The city of Hoi An was a very important stop on trade routes during the 16th and 17th centuries. In fact, much of the city’s early development was influenced by the different people who settled along the Bon River to participate in trade, including the Dutch, Chinese and Japanese. During the 17th century, there was a thriving Japanese quarter in Hoi An, which was located near the Japanese Bridge, which is still functional today. This is the only known covered bridge with a Buddhist Pagoda attached to one side. While on the bridge, we saw some Thai monks. Two of the monks were wearing hats, one a cowboy hat and the other a conical Vietnamese hat. A different monk asked to take a picture with me, which is something P’Poon found inappropriate, as they are not supposed to behave in such a touristy manner. I did not know it was frowned upon and, after taking pictures with several of their cameras, they took one with mine. We also visited the Old Quarter of Hoi An, which included a 7th generation home. This house has been forced to withstand many significant floods over the years, and in many the water level was over the heads of our tallest Fulbrighters. Like the city, many of the oldest houses were impacted by the architectures of the different cultures that settled in Hoi An 200-300 years ago. Today, however, the city only has about 120,000 residents, making it one of the smaller cities we will visit in Vietnam. Nestled along a river, the city is incredibly beautiful. After a morning of group sight-seeing, our group was allowed to spend some time exploring Hoi An independently. I found it to be an incredibly relaxing place, with perfectly wonderful people. The weather was a bit stifling yesterday, and the hours spent at the pool were just what I needed to refill on energy for this last week. I highly recommend that people add this city, as well as the Life Resort, to any trip they might make to Vietnam.