Danang is a big, sprawling, intensely commercial beach town — the city with the most vibrant economy in all of Vietnam, according to Binh, my local Vidotour guy. The thing to take pictures of is the remnant of the US air base here during the Vietnam War. And the beaches are very pretty but bleachy white. Everywhere you look it’s bleachy this and bleachy that. Baking heat, white sands…and last year at this time is was cool and rainy, I’m told.

But I’m staying in the five-star Palm Garden Beach Resort, which is right on Cua Dai Beach and close to the historical city of Hoi An, which is 2000 years old.

So this is really a Hoi An thing I’m doing here. Hoi An’s Old Town today and tomorrow and a lot of writing and lying around, and then a drive to Hue on Saturday before returning to Hanoi. Danang is fine but not what I really want or need…no offense.

Hoi An “is a city of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is located in Quang Nam province and is home to approximately 120,000 inhabitants. It is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Hoi An is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.”

Binh, my Vidotour homie, standing on Danang beach just north of where US troops did their big amphibious landing in 1965.

Huge lobby of Hoi An’s Palm Garden Resort.