Hoi An - Hue (01.07.2012): Today we spent the morning in Hoi An. First of all we made some purchases. After visiting the Handicraft Museum, we couldn't leave Hoi An without buying a lantern. Thankfully it folds up! It cost only 60,000 dong (£2.00, we are millionaires here - it is strange drawing out 4 million dong). We also ended up buying two Hammocks (Andy you are in luck this time). There was also a wood carving man making 'lucky' faces out of Bamboo which Adam also felt the need to buy. I got tempted by a cat and monkey whistle - 2 for $1.. Still not quite sure why I got them but the lady selling them was too nice.

We saw a music and dance show at the museum before heading to the riverside and taking our very own private boat trip along the river. Our boat stopped for us to take photos of a local fisherman throwing his net out - the fisherman then joined us on our boat and gave Adam a quick go which he loved. Some interesting sights from the boat (see one photo in particular).

After lunch we headed back to our hotel for our 2pm 'open tour' bus to Hue. We were unfortunately mis-sold the 'tour'. There was a few tourists and the rest were all locals (who I dare bet had not paid anything near us). They got on at various stops, piled various fruits and vegetables in the hold of the bus, smoked and were extremely noisy. The 'stop at the Marble Mountains' was just that, a stop to load on more locals and no chance to leave the bus for a photo. The Mountains as viewed from the bus were pretty spectacular. At least we made it to Hue! We arrived at around 6pm. The bus driver first of all stopped to let lots of scammers on the bus who hassled us about hotels. We again stood our ground that we had one booked and eventually managed to break free from them. You can't walk two steps without getting hassled for one thing or another. It really can ruin things a bit as you can't stand and look at anything. It is a shame. Much safer on a bicycle which is what we plan on doing tomorrow.

Our hotel is called "Jade Hotel", yes I didn't pick it by accident. It's nice but I miss the vibe of hostels. Weirdly the hotels are cheaper here though. We only have one full day in Hue so it's an early night tonight and an early start tomorrow. We have nipped out for food and got sucked in by an incredible street seller. He wasn't pushy and was telling us all about his paintings - by the end of it we had 4 silk paintings (they do pack up small) - oopsey!