We travelled to Hoi An on the plushest overnight bus we have been on so far! Take a look at the Nha Trang photos to see it.

Hoi An is what you'd call a picture postcard town. It has been labelled a UNESCO world heritage site so the properties in this zone have the same kind of restrictions as listed buildings in the UK. If any building work is necessary the goverment are required to pay 50% of the costs.Now a tourist attraction it was once a bustling trade centre occupied by the Chinese on one side and the Japanese on the other linked together by an ancient Japanese bridge. Nha Trang floods every year in Sept/Oct so we went into one of the houses to see the trap door used to hoist the furniture from the ground floor to the first floor.

We actually hired a town guide for a couple of hours to walk us around and point out places of particular historical interest but we were a little concerned when she turned up looking like she was about to give birth - she had to sit down an awful lot! I'm not sure that maternity leave is on the menu here. I asked her what she did during the floods so she said they all move upstairs and she goes to work through the streets on a boat - how cool is that!

Whilst Itravelling through SE Asia I keep seeing women grooming each other. Initially I thought it might be some kind of friendly nit control but in Hoi An I've seen very respectable ladies at it who I'm sure do not have such an issue. As we had a local guide I decided it was time I solved this mystery and guess what - they are only pulling out each others grey hairs!!! When you look closely you can even see that they are using tweezers. So that's why no-one has grey hair here.

As you walk up the side of the river you are constantly accosted by old ladies with blackened teeth asking you to take a boat ride with them to see a fishing village. As it was so cheap we decided to give it a go but I have to say it was not the most riveting of outings - we went so slowly (and that was even with David helping) that in our 1/2 an hour we managed to do about 200m. There was a young women on the boat who was quite interesting telling me about her wedding day and what she does for a living etc.

On our last day we decided to hire a scooter for the day and visit Marble Mountain and China Beach 30 minutes north of Hoi An. We understood from the guide books that marble mountain was where the VC watched the US based on China Beach but it was actually much more than that. As we were nearing Marble Mountain we decided to stop for some water and 2 girls pulled up next to us asking if we needed any help. David asked them for directions and they told us to follow them as they lived in the village at the bottom of the mountain. Not only did they lead us there but they also let us leave our bike with them and covered it with cardboard so we didn't burn our bums when we got back on it. The town at the base of the mountain is full of stonemasons all making huge marble statues so the whole area has a film of white dust everywhere. Marble Mountain is a place of worship and has these amazing caves containing statues, temples and shrines. The caves were so atmospheric because of the way the light was flooding in. Take a look at the photos to see what I mean.

After the mountain we decided to go and take a look at China Beach notorious because it is where the US marines landed to start their occupation of Vietnam, where the US military came for R & R and allegedly the place where the anti communist South Vietnamese people fearing reprisals were launched to sea, for an extortionate fee, to become the Vietnamese boat people. You get the feeling from the way the land is being divided up that it may be on the verge of being developed into a tourist hot spot. We had heard that the beaches are amazing here and fortunately managed to find a kind of sand track to take us down there but we got such a shock as we drove nearer to the beach as we were driving through a village that had essentially been raised to the ground - everywhere was rubble and burnt down trees - it was so eery. I have since googled China beach to find out some more information about this village but to no avail. I can only assume that as the area was the scene of some quite fierce fights between the US and the Vietnamese that it was destroyed during these battles. The US were after all famous for their 'Search and Destroy' tactics.

The other thing that Hoi An is famous for are tailors and shoe makers. David saw a pair of boots he liked but as they did not have the correct soles anywhere in Hoi An he couldn't have them made. He was extremely disappointed and a little peeved telling the shopkeeper that they should not display goods they are unable to make! I on the other hand did order something and put myself through so much stress that I wish I hadn't bothered

Shop 1 : I gave them a green dress to copy which they assured me would be no problem - the next day I went to pick up the copy but instead was given the original as they were unable to copy it!

Shop 2 : I got a pair of flip flops for next to nothing - they were OK - hurray!

Shop 3 : I ordered a bikini, a pair of white linen trousers and a t-shirt dress. The whole experience was horrendous with fitting after fitting and a bikini that bore no resemblance to what I originally asked for.

Shop 4 : I ordered a pair of silver flip flops which on collection bore no resemblance to the original pair and were covered in glue. By now I'd got steam coming out of my ears! She got the message and told me to come back later when true to her word I collected a perfect pair of sandals. Would it have not been easier to do that in the first place.