We finally reached Hoi An after a twelve hour night bus trip, and once again it is so different from the last city we were in. There is a really strong Japanese influence here in the architecture and everything is very compact.

Much of Hoi An is based around the old town, and one of the biggest markets.... EVER!! It's huge!! Well, it seems that way when you're fighting for space with the stall owners, customers and random maniacs on motorbikes who seem to like to see how tight a gap they can squeeze down!!

The old town itself is fascinating. The local people aren't allowed to hassle people down there, so it is much more peaceful than the rest of the city. On every street corner there are usually people trying to get you onto their motorbike, or their cyclo, or just to generally buy something from them. Normally you just say no thanks and that's it, but there are so many shops here that people will follow you around and wait for you outside one shop to try to drag you into theirs! They even tell you that you can look around their shop for free!! Wonder if that concept will catch on at home??

Anyway, the old town...

Although you can walk around there and look into all the shops, as you would do anywhere else in the world, they also sell tickets that allow you access to certain other areas. The tickets are about 2 quid and the money goes towards the upkeep of the area. With the ticket you can go into 1 of 3 museums, 1 of 3 assembly halls, a temple, a traditional workshop and even 1 of 4 houses that people actually live in and they show you around. Feels a bit odd to be honest, walking around someone else's house while they just get on with their lives, but when in Rome...

So we went to the history museum (no, really!!), Quan Cong's temple and the Cantonese assembly hall, as well as one of the family's houses. We also had a look at a Japanese covered bridge, and went into the workshop. The craftsmanship is amazing. Everything starts out as just one big lump of wood, and the details that are produced have to be seen to be believed.

After we had used up our ticket we had a wander around some of the shops. They have some great oil paintings, and there must be about a hundred shops that will make you clothes from scratch. This is why most people seem come to Hoi An. You can get a fully fitted suit made to measure for just US $20!! So many people we have spoken to have had several shirts, dresses, suits and even shoes made to their specifications, and the workmanship and quality of the materials is fantastic!! They will even do any last minute alterations for free, and if you go in there with an item of clothing you already have, they can copy it for you so you have two!! Don't know why you'd want to do that last one, but hey??

We have managed to avoid this temptation though as we would need to get rid of something first as we are already operating a 'one in one out' policy. Those of you that saw our rucksacks can imagine why!

The rest of yesterday afternoon was spent lazing by the pool, as this hard life is really tiring us out! All this walking, and sunbathing, and sleeping really gets to you after a while!!

This afternoon we are heading further north on another bus, to Hue to see what wonders await us there.