I was very excited to discover that our hotel in Hoi An had a swimming pool - it was especially welcome since the weather was the hottest I have ever experienced in my life! We were located about half-way between the Cua Dai beach and Hoi An Old Town, which meant a lot of walking, which meant a lot of sweating and - because the town is very sandy and dusty and we were plastered in sun cream - meant we were constantly coated in dirt!

The Old Town backs onto the Thu Bon river, next to which is a bustling market. There were a lot of traditional Vietnamese buildings and culture, which looks heavily influenced by Chinese - the lanterns and writing are everywhere. There are several pretty little temples - I liked how they often use broken pottery to create the dragons, calligraphy and other decorations.

Undoubtedly the main attraction in Hoi An is SHOPPING - there are literally hundreds of small tailors and shoe-makers vying for business! In Old Town the shops are all similar and relatively discreet in style. One day there was classical music being piped through speakers in every street, which was quite strange but pleasant. There are also quite a few art galleries and shops with beautiful paintings of traditional Vietnamese scenes in many different styles but I managed to resist buying artwork - mainly because I had already spent so much money on clothes!

I had lots of fun choosing and fitting tailor-made suits, shirts, tops, shorts... They are amazing and so quick - I could choose any item of clothing from a magazine, catalogue or wherever, I could even ask them to copy something I was wearing or had with me. The prices varied in line with the quality and there was room for negotiation in some places.

One morning I dragged myself out of bed for a 5am bike ride to watch the sunrise on the beach - it was painful but absolutely worth it, so beautiful! The beach was packed with locals playing football and badminton and swimming in the sea - I couldn't believe it at that time of day!

Another day we took a trip to My Son - temples dating from the 4th to the 13th century and similar in style to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. However, My Son was largely destroyed during the Vietnam War so most of the temples are in ruins. Some parts are being reconstructed with the help of funding from foreign governments. Exactly how the temples were built in the first place remains a mystery - with bricks but apparently with no mortar.

We had a relaxed boat ride back into Hoi An, stopping on the way at Kim Bong island to see a wood carving workshop where they make furniture and all sorts of souvenirs. Back in town, it was time for final fittings for all the clothes I'd ordered and it was a relief to unload the millions and millions of Dong that I'd been carrying around to pay for it all!

Then a few of us went for a Vietnamese cooking lesson, which began with a tour of the market where I learned what to look for in a pineapple, aubergine, beansprout, etc... We made sweet and sour chicken soup, spring rolls, papaya salad, fish wrapped in banana leaf and fried morning glory with garlic - washed down with some Larue beer. Separately, I enjoyed the local speciality 'white rose shrimps', prawns and chilli in a rice paper dumpling.

That night we went out to celebrate Joanne's birthday, travelling around by bicycle in order to get across town more quickly. After a couple of drinks at the King Kong club we decided to move on; I was one of the last to leave and when I got outside I discovered that the staff hadn't taken kindly to us going elsewhere and some of the other girls had gotten into a row with them that culminated in the staff shouting that we were barred! Very strange.

On we went to the Salsa Club, where we were presented with a bottle of vodka for bringing such a big group. We were chatting to a new barman who was from Liverpool - he had done our tour a few months back and has been going back to the places he liked since then. It was a cool place and customers could choose the songs playing from iTunes on a computer next to the bar. We stayed there until around 4:30am and then sped across town on the bikes to catch sunrise on the beach again. We were there a bit earlier than the previous time so had longer to enjoy it - we spent a long time splashing around in the water and taking it all in - glorious!