Hoi An to Danang to Hue, mostly by train

The train from Danang to Hue was great. Take a few beers and watch the local scenery go by. And the locals behind you eat their whole yellow chicken of questionable freshness that they had in a plastic bag on the wall of the train. By the smell of it, they may have regretted the choice later that day.

Note the fishing boats that look like little wicker baskets - how'd you like to head out to sea in one of those?

Hoi An - pigs

OK, time for one minor drawback of Hoi An. When we were checking into our hotel late at night, we noticed pigs being unloaded from a truck in baskets. They weren't too happy about it, and were letting that be known. We thought - hmm, that's interesting. Then, all night long, we heard each pig in turn letting out death wails as it was being killed at the slaughterhouse down the street.

Let me tell you, when you hear the sound of a pig being slaughtered, you won't soon forget it. It didn't make the pork we ate the next day taste any less fresh, though.

Hoi An - silk

Here you see the lifecycle of silkworms: from eggs to worms to cocoons to moths (or, alternatively, to be boiled as cocoons and turned into silk fabric for Sam to buy so she can have clothing tailor-made in Hoi An).

Hoi An - street food

A bit of street food we found in Hoi An: a pastry vendor, a (wonderful!) sandwich vendor that put meats and other nibblies into french bread that had been freshly toasted in a coal fired oven, a flan vendor. Also shown are someone chopping ice the old-fashioned way, and someone heating their street kettle with a wood fire. Oh, and some popcorn we had on the train - one of the few times I've seen an American food more packaged in Asia than it is in the states.

Hoi An - river

Hoi An - food

Some food and drink from around town - much of it famous traditional foods from Hoi An. Delectable! (and yes, the food at Mr. Dong was great, too)