnamese that look at them, Hoi An is still charming with its beautiful facades, courtyards and hidden gardens. 

And renting a bike to go to the beach early in the morning to take a quick swim, then have breakfast at one of the beach bars and slowly peddle back for a cooling shower is definitely the best way to start into a good day!

Crazy guard of an emperor's tomb

After having spent some time in Hoi An we went further up north, to the city that became the capital when the rule of the Vietnamese emperors began: Hue. Scattered around Hue are the impressive tombs of the various emperors and their families that they all designed themselves during their lifetime. We went there on a dragon boat that cruised down the calm Perfume River that flows through Hue - together with a mass of foreign tourists. The tombs are huge, though, so it didn’t get too crowded. Hue is also home to the imperial city that lies behind the great defensive walls of a citadel. The imperial city is very impressive with its sheer size and the many palaces, houses and temples that are still there. It gets even more impressive if you remind yourself that it once was far bigger with over a thousand buildings more than today. Two wars and many natural disasters like typhoons have destroyed the majority of the complex.

At the imperial city in Hue

Speaking of which – a typhoon hit the north of Vietnam right when we left Hue to our next stop along the tourist Autobahn: Ninh Binh. We went there on a nightbus – our first sleeping bus. It was a hell of a ride since we didn’t fit into the “beds” and we also drove right into the typhoon which was a little scary after all. We got to our destination at 4:30 am and were dropped off in the middle of nowhere, right in the dark. It was pouring, we were tired and uprooted trees were lying around everywhere. We took the first available Moto to the Hotel and went straight to bed. 

View from above Mua Cave

When we got up a couple of hours later the Typhoon had left us with clear skies and we were ready to go see what all the tourists come here for: the limestone scenery of Tam Coc, also called “Dry Halong Bay”. We rented a motorbike and explored the backwaters of the Ninh Binh and then climbed Mua cave for a beautiful view of Tam Coc. Then we went there, got shocked by the massive amount of tourists - and then decided to jump right in : after all, we are just another two of them, right? And we were so glad that we did what they all do: take a boat trip around Tam Coc. The pictures say it all.

Tam Coc

After a week of tourist towns and action we are ready for a more general place now where really no one cares about us anymore. So tomorrow we’re heading right to Hanoi, the modern capitol at last.