Central Vietnam

Hoi An, Hue and Da Nang form a line less than a hundred kilometres long, and it is the stretch of Vietnam most likely to end up on a postcard. The old town's walls are turmeric yellow, said to draw out damp; at dusk the lanterns come on one by one and the whole street shifts from yellow to orange.

Hue moves slower. The citadel by the Perfume River lost most of itself to war, and the surviving parts were not over-restored, which is exactly why they read well. From Hue to Hoi An you can take the Hai Van Pass — that stretch has the best view on the entire coast.