The crazy local bus from Danang to Hoi An was the most terrifying journey we have experienced so far, and not just for the driving. The driving was absolutely insane, I can't even describe how bad it was! Not only that, the ticket man had it in for us tourists, and would not accept our 20,000 Dong each for the ticket (the actual price written on the bus) and kept demanding for 30,000 Dong each. So every so often he tried to chuck us off the moving bus...grabbing hold of Chris' bag and his t-shirt, tugging at him towards the door. We felt so uncomfortable the whole way, nearly an hours journey. If it hadn't been for Tam drumming into our heads to refuse to pay more and stand our ground, or in this case stay seated with our bags, we definitely would have been ripped off. The fact that in theory he was only asking for an additional 30p was not the point!
I have never been so eager and relieved to get off a bus, and thankfully we made it in one piece.
Seeing on pocketearth that the guesthouse we would be staying in wasn't so far, we decided to walk. A little off the beaten track was 'Vesper Homestay', a lovely four story house, with a very welcoming Vietnamese family and their 1 year old daughter, called Tina, who was adorable. Every evening she was full of life, and so happy to be cuddled and picked up.
We spent the evening wandering around the Ancient Town, in search of a tailor. The Ancient Town of Hoi An is beautiful. Very small streets lit up with hundreds of lanterns. The buildings are very 'French', with wooden shutters, and painted pastel yellows. We visited four tailors, researching prices and materials, and generally getting a feel for the shop. We made a sensible decision to soak up and think about it over night, before rushing into agreeing anything. But we left feeling very excited about getting some clothes tailor made.

We decided to go with 'An tailors', for Chris to get a two piece black suit made, and I would get two dresses made. So we spent the morning here, being measured, choosing materials, and clearly explaining and providing pictures of the items we would like to be made.
We had hired bicycles for the day and bought a five pass ticket allowing us to visit five different sights throughout the city. It was a beautiful sunny day so it was lovely cycling around this wonderful city.
We stopped first at the Japanese Covered Bridge, then Quang Trieu Assembly hall, the Old House of Tanky, Phuc Kien Assembly hall, and ended at Quan Cong Temple. I actually enjoyed the cycling around more than the sights. They didn't take long and were lacking information, so without a guide we couldn't learn much.
Recommended on Tripadvisor was 'Reaching Out', a tea house ran by hearing impaired local Vietnamese. We opted for coffee however, and I chose a local coffee bean. It was beautifully presented and a great experience.
We met up with Lynzie and Gary for dinner and drinks, and to enjoy Hoi An at night. The Hoi An specialties we tried included rice pancakes, some crispy and some fresh, stuck together and dipped into a sauce; Cao lầu, a dish of rice noodles, closer in texture to pasta, topped with slices of roast pork, dough fritters, lots of fresh herbs and veggies; and White rose (banh bao vac), a type of shrimp dumpling made from translucent white dough bunched up to look like a rose.

We took a half day tour to My Son, the ruins from ancient temples. Having been to Siem Reap, the temples were really nothing special, however they were set hidden in the Mountain valleys, so the views were great. Our tour guide had us crying of laughter at some points, he was barmy, and made the trip a memorable one.
For the journey back we took a boat down the river, enjoying Hoi An from a different view point. We stopped off across the river from the Ancient City in a village specifying in wood carvings. From chopsticks to boats, they could carve anything from wood. Their work was to perfection - so talented.
We had a fitting in the afternoon at An's. Chris' two piece was perfect. He went for a traditional Vietnamese style lining which looked even better than he expected. He would just need the shirt taking in slightly. Also, having spoken to Gary, who was having his initials embroided under the collar of his suit, Chris asked for the same. Since the suit had already been made it was only possible to get the embroidery on the inside pocket, which was fine. My smart evening dress fitted perfectly - it was the best feeling trying on a dress and have it fit your body shape to perfection (of course this is what you expect having something tailor made!). A rare feeling! The summer evening dress I had made would need some more alternations, so we were to go back later on that evening.
We found another Tripadvisor recommendation, the 'Banh Mi Queen', aka THE BEST Banh Mi! With some time to spare, we wandered around the markets, and Chris decided he would get a traditional Vietnamese style jacket tailor made for our bike journey tomorrow (Hoi An to Hue, via the Hai Van pass). Especially since he would be riding a Russion Minsk, so need the Hammond jacket to match! We found a very bubbly, outgoing lady called Kim, who was more than happy to tailor make this jacket in 12 hours, ready for collection the next morning.
Then back to An's...oh dear...what a disaster...my dress was nearly done, still needed a few tweaks, but Chris' embroidery was awful! His perfect tailor made suit had been ruined by some horrendously bad hand stitching, which, no offence Vanessa, looked like his mum had stitched his name in for school or something! Chris decided it needed to be taken off, which of course would take some time, so it meant having to come back tomorrow morning to collect it.
So we took our frustration out on beers and pool with Lynzie and Gary. It was Gary's birthday so the drinks flowed and we introduced him to his first Shisha.

We left Hoi An having gone back to An tailors for the final time to collect Chris' suit and my dresses. Although, having removed the embroidery, they had managed to stitch up the inside pocket! Of course, not forgetting to also collect Chris' Vietnamese style silk jacket, and a Banh Mi from the Banh Mi Queen...we were ready to hit the road...