To Hoi An by Way of Danang

 On Wednesday, we checked out of our hotel and walked to a Buddhist temple.  On the way, Tom showed us a mangosteen, a fruit that most had never heard of.  The temple had been the home of the first Buddhist monk to burn himself alive in protest of the South Vietnamese government's policies during the war.  The car that drove him to Saigon was exhibited.  Right at the temple was the dock for dragon boats: excursion boats with dragon heads at the prow.  We boarded one and took a cruise down the river.  On landing, we were met by our bus, which headed off toward Hoi An.. On the way, we stopped where a man was extracting the oil from eucalyptus leaves.   Lunch was at a nice restaurant along the lagoon at Lang Co.  When we got to Danang, we took a walk over the bridge by the harbor.  Then we stopped for a while at My Khe Beach, better known to Americans as China Beach.  

At Hoi An, Tom took some of us on an introductory walk into the Old Town.  That evening, we got onto electric vehicles for a ride out to the countryside, where we had dinner at a restaurant called Reu--probably the best meal of the whole trip.