 Central Vietnam
Central Vietnam is a strip of land located between the mountains of the Truong Son Range and the beaches of the South China Sea. Most visitors come here to appreciate Vietnam's heritage treasures, and there's much to see here. Central Vietnam is home to four of Vietnam's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Boats in Hoi An
Author: hienmtd (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
The journey through Central Vietnam takes you past wide expanses of paddy fields. Along the coast are fishing villages. Moving westward, you eventually the Truong Son Range which forms a natural wall separating Vietnam from Laos. Cutting across the range is the Hai Van Pass, a scenic corridor in Vietnam's highland.
The medieval city of Hoi An should delight heritage enthusiasts. Many of the houses built in the past centuries, some dating back to the 16th, can still be seen today. They were built by the different peoples that made the city home, including the Chinese, the Japanese and the French, and each brought with them their own architectural elements.
At the city of Hue, you should not miss a visit to the Citadel and Royal Tombs. They are lasting reminders of Hue's glorious past, a time when the city was the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 to 1945).
Not too far away, you can explore the even more ancient city of My Son, the center of the Cham civilization. Their temples, built in the 12th century but now in ruins, are scattered within an archaeological park. Many of these ruins bore scars from a more recent past, damage suffered during the Vietnam War.
If you are interested in Vietnam's recent history, you can also visit the villages of Hoang Tru and Kim Lien. These are where Ho Chi Minh spent much of his childhood. The former Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone - site of some of the bloodiest battles - is now also a tourist site.
A visit to Central Vietnam takes you back in time to revisit different chapters in the country's long history. From the ancient to the recent, history unravels before you as you travel this region.
Cham towers in Khuong My, Quang Nam Province
Author: Nguyen Dong Son (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
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Places of Interest in Central Vietnam
- Danang
One of the major port cities of Vietnam, located roughly midway down the country's coast.
- Hoi An
Major trading port from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
- Hue
The former imperial capital of Vietnam, today one of most important cultural and historical centers of the country.
- My Son
Religious center of the Kingdom of Champa from the 4th to the 13th centuries.
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