From Da Nang I took a day trip on the back of a Honda motor scooter (driven by a young man named Van) to Hoi An, the Marble Mountains and China Beach.
Actually Hoi An was a place I had never even heard of up to then, but in Da Nang I was told that it was a very historical town and a popular tourist attraction, so I took up Van’s offer and went on his tour.

On a street in Hoi An
Hoi An turned out to be a pleasant place with lots of flowers on the streets, and with numerous restaurants and tailors’ shops catering to the tourists.
I didn’t go into any of the historic buildings, but just had a look around and had a delicious lunch of fried fish with garlic at a restaurant called Faifo that Van recommended.
Actually there were two restaurants called Faifo. The one I ate at was near the Japanese Bridge, and they were very anxious not to be confused with the other one, which was a few blocks away and supposedly not as good. (That’s what they said, and so did Van, but I think he was their cousin or something.)

The Japanese Bridge in Hoi An
Hoi An is at 15° 53′ 0″ North, 108° 20′ 0″ East.
The photos from 1995 are ones that my son Nick took a few days later
when he visited Hoi An. I revised the text in 2017.
Next: The Ho Chi Minh Express
Lovely little side trip, Don. Thank you for sharing.
Leslie
Guides like Van always have ‘cousins’ that run restaurants, in my experience, but that doesn’t mean the restaurants aren’t good, as their reputation relies on word of mouth so they can’t afford to disappoint clients with poor recommendations 🙂