So after another 13 hours on an overnight bus we happily arrived in hoi an, straight away we were pulled in by the scenery and the old fashioned building all set on the river, really was beautiful.
We stayed at a homestay and the people running it were really nice! We especially got on with the cleaner who seemed to burst into hysterical laughter whenever she caught sight of us (must be Ems sun burnt face). We were both quite tired so decided to have a little nap and then went out exploring. We were taken by surprise by the niceness of everyone, we really struggled to say no to people! Emma was whisked off to have her eyebrows threaded to the sounds of (no pain no gain) and (no hair no monkey!) I was practically on the floor laughing! And then unfortunately it was my turn! We needed to find an ATM and a lady offered to take us in return we said we'd visit her shop which turned out to be a highlight of our trip! And much to Emma's delight the lady (who was probably half my size) insisted on smacking my bum every time I said no! And I said no a lot! We promised we'd go back the next day and that was the only reason I think she let us go.
Hoi an is known for its tailoring and me and Emma couldn't resist having something made, Emma spent a while looking and finally decided on a very nice dress that the woman made in a few hours (very cool). We both decided we wanted to relax that night so went to a pub and sat with cider on a balcony over the river.
The next day we decided that we wanted to book a couple things first we wanted to rent a motorbike and ride to our next destination Hue and also we wanted to go kayaking on the river. Finding the motorcycle place was a struggle and both of us weren't coping very well with the heat but eventually we came across it and sorted it eventually!
The kayaking was amazing we saw an ad in a restaurant menu and asked about it and the owner came and walked is all the way there! ( we had dinner there that night! Was very tasty!) we spent 2 hours just messing around and looking at fish traps and old rickety houses Ems managed to fall in love with some ducks! Toward the end though Emma gave up and I had to tow her for a bit ( something I won't let go of for a while.) and that was our time in hoi an at an end,both sad to be leaving! our moterbike turned up in the morning and off we went.