The Anthem Philatelist

Hoi An Ancient town is located in Viet Nam’s central Quang Nam Province, on the north bank near the mouth of the Thu Bon River . The inscribed property comprises 30 ha and it has a buffer zone of 280 ha. It  is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a small-scale trading port active the 15th to 19th centuries  which traded widely, both with the countries of Southeast and East Asia and with the rest of the world. Its decline in the later 19th century ensured that it has retained its traditional urban tissue to a remarkable degree. The town reflects a fusion of indigenous and foreign cultures (principally Chinese and Japanese with later European influences) that combined to produce this unique survival.  The town comprises a well-preserved complex of 1,107 timber frame buildings, with brick or wooden walls, which include architectural monuments, commercial and domestic vernacular structures, notably an open market and a ferry quay, and religious ...

After an hour plane ride from Ho Chi Minh City, we arrived at the beautiful resort city of Da Nang .  It took us another 45 minutes to arrive at our hotel in Hoi An city - the Hoi An Historic hotel.     It is the first hotel in this town which 5 minute walk to the ancient town center.  The trip to Hue city , which was the former capital of unified Vietnam in 1802 was a three and a half hour ride with several stops- the French and American bunkers in the previous wars, a marble museum and restaurant, before arriving at the citadel. Hue was not only a political  but also cultural and religious center under the Nguyen dynasty until 1945.   The Perfume river - which we traversed winding through the capital, the Imperial city and the Inner city gives this unique feudal capital a setting of great natural beauty.