2 Best Sights in The Central Coast, Vietnam

Erected in the 1600s, these are the few remaining tombs of Hoi An's old Japanese community. Although the tombs—tombstones, really—are not nearly as grand as those in Hue, it's worth the trek if only to see the "suburbs" of Hoi An. En route you'll encounter families sitting in their front yards and field workers harvesting rice. Buried in the first tomb along the dirt path clearly visible in the front yard of a family home is a Japanese merchant named Masai. About another 1,500 feet ahead is the most famous of Hoi An's Japanese tombs, the burial place of a Japanese merchant named Yajirobei, who died in 1647. Perched right in the middle of a working rice field, his tomb has an almost supernatural feel. The main tombs are easily accessible by bicycle---just head along Hai Ba Trung Street and go north of Old Town. To find the tombs, keep your eyes peeled for the white-and-yellow signs positioned along the right side of the road. (Cars are not recommended because the tombs are at the end of narrow, rugged paths.)

Continue 5 km (3 miles) to the end of Hai Ba Trung for a refreshing dip and lunch at one of the bohemian seaside shacks on An Bang beach.

Stretching over 202 acres, 27 km (8 miles) northwest of Dong Ha, this somber memorial site marks the final resting place for over 10,000 Vietnamese soldiers and civilians who lost their lives defending and maintaining the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Vietnam War.

Each tomb is marked with the word "liet si" ("martyr"); some are adorned with pictures or sculptures of the deceased, and others lay empty, a mark of respect to one of the 300,000 soldiers that remain missing in action to this day. Along the way to Truong Son you'll pass Con Thien Firebase, an old French bunker located 1.5 km (1 mile) down a dirt track to the east of the road, barely visible through the rubber plantation that has taken over the area.