Thursday 21st Jan '16

We flagged down the bus and were literally grabbed and pulled on by the bus conductor. She was really nice and said to sit up the back where we could stretch out and lay our bags down....until we had to pay. We gave exactly the right amount and seemed really put out and said we needed to pay more because our bags took up an extra seat, so we moved them into our laps, she then said we still needed to pay more because they were heavy bags, jay said 'don't worry I will lift them'. By this point she was getting a bit arsey and just said 'you need to pay more because you're rich, look at all these poor people, (pointing to people on the bus!!) you have to pay more', we felt massively awkward but just kept smiling and saying it was all we had. She eventually gave up.

We walked from the bus station to our hotel (about 20 minutes away), a nice little place called 'Eden home stay'. We collected a map and headed into town to the information station where we bought tickets to see the 'historic sights'. Our initial impression of Hoi An was that it was pretty, quaint, but very busy and defiantly the most touristy place we have been, then is reflected in the prices of food, clothes and boat trips etc. We visited a couple of assembly halls, all decked out beautifully with Buddhas and golden pillars etc.

In the evening we were checking out prices for dinner at restaurants when this tiny (really tiny) Vietnamese woman started called us over and offering a gondola ride. She spoke very little English and when describing where the boat would take us she pointed and went 'weeweeweewee'. We paid well over the odds for a trip we didn't even want because she was so cute, and we loved every minute!!! She kept chatting to passing boats in Vietnamese and then would look at us and giggle a nervous type giggle, everytime it made jay and I laugh our heads off. She was very Vietnamese, even with a little triangle hat, half way round the trip she lit up a cigar....it looked so weird but just made the situation funnier!

After the boat ride we headed off for dinner and met an Australian couple. After dinner (jay had a set 4 course meal!) we went to the Japanese bridge, which was really pretty and you could look down the river which was all lit up with lanterns. After a quick look around the night market we headed back to bed.

Friday 22nd Jan.

After a late start and long breakfast we hired a moped and set off to find the beach (missing it after 1 day). We found a nice spot and walked for a few hours, this area seemed less touristy, there were even some fisherman coming into shore on their plastic round boats (there are loads of these types of boats), who called jay over to help them carry their boat out of the water and up the beach, of course he obliged. We had lunch on the way back at a river side restaurant which was very pretty. By the time we got back to the hotel it was time to collect our things and walk back to the bus station. A different bus conductor this time again tried to charge us extra but we help our nerve and with a lot of huffing and eye rolling she took our money and moved on. We met this Vietnamese guy who spoke incredible English and even shared his snacks with us, they were some odd coconut jelly with a green bean at the centre, a funny texture but tasty. Once we got off (with a not so helpful shove from the bus conductor) we went for dinner opposite the train station, we ordered what we thought was chicken but we got (to share) this tiny probably about 5cm long bird (? A sparrow). We had a tiny bit each and that was that.

The night train this time was a pleasure of an experience, we went for a 'soft sleeper' which means you get comfy beds with more room, only 4 beds in a room rather than 6. We had the bottom bunks which meant we got a little table, a plus socket and lots of storage space....and then by some miracle that top bunks remained empty all night!!! Finally a peaceful nights sleep on a train!