The Bruges of Vietnam

That's a ridiculous comparison in many ways, but the theory is the same - a chunk of old town that can't be knocked down or modernised. We got a muted first impression thanks to the weather but quickly started enjoying it.

We jumped off our sleeper in Danang, an hour late, and too glad to be free to do more than get swept into a taxi (unfortunately this turns out to be one of the few places where you should agree a fare rather than use the meter). Danang station has a great steam train out front and that's about all we saw of the town. It will be huge in a few years though - there's apparently a great beach nearby, but from the coastal road all we could see was construction of miles of high-end resorts. Invest in Danang airport now!

Hoi An has a beach with a few hotels, and a town about 5km away. Our hotel, Ancient House, was a bit in between - perfectly walkable to town but not ideal in hindsight. It looked very nice and probably would have been in summer, but in practice the room had a stone floor and never felt warm enough to dry clothes, there wasn't enough hot water for a bath, people walking past our room were very noisy, etc. (Great breakfast for me though, and they did let us check in early.)

We walked down to town and it started to pour with rain. We lurched through the market, under plastic sheeting too low for me, let alone my brolly, and dived into somewhere on the riverfront for a tasty lunch. We weren't used to this sort of weather (apart from a freak half hour in HCMC)! We trudged round in the rain - crossed the river to an island with some submerged streets - and wondered what all the fuss was about.
But to appreciate Hoi An you have to get your head up. Some of the buildings are a bit shabby but lots of them have nice features, especially higher up. And although it is fairly tourist-ised, it's a lot calmer than HCMC and busier than Mui Ne - a good mix. (People will try to sell you things on the street or get you into their shops, but they won't try too hard. Again, a lot of empty cafes and restaurants though, but a few busy ones too. Nobody likes an empty room. We sat right at the front of one with just a couple of occupied tables, having a drink one evening, and by the time we'd finished the place was full while its neighbours stayed empty. We should have got the drinks for free!)

It's not a place with must-see sights, it's all about the general feel of the place. When the sun came out in force on our third day it got even better. It's so small you can get to know the whole place and see its few tourist attractions* in 24 hours.

* Very strange system. There are about 4 temples, 3 old family houses, 5 guild buildings etc. You can buy a ticket which gets you into 1 of each. I believe you used to be able to buy top-ups for individual buildings but no more. (You could buy multiple tickets but I doubt many people do.) What you really want is a recommendation for the best old house, temple etc, but this seems beyond the ability of guidebooks - maybe each writer only saw one! I didn't mind much as none of the ones we saw blew me away, but they're quick enough to visit that there must be a market for a comprehensive ticket.

The other local must-visit is My Son - bonus points for knowing that it's pronounced Mee Sun. This temple complex must have been stunning once, but unfortunately the US bombed it heavily during the war, believing that the Viet Cong were using it as a base. (Our guide said that his dad and uncle were VC and the VC were never there. Decide for yourselves!)

As a result you can comfortably see the whole site - apart from bits being restored - in the 90 minutes that a standard tour offers. Our hotel was offering one for about $40. For $6 each we got a coach there, guide, trip back on a boat with an admittedly what-you-pay-for bland lunch thrown in and a stop to see local craftsmen at work (none of whom had any kind of hard sell going). My Son is probably a bit disappointing if you hope for anything like Angkor but still well worth a trip if you're in the vicinity.

Now we're en route to Hue on a hot and sunny Christmas Eve. We could have got the bus from Hoi An but instead we've taxied back to Danang (much cheaper taxis can be arranged for the return!) to get the train, which climbs through the mountains and is supposed to have great views of the coast that the bus misses. It's only $6 a ticket and half of that is travel agency fee! (Note to self: don't buy more expensive tickets for longer journeys from agents.) As it turns out the views are pretty good in the first half hour (before we meet the road) that I'm happy to have paid a bit extra, but it's not unmissable.

Next stop: Hue for Christmas!