After lying in longer than planned we eventually got up and headed out to rent our bicycles for twenty thousand dong next door to our guesthouse. After checking them over we headed north towards one of the beach areas around Hoi An known as An Bang. The traffic was light here so you did not have to worry about motorbikes coming at you left, right and centre. The way was flat and we were soon riding amongst the flat rice fields which looked very dry and barren at the moment. We arrived at the beach within 15 minutes and were soon having to part with money to park our bicycles. Always finding someway to charge you for something these cunning Viet! With our bicycles all chained and secure we headed onto the beach which was somewhat disappointing compared to Da Nang. This beach was quite narrow and crowded with sun loungers and umbrellas. There were already a few westerners on the loungers and some in the choppy sea. Even from here you could see and the waves actually crashing as they broke close to the waterline. We bet the rip tides around this area are lethal and could easily catch you unawares. The way the water was being sucked out considerably far made Laura a little nervous as it reminds her of tsunamis.

As soon as we stepped on the hot sand we were getting numerous shouts from different ladies trying to us on their loungers. The deal seemed to be that they were free if you agreed to use their restaurant later. Reluctantly we agreed as we are both fed up of sitting on the sand as it gets everywhere and the umbrella does provided essential shade from the strong sun.

We enjoyed 'riding' the waves and sunbathing whilst shrugging off the occasional hawker. Some western lads were challenging some local boys in a game of football to our right whilst the beach was steadily filling with holidaymakers. We kept our promise and had some food at the restaurant nearby. It was a little overpriced as you would expect but we did get the sun loungers included so all was good.

After few hours it was time to hit the road back to town and we stopped off in town for, yes you guessed it, another fresh beer. We were trying to do some research on the iPad but the glare was making it impossible. We gave up on that idea and headed back to the hotel to discuss our next plan of action. On arriving back at the room I could not find our air conditioning remote as it as set to Baltic. Laura was convinced I misplaced it but I swear I had put on the bed after I turned it off before we left for the beach. My suspicions were reinforced as the trip switch for the air conditioner had been flicked off. Someone has obviously been in the room and taken the remote. On enquiring at reception the girls confirmed they and to our room to give our remote to another guest whose own remote had broken. Charming I thought, although I don't mind someone borrowing our remote but it was more entering our room without permission. The thought does make you a little uneasy especially if you do leave stuff of value in there, which we never do. So we had to make do with Siberian temperatures in the room for now which from our experience, can make you quite ill as you jump from varying degrees of temperature.

We headed out in the evening and tried some more local food including the 'White Rose'. This is like a very thin rice noodles casing (similar to thin ravioli) stuffed with shrimp and the way it is presented on the plate makes it resemble a rose. They were very light and tasty in a sauce similar to sweet chilli which gave it a very Thai feel. After eating we enjoyed a fresh beer at a riverside bar and got talking to a friendly New Zealand couple sat on the table next to us. They ran a music company together and were folk musicians themselves and it was obvious they travelled as much as possible when breaks from work allowed. We explained our plans and were excited for us on visiting Australia but reiterated the need to make the short hop to New Zealand. We promised we would and swapped contact details just in case we met in the future.

Then we carried on our walk and checked out a couple of the backpacker bars for good deals. One was offering unlimited free rum and coke between 9-10pm so we couldn't pass up this chance. After our first free drink we ordered a cocktail (BOGOF of course) and soon enough we asked for a second round of unlimited rum and coke. Funnily enough we got refused an were informed we had to pay after the first one. This sort of goes against the principle of unlimited we felt but I guess in Vietnam this is common practice. I told them there should be an asterisk with 'terms and conditions apply' on the sign but they didn't get my meaning. With a little persistence we managed to eat our free drinks as the offer promised. On a more pleasant note, Laura got talking to one of the bar girls who works for a school in Da Nang. She explained there may be some teaching opportunities for us to help the children with their English. Although our time was tight now we may pop in for a day as it would likely be a rewarding experience. We did learn the kids were seventeen, which would a little daunting, not exactly kids at that age are they!

Soon enough, we moved onto another bar which was getting very busy. They basically erect more tables into the road as more punters enter. This bar still had the sign, " free cocktail for women, free bucket for men". Enquiring at the bar the bar an explained that promotion had finished. Obviously it was a little too much work to wipe the damn thing off the board. We left a little frustrated and headed back over the bridge where we were stopped by westerners handing out flyers of a bar called 'why not' on the edge of town. The girl who gave us the leaflet was from Edinburgh with a thick Scottish accent and she explained their affiliation with the bar advertising the free drinks. Laura, in nice way, vented her frustrations with the girl saying they shouldn't false advertise like that. I was just thinking to myself, this is Vietnam, trading standard laws don't apply here and it is basically anything goes to make a quick buck. We agreed to try out their bar which turned out to be a considerable walk east through town. You could hear the bass from the music a little way off and the area seemed fairly residential, bet the locals love it.

We had a few drinks and enjoyed the western music whilst chatting to strangers of various nationalities including American, Norwegian and English. We even bumped into a girl who worked as a healthcare assistant in Basingstoke. So obviously her and Laura got talking about the usual NHS stuff. The bar was a small place with two floors with the actual bar itself being downstairs. For some strange reason they had two rather large pool tables on both floors which practically consumed most of the available space. It wasn't long before the not so classy women were dancing on the tables, things pretty much went downhill from there.

The bar advertised again free whisky and coke till twelve am and the Scottish girl said it was definitely unlimited... It wasn't the case though on arrival as the grumpy older Viet women behind the bar soon said. The idea here was you pay eighty thousand kip and you get unlimited spirits till three am... Being the bugetitis backpackers we are I got stamped and then ferried drinks upstairs where me and Lou shared them. After I went downstairs to the bar with a fellow traveller just after two am, the grumpy older women grabbed our cups then when we asked for drinks she said 'no you have no cups' (the deal is you keep your cup... Despite having 'paid' stamped several times up both my forearms). I headed back up empty handed and this women's behaviour was a step too much for Laura who was fed up with being scammed... she dragged me back down and spoke to the women who wouldn't budge... I'm not sure what she then said but shortly after she came back with two glasses of drink and the night continued until we were too tired and drunk to be away from our beds any longer. We headed home buying snacks on route before passing out on one of our two big beds...