Hoi An, another town on the tourist trail

Hoi An is a pretty little town, another UNESCO World Heritage sight, being a good example of a well preserved French Colonial Town. It also has some gorgeous beaches but you'll see from later photos that the beach was never a contender for a visit.

It's tourist orientated to the point of thinking that it exists purely for the tourist trade.

It has a small theatre which of course I had to photograph for Fiona:

Charming little streets:

And the most famous tailor in the town:

And the usual bike parking issues:

It has a thriving market which unlike the rest of the town is used on the whole by the locals:

But it couldn't be an Indochina town without the usual number of temples:

But there is at least an art gallery:

Showcasing the work of local artists:

Getting flowers home for the weekend:

It's all really pretty.

And it seems that this chap was instrumental in designing many of the buildings in Hoi An and pressing for its preservation:

I was asked who the statue was of and I ventured Brian Blessed. In fact he's a Polish architect whose name escapes me.

I had been looking for ages for an acceptable tie featuring bicycles as I know my s-i-l would like one, but I was less than impressed with these I found. In fact they were the only bike ties I found in all my travels. 

I was disappointed not to find a suitable one as the shop wasn't short of stock:

Still, there were plenty of sights to visit:

And when you were tired of the sights you could just stroll round the pretty streets:

But my plan to visit the gorgeous local beaches was thwarted by:

2 whole days of it so there was only 1 answer:

Followed by:

Not what I had planned, but not a bad compromise!