Hue and Hoi An, old imperial cities.

After a magnificent cruise around Halong Bay, where we were lucky enough to have three sunny days in a sparsely occupied boat and had a magnificent trip, I will move on to the next stop. We took the overnight train back in Hanoi to Hue. Hue is an old imperial city which was heavily bombed by the USA, however there are still a few temples up in the Citadel complex and some are being slowly rebuilt. It was an interesting stop since the city is famous for its food variety - I was not impressed however since it is based in meat and not fish, but it was tasty and good, as in the whole of Vietnam -.
Although it was cloudy when we visited the Citadel, I was still impressed by the harmony of the complex and the artistic and beautiful layout and interior of the remaining temples, specially the ceramic tiled details of columns, roofs, statues, ... Then we had an hour cruise on the Perfume river (that is its name), a great way to finish a sightseeing day. Great place.
Nex day we took the train to Danang and on to Hoi An. From the taxi Danang looks like a very modern tourist city, with loads of fancy new built hotels, parks, colourful neons and night-lit atractions, and also quite a few big hotel chains, such as Sheraton, Crowne Plaza, .. Why on earth don't we hear more of it? Come on West, Vietnam is rising!
Hoi An is delightful, another old port/city turned amazing tourism destination, a place where you would like to linger on for a few days eating, walking around its beautiful old streets, bridges, riverfront, going on excursions on a bike or motorbike to the beach and surroundings. One day and a half felt short, the place was really inviting and I felt like in Cartagena de Indias, where I spend a whole week just in the old town enjoying the place.
We went on a morning visit to My Son, the old capital by the Cham, on of the old Vietnamese empires, which was again heavily bombed by the USA, but which is also being painstakingly slowly rebuilt. Very interesting to see these old temples dated for over a thousand years ago, and specially in the jungle surroundings with streams of water running around. There were lots of tourists though; there are lots of tourists coming to Vietnam, it is not a secret, well done because it's easily understandable. And we finished the day with another mouthwatering dinner at a fancy Vietnamese restaurant. I realize I will food here badly.