We arrived at Hoi An bus station and had a guy standing there holding a sign with Livy's name on it. The hotel we had booked had come to pick us up. Ah heaven, reminded me of how much I took it for granted in Aus. You might be surprised by the fact that I said 'hotel', well its not a real one, were still in dorms but most places in Hoi An name themselves hotels. Although we do get an all you can eat breakfast included plus a pool, so maybe a hotel but just sharing my room with 5 other people. We checked in and headed out for a wander around the town and to grab some dinner. I was quite surprised to how empty it was, didn't seem like there was many people around. After a verrrrry long walk, we stopped off in a place called Bamboo restaurant. The language barrier was quite hard but think we got there in the end. They did amazing veggie food, I had baked eggplant with fried cauliflower/broccoli and spinach. The group loved the food too, although Kate's mash potato was like the instant mash we used to get for school dinners. We tried to head to the old town to find a bar to drink in but it was like a ghost town, we couldn't understand where every one was. We walked past 'Why not? Bar', it was pretty small and the PR's were dragging us in quite desperately so we gave it a miss. Earlier we read in Lonely Planet that 'Q bar' was meant to be good so we headed there. Soon to find out that their recommendation wasn't so right on this night. There was a smoke machine on the 2 metre dance floor with a quite large butch lady (trying to be PC), sitting the wrong way round on a chair and had another lady giving her a lap dance. We sat down at a table and within 3 minutes all agreed to leave. We could hear music in the distance so followed the noise and ended up at a backpacker bar. It wasn't the best but it seemed relatively normal so we hung out there for the rest of the evening. That nights sleep was well overdue, I slept so well!

It was a struggle to wake up the next day but I just kept remembering the buffet breakfast; which didn't disappoint. Liv, Christa and Nelen went shopping in town, Hoi An is known for its tailor made clothes so they were in their element. I couldn't afford any and Kate had a Skype date so we didn't bother. Neither did Tom and Basty but they rented motorbikes and went out to explore. The morning was pretty slow just did admin bits and waited for my breakfast to settle. I was determined to go for a run even though it was raining. It was really nice to do in the end, went better then my attempt at running in Surfers Paradise in Australia. I got to see a different part of the town, got some good pictures along the way and even went to the beach. Beach in the rain isn't so nice though. It was an interesting run though, half way through the pathway stopped so I was forced to share the road with the motorbikes and cows, even a pack of cows at one point! After an excruciatingly ran back, which was definitely harder, I showered up and Kate and I went for a late lunch. We ordered some Pho (noodle soup) and took out the iPad for some catch up time on The Wire. Kate's still on season 3 though so we were re-watching that one, through me off a little because I'm a season ahead now. After our delicious lunch, we took a walk through the old town and seemed like we caught it at the right time today. The sun was just setting and the streets were buzzing with market stalls, people sitting outside restaurants and food delicacies on each corner. The best part was the lanterns, they were hanging from every tree, lighting up pathways. Also, there was women and children selling floating candles by the river in little bowl lanterns. Kate bought one and we went to the bridge, hung it over and let it go. It was very cute, we stood and watched while it floated down the river, so romantic!! We obviously took a ridiculous amount of photos. We popped into a few material shops and tailors to have a mooch at the clothes. I was still adamant that I couldn't afford new clothes so I was walking around with my eyes clothes but Kate was slightly swayed and started considering the idea. I dragged her out the shops and brought her home. We sat in the hotel bar while we waited for dinner. It was happy hour so cocktails were buy one get one free; we thought one wouldn't hurt. We cheers'd to our 'Kate and Alex's afternoon of fun' and headed to meet everyone at an amazing Indian Restaurant. It was nice to all be back together for dinner, and the food was incredible. Proper Indian food, huge naan bread, my vegetable jalfrezi even had paneer cheese in it, nom nom nom. We were all commatosed after the meal so we just went back and got an early night.

The next day, the girls wanted to go tailor shopping again, still resisting the temptation, I didn't go. The weather had improved slightly and there was a peak of sun behind light clouds so I wanted to make the most of it. I went to join Tom and Basty at the beach but before I could enjoy my day, I had to have a word with reception because my laundry was a day late. Normally they do next day laundry, well mine never came back. Turns out reception have no idea where my clothes are so they get some man to drive me to find it. We arrive at an empty house with two women in it surrounded by bags of washing. I then have to start sifting through the bags to find mine, after about 20 odd bags I FINALLY did. Unfortunately, they had only half washed it and it was still soaking wet. They pointed for me to sit on the bed frame on the floor (no mattress) and just said '5 minutes, 5 minutes'. About 25 minutes later they gave me my washing. The hotel guy had left by now so one of the women had to drop me back. That was my first experience on the back of an Asian motorcycle! I rented a bicycle and made my way to the beach, alot easier then running but I did try to pedal quite past so that it was exercise. I found the guys and hung out at the beach for the afternoon. Meeting all the little ladies that try to sell you souvenirs and snacks, Ann was our favourite. At one point, there was an Asian invasion on the beach and about 40 Asian people were having a group photo, screaming and finding the smallest thing so funny. Then a western guy gets in their photo and they love it, they start playing tug n war with him. Bizarre. It didn't take them long to take pictures of us laying there, especially when I went to the toilet, they were happily snapping away. We headed back into town to meet the girls, the guys had motorbikes so they went ahead, although they seemed surprised to how close behind them I was. Must've been pedalling fast after all! The girls hadn't finished getting measured up yet so we went across the road to have a 'banh mi', which is a Vietnamese sub. Smashes 'Subway' out of the park any day. It was beautiful. After the girls stressful day of picking fabrics, they wanted to go to a wine bar a few roads down. It was called White Marble wine bar, very French but with an oriental twist to it. We naughtily had a glass of red wine, the cheapest off course but it was very tasty and we enjoyed pretending to be sophisticated rather than skanky travellers. I ended up having a nap once we got home, which meant I was late getting showered and ready but it was okay because I wasn't hungry anyway so didn't need dinner. The boys didn't go for the meal either so I had a few happy hour cocktails with them. Once we had rounded up the troops, we went to Volcano bar, it was a dive but did an open bar for £3 each so was worth it. I think there was 5 people in there when we arrived. Shocking. Ah well, we drank some drinks, bumped into a Wendel we had met on the Ha Long bus and had an uncomfortable encounter with a stag do. After a while enough was enough, we decided to cut the night and head home. Finished off in style by a motorbike taxi off course. When we got back in the room Christa and Helen were still asleep because they left a bit before us. Kate and I took advantage of this and decided to use a random roll of masking tape to trap her in her bottom bunk bed. Attaching her to the mattress then making jail bars around the bed frame. Haha, luckily she did find it funny.

Awoken by a very sore head. The alcohol they gave us last night was definitely home brewed. I managed to crawl for breakfast then crawl back to my bed for an ep of The Wire. The girls were going back to the tailors AGAIN so it was another solo day for me. Check out wasn't until noon so I stayed in my hungover pit for as long as I could, the cleaners were literally pulling the sheets from under me trying to get me to start packing. I managed to get to the pool, found a sun lounger and spent the afternoon catching up on my tanning. It's been over a week since its been warm, my tan has already gone. The time had come to leave the lovely French feeling town of Hoi An. I was meeting everyone at the travel shop to catch the bus. Our hotel was running a shuttle bus so I hopped on that but he dropped me directly at the bus station instead of the shop. I had no idea how to contact the girls or where the travel shop was. I tried to explain to the Vietnamese guy but he just kept shaking his head and pointing at the bus. Ahhh frustrating. Well luckily they turned up because word had somehow got back that I was waiting there. I managed to get a bottom side chair this time and it was much better. A little way into the journey, Nelen and I took a Valium each to help us sleep, we soon stopped at a services and we both felt a bit funny, more high then tired. After standing there giggling with each other we decided to get back on the bus. We took another one later in the journey because you were allowed to take two at a time, it clinked me out until we arrived. Sadly it had the opposite effect on Nelen and kept her up all night!

We loved the cosmopolitan, French feeling that Hoi An town had to offer. It was really nice to rent bikes, see some local culture, meet the people, stay in a hotel, eat in nice restaurants for super cheap; and just feel like we were on holiday rather then backpackers. Vietnam is definitely alot cheaper then Thailand and its very much appreciated. Starting to feel like I'm seeing alot more of people's culture here too. Can't wait to discover the rest of the countries hotspots. Next stop Nha Trang.