Welcome to Hoi An, town of cute little houses, enough shops, restaurants and bars to go around and the land of a million custom tailors! Throw in a beach a short bike ride away, and this is probably my favourite place so far in Asia.

The bus from Hue threw us down in front of a fancy looking hotel and I immediately thought No thanks can't afford it, but a little Vietnamese lady came up to me and offered me a room for 10 dollars.... intrigued... she showed it to me... sold! It was beautiful! Way nicer than the places I had been staying in. And the hotel had a pool and free internet.

I took a nap in my bed with pillows and air conditioning and a TV, and then went for a wander around the town. It is very cute, all the buildings are small and homely, mostly painted yellow, lots of plants and a little river running though it all. Hectic nonetheless, don't forget, it wouldn't be Asia without a thousand motorbikes running over little old ladies in the middle of the market, but there was a laid back feeling that I had yet to come across in Vietnam.

Was planning to wake up at 2 in the morning to go and watch the Euro final, so I went to bed at 8 so I could get some (more) sleep... And slept straight through to 10 the next morning! Woooops...

I met three Canadians in the pool one evening, two guys and a girl. We chatted while stewing in that horribly chlorinated pool, and decided to meet up later on for dinner and perhaps a few drinks. After washing off the chlorine, I met Tina, Stu, James, and another one Ben in the lobby. We went out for food, beers, played some pool and (not ashamed to admit) ended the night dancing on a pool table.

NOT because we were wildly drunk, but because the place was so small, there was no other choice! It was a makeshift bar/club in the middle of nowhere, the sort of place I wouldn't dream of going without 3 strong boys next to me. When we arrived, it was still what you would consider a bar, with people sitting talking drinking and playing pool. Suddenly, they double the decibels, close the doors and everyone hoists themselves on top of this poor little pool table.

It was fantastic! We wrote on the walls too, it's tradition. I noticed some people from Geneva while Stu was standing nonchalantly on James' shoulders, writing on the roof. We had loads of fun, and met up the night after to go back.

We went to the beach the next day, along with a few more people we met the night before. The beach was beautiful, lots of palm trees, and the water was So warm but a little murky. It was nice to lie on the beach all day (after getting slightly lost on our bikes) getting to know one another.

Vietnamese women came up to us to sell stuff, and one of the boys said to one of them Sorry I don't have any money! And she replies Oooooh, no money, no honey!!

As we were heading back to the hotel, we were surrounded by a thick pile of menus and people inviting us to have some fresh seafood right there on the beach... Yes please! After realising that the menus were all the same, despite different cooks, we chose a place at random and sat down. It took a while, perhaps they had to go and fish the 49 crabs we ordered, but once the food came it was AMAZING! I was taught how to eat crab, and only cut myself, let's say, eleven times. A distressing amount of work for the food you get out of it, but so tasty it was worth it. Throw in the sunset and warm air and trying to communicate with the locals, it was a great evening!

During my stay, I also got some clothes custom made! 2 dresses and a pair of jeans. Fairly sure I got ripped off, but I've gotten used to that feeling. And the clothes are great! It was fun to get all measured up and even better when I saw that the girl had understood perfectly what I wanted.

So in all, would definitely recommend Hoi An.