Hoi An Ancient Town and Gia Long Tomb

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hoi An Ancient Town

   Hội An is the one old port in Vietnam that was neither flattened by war nor remodelled in concrete, and that is why people tolerate the crowds. The town lies on the Thu Bồn river a short way from the sea, about twenty-five kilometres south of Da Nang. From the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries it was a trading hub where Chinese, Japanese and later European merchants waited for the monsoon winds to turn. They left their marks in the architecture: yellow-walled Chinese assembly halls, narrow merchant houses with wooden beams, and the Japanese Covered Bridge, a small humped span that has become the town's emblem. The silt in the river eventually killed the harbour, and Da Nang took over the shipping. The decline saved the old streets, and UNESCO listed the town in 1999.

   Read the complete Hoi An Ancient Town write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hoi An Ancient Town is where the day begins. Next is My Son Sanctuary.

2. 2. My Son Sanctuary

   My Son is a valley ringed by green hills in Quang Nam province, and the first thing that strikes you is the quiet. After the traffic of Da Nang and the tourist streets of Hoi An, a muddy path leads into a hollow where red-brick towers lean out of the trees. The temples were built by the Cham, a seafaring Hindu kingdom that ruled much of central Vietnam for over a thousand years, and who used this valley as a place for royal ceremonies and worship of Shiva.

   Read the complete My Son Sanctuary write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   My Son Sanctuary comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gia Long Tomb.

3. 3. Gia Long Tomb

   Emperor Gia Long, who founded the Nguyen dynasty and reunified Vietnam in 1802, chose a spot for his tomb about eleven kilometres from Hué, and he chose it far from the city on purpose. The Thien Tho hills rise south-west of the capital, and his burial ground lies tucked among them, a long, quiet complex of terraces, stone courtyards and guarding statues of mandarins and elephants. He died in 1820. His queen is buried beside him, which was unusual enough that guides still mention it.

   Read the complete Gia Long Tomb write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 174 km into the recorded legs you reach Gia Long Tomb. Next is back through My Son Sanctuary.

4. 4. back through My Son Sanctuary

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete My Son Sanctuary write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through My Son Sanctuary, late in the day. Next is Hoi An Ancient Town.

5. 5. Hoi An Ancient Town

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hoi An Ancient Town write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Hoi An Ancient Town. That is the ride.