The 17-hour train journey is quite unspectacular. We sit undisturbed in a seat compartment until it gets dark and then move into the sleeping compartment for the night, which we share with two Vietnamese men and their son. The “beds” are designed more for smaller people, but are still okay, just a bit hard in typical Asian fashion 
. Unfortunately, Kerstin almost doesn’t sleep, so we arrive relatively tired at 5:20 am at the train station near the port city of Hoi An and take a cab to the hostel. Despite our early arrival, we are kind enough to check in straight away and get an extra 2 hours of sleep!!!
Hoi An is known as a former port city in the middle of Vietnam near the imperial city of Hue, but was “forgotten” in the 20th century, which is why it suffered virtually no damage during the Vietnam War. As a result, the old town still exists and is an exciting mix of cultures from Vietnam, China and Japan. During a city tour, we learn to distinguish between the different architectural styles, but we are particularly impressed by the thousands of lanterns in the city. Dozens of white, colorful, patterned and painted lanterns hang from every house and the whole city is bathed in a sea of color. Of course, this becomes even more impressive as night falls!!!
We also thought of something new. Hoi An is considered a kind of culinary capital of Vietnam, so we book a vegan street food tour through the old town. We are not disappointed!!! Our guide treats us to ten small and large dishes at seven different locations. From banh mi at a street snack bar to various sweet and savory snacks at the old market square, a traditional Chinese house where dumplings are still made by hand – which we also try out ourselves – to a classic restaurant with the rice noodles typical here, almost everything is included.
The next day we take a scooter again, explore the ruins of My Son, which were unfortunately badly damaged in the Vietnam War, spend the afternoon on the beach and the evening on a ride through the nearby rice fields. We also stroll along the river, which is also lit up at night with lanterns on small boats and lined with (sometimes extremely loud) bars.
After a “short” 3-hour bus ride the next morning, we reach the old imperial city of Hue…