Our train pulled into Da Nang station at midday on Tuesday, 24 July. We had decided to take the bus through to Hoi An so we headed off in search of the bus station. It was scorching hot so the walking was not fun, but we soon realized that the busses actually drove past the road we were walking down so we just waited and flagged one down.

Once on the bus we learnt that the system is quite dodgy: the drivers drive like crazy people - picking up passangers without actually ever bringing the bus to a complete stop, charge people different fares and chuck anything you can imagine into the bus. Monique is learning the art of zoning out - just ignore the crazy driving by reading or listening to music and don't look out the window at what is going on on the road. Since then we arrive at our destinations with nerves a little less frazzled :-)

We finally arrived at the Hoi An "bus station" and set off on the long walk into town to find a place to stay. After a quick shower we headed down to the river to explore. Wow, what a surprise - the riverfront was lined with all these cool little restaurants and cafes and there were lanterns and lights hanging all over the place. The air was it's usual warm so we sat outside on the street and had some food and then wandered to another place for a drink.

Wednesday we decided to hire bikes and cycle 3km's to the beach. It was a beautiful and hair-raising ride - cycling past rice paddies while being hooted at by every passing car, scooter and bus. We arrived in one piece, parked our bikes and headed down to the beach. We relaxed and read and then decided to walk down the beach before having a swim. The water was so lovely and warm and reminded us of our time in Mauritius! :) After a bit more relaxing (and sorting out some drama with the waitress :-/) we decided to head back. We stopped to take a few photo's on the ride back and then rode down to a nice restaurant we found and had dinner before returning our bikes.

Thursday we checked out of our hostel and left our bags in storage while we spent a few hours wandering around town. We then walked back to the bus station and boarded another crazy bus back to Da Nang to catch the train South. Not wanting to travel on the busses in the dark, we had arrived a few hours earlier then necessary, so we chilled in a cool little cafe that we found accross the road from the train station. At around 22:00 we gathered up our things, picked up some snacks on the way and boarded the train to the bustling seaside town of Na Trang.