It was still raining when we left Hue on the bus, bound for Hoi An. We'd heard that there was both a normal and a scenic route between the towns, with the latter available if you took a private car. We opted for the bus as it was cheaper and we didn't think the views would be that great with the constant rain and overcast skies.

However, despite the dismal weather the view from the 'normal' route was lovely, what we could see of it through the rain anyway. We followed the railway track down the coast through jungly hills with views towards the sea, then along beside some flooded rice paddies before arriving in Hoi An a few hours later, still in the pouring rain.

In line with our expectations, rather than arriving at a bus station we were dumped at a hotel in some unknown area of the town, obviously a hotel which pays commission to the bus company. This sort of nonsense with tours and transport was already becoming tiresome, and we decided on principle to avoid the hotel we were abandoned at. The Vietnamese tourist industry really doesn't do itself any favours with all these underhand sales tactics and rip-offs, as almost everyone we met travelling in the country complained about it, and no doubt told all their friends and family about it. It's a sad fact that we seem to remember all the hidden charges, rip-offs and poor transport practices more than the positive aspects of the country when we think back.

We managed to eventually figure out roughly where we were in town, and an area that we wanted to get to where there was a concentration of hotels in the Old Town, near most of the worthwhile sights. After being quoted outrageous prices by some opportunistic taxi drivers outside the hotel for the short drive to the Old Town, we decided to go on foot in the rain, and were about to set off when a people carrier pulled up and a chap popped out with a name card for someone, and a name of one of the hotels we were going to check out.

Since we were the only people left waiting around from our bus, we told the guy that we weren't the named party but that we would like to check out the hotel. He said we could come with him for free and have a look at the hotel obligation free, so we piled our bags into the car and climbed in along with a Dutch couple who were also waiting. We drove through the downpour to the hotel which was nice, but out of our price range, so we made our excuses and wandered off to find another place.

We walked around a loop just outside of the Old Town which was packed with small hotels and guest houses, and eventually found one with a big clean room with TV and free wifi for a good price. It also had two beds in case we needed a backup bed. The only downside was the very grumpy lady working at the front desk, but we decided we could put up with that.

We dropped off our stuff in the room then went out for a walk around town, protected in our purple ponchos. We stopped at a nearby cafe and tried some of the local dishes, including won ton soup and cao lau, a noodle dish with slices of pork, greens, and crispy fried croutons on top which was really tasty.

After lunch we walked through the very rainy streets of the old town, which we found incredibly pretty even in the wet. The streets were lined with lovely old buildings, many painted yellow and lots in the colonial style. Almost all of these buildings, most traditional shop-houses, now housed tourist shops and the tailors for which Hoi An is famous, which ruined the picture a bit, but not enough to put us off.

We checked out a couple of little temples, mostly by peering through the gates as we were too cheap to pay the entrance fees after seeing so many temples already, and had a look in some of the shops as we made our way down to the river along which Hoi An is built.

Down at the river we found the water level almost up to the edge of the banks and about to spill over into the street, but it was still pleasant to walk along the street on the riverside, with a view across to the part of town on a peninsula in the middle of the river.

We stopped at one of many small bars along the riverside for a happy hour beer and watched the world go past outside the open front of the building. As we sat with our drinks, we could see the level of the river slowly creeping up in the endless downpour until it started flowing over the pavement and into the road outside the bar. We noticed on the wall in the very basic bar/restaurant that there were marks on the walls with dates indicating the flood levels from previous years. The most recent one, from almost the same date one year previously was well above our heads.

After sitting watching the river for some time, we were getting hungry again so we made our way to the wooden footbridge crossing the river to the peninsular part of the old town opposite us. Over here we walked along, checking out the menus at a couple of restaurants until an Australian guy at a table inside one told us to come in and check out the food as he'd eaten there the past few nights and loved it. It was a restaurant that we'd heard was decent so we took a seat and ordered some food.

Soon we were served some tasty fried won tons and some delicious fish cooked in a clay pot with a sweet sauce, along with some rice. We wolfed this down, and then got chatting to the Aussie guy and another chap at his table, who we discovered was a Kiwi called Dave who was cycling around South East Asia. His stories of rural Vietnam sounded far different and far more appealing than our experiences with incessant touts, peddlers and rip-off artists. He said the people he had met in the countryside were incredibly friendly, generous and helpful, always offering him free accomodation, food and water and eager to talk.

We had a few more drinks in the restaurant and talked to the guys for a while before wandering back through the Old Town to our hotel, where we watched some TV before getting off to sleep.

The following morning we got up late, had a tasty breakfast in our hotel, then headed out (once again in the rain) to investigate tailors. With over 400 tailors in town there was plenty of choice, but selecting a decent one seemed a bit of a minefield based on online reviews. We had read some good things about one shop just around the corner from our hotel, Blue, so we made that our first stop.

We started off having a look at the materials for suits and dresses, and were soon assisted by two girls who we liked from the start. Thanks to their helpful nature and the reviews we'd read earlier, we soon found ourselves getting measured up for a suit and shirts in my case and a dress in Lucy's.

With the fitting done we arranged to come back the next day to try on our clothes, then wandered around exploring more of the pretty streets of the old town. Along the way a dress in one shop and a jacket in another caught Lucy's eye, so we found ourselves in two more shops with Lucy getting measured up and placing more orders.

Another stop we made in the old town was at a shop selling arts and crafts all made in-house by craftspeople, the majority of whom were disabled. We enjoyed looking at all the goods on offer, and we were even able to go back to the workshop to see the artisans at work.

We walked back down to the river which was a bit lower than the day before, and followed it along to the quaint covered Japanese bridge. We crossed this and found another pretty street lined with more touristy shops and galleries selling paintings. We had a look in some of these and ended up buying some lightweight baggy trousers each.

Back across the bridge in the centre of the Old Town, it was my turn to be lured into another tailor shop as I spotted a jacket on a mannequin outside one of them. With another fitting done, we made our way through the old town to find a bar showing the Scotland rugby game. We found the Before and Now bar with the game almost halfway through, having miscalculated the time difference. We took a seat though and soon realised we were sitting beside the Welsh/New Zealander couple we'd met in the bar in Hue a couple of nights before. They were talking to a Scottish guy who turned out to be from Largs, and the group of us ended up having a few drinks and watching the rest of the game, before heading our separate ways.

By this time we were hungry and ready for dinner. Around the corner from the bar we spotted an Indian restaurant, Ganesh, which we'd heard was quite good. Realising we were in the mood for Indian food, again, we took a seat and ordered some dishes. We were served shortly later with the best Indian meal either of us had ever had, with tasty pakora, perfectly spiced and incredibly flavoursome curries, delicious naan and some roti.

After gorging ourselves on our feast, we wandered back through the still wet streets to our hotel where we relaxed before sleep.

The next day we had another lateish start, expecting it to still be wet, which it was. We went back to Blue to try on our clothes and were really pleased with the quality and fit, with only a couple of small changes needed. After having the necessary changes noted, we went to the next shop, where Lucy had ordered her dress. Unfortunately the dress was really disappointing, being far too baggy and poorly finished. When Lucy asked the woman if it could be changed to make it fit, the woman didn't even bother to make any marks or take any measurements, despite us asking her to. Highly dubious, we continued on our fitting trail.

At the shops where we'd ordered our jackets, we tried them on and found both only needed minor adjustments, which we requested. We then walked through some more of the old town, and had a look into one of the preserved old houses lining the streets. The house was very smart, with dark wood fittings inside including a built in bed and dining area, and a hatch in the ceiling of the first floor through which goods would have been lifted when the building was used as a house. In the middle of the building there was a small open courtyard with a pretty mosaic fountain and plants spilling down over the roof above. We took our leave from the house when we were asked to present our ticket for the Old Town attractions, which we hadn't bought. Feigning ignorance, we left and made our way back to Before and Now for lunch and to watch the Wales rugby game.

One of the dishes we had for lunch was another local specialty, White Rose which was fresh won tons filled with prawns. After lunch and watching Wales dominate Namibia in the rugby, we walked across the bridge to the peninsular part of the Old Town and had a walk around there, up and down streets that were mainly residential. It made a nice change of scenery to the high concentration of shops in the main part of the Old Town, but the buildings weren't quite as pretty.

After wandering around for a bit it was time to head back to the various tailors for more fittings. All the clothes at Blue were fine and just required their finishing touches. In fact I ended up ordering two more shirts and Lucy a pair of trousers before we left. Lucy's other dress which had been too big before had been made far too tight, which was hardly surprising considering the lady hadn't taken any measurements. We arranged to come back the next day, hoping it would be somewhere near fitting otherwise we would ask for our money back. At the other two shops our jackets both fitted perfectly and we paid for them and took them with us.

After our rounds at the tailors it was time for food again. we decided to go to a restuarant we had seen earlier and which we'd read lots of positive reviews about, Morning Glory. It was a bit more expensive than some of the other places in town, but still really cheap compared to home.

We ordered some fresh garlic and mushroom soup to share, followed by some pork cooked in coconut with hard boiled duck eggs and a dish of baked smoky eggplant with pork mince. All the food was delicious with fantastic flavours. The pork was really succulent and the eggplant dish was sensational. We decided to go all out and ordered dessert as well, which came from Cargo cafe across the road, owned by the same people. We finished off the meal with a chocolate mousse cake and creme caramel, then left thoroughly satisfied to go back to the hotel to bed.

After another long lie the next day, we went downstairs in the hotel only to find it was not only dry, but sunny. We were a bit taken by surprise after 5 or more days of constant rain, and decided to get out and make the most of it. We had a quick lunch in the hotel then headed out. We had to make a couple of calls at the tailors, where my suit and shirts were all pretty much finished and ready to go, and at Lucy's dress shop where nothing had been done with her dress.

We were totally exasperated with the lady at the dress shop, but gave her another chance to sort it out. She claimed it would be done in half an hour so we went to a cafe for a drink and came back, only to find it still sitting on the back of a chair. She asked if we could come back later and we said we would, but it was her last chance or we wanted our money back. She started getting moody, complaining that we were making a lot of fuss considering we were only ordering one item. She didn't seem to understand that if the clothes didn't even remotely fit we weren't being unreasonable, no matter how many items we were ordering.

We spent the next few hours walking around town, basically just retracing our steps from the past few days but seeing everything in a new light with the sun out. We ended up back down at the river, where we stopped for some cheap (12p) draft beers and peanuts. While we were watching the comings and goings on the river, a tour but turned up and we saw that Matt and Carolyn and their two boys, who we'd met in Hue, were on it.

We nipped over and had a chat then arranged to meet Matt and Carolyn later. After that we walked back to the tailor shops, where Lucy's dress now pretty much fit her. We paid for it and managed to get a free bit of material that Lucy could use as a belt to make the dress fit better around her waist, then went to check out our shirts and trousers at Blue. My shirts were great, and Lucy's trousers only needed a little change.

After this we wandered along to some areas of the Old Town we hadn't been in yet, stopping along the way at the post office to check out prices for mailing our clothes home. We found a bustling market down near the river and realised there was a bit more to town than what we'd seen!

Beside the market was a bridge crossing the river to another part of town. We walked across this in the late afternoon, then along a road and found a bar, the Sleepy Gecko, with an upstairs area giving a view across the river to the Old Town. We sat here and had a drink until nearly sunset, then made our way back to meet Matt and Carolyn. The route we took wasn't the best choice, as we had to navigate a muddy dirt track beside the river, covered in hundreds of tiny crabs and with toads jumping about.

However, we made it across the river and made our way to the restaurant right beside the river, but discovered Matt and Carolyn weren't there yet. We nipped to the bar next door where we'd had a happy hour drink before, and once again bumped into the Welsh/New Zealand couple who we'd first met in Hue. We had a drink and a chat with them before nipping next door to meet Matt and Carolyn.

At the restaurant we had a fantastic meal with a few dishes shared between us. The highlight was fish which was baked in a banana leaf with a sweet but spicy caramelised sauce made with rum, but it was all delicious. We also had pork with satay sauce, chicken with lemongrass and chili, some more cau lao and some stir fried morning glory with garlic.

After stuffing our faces we went for a walk along the riverside, where we stopped at a bar for a beer. Just as we decided to call it a night and leave, the rain started up once again. We had luckily brought our ponchos so put them on then wandered down the riverside street. Despite our feast earlier, we were all in the mood for dessert so we stopped in at Cargo cafe to get some cakes to takeaway. Just as we got in the place the rain got heavier. Much, much heavier, until it was like standing behind a waterfall as we looked out of the cafe.

We didn't know how long the monsoon was going to last so we decided just to make a move and walk home, knowing we'd get wet anyway. We said goodnight to Matt and Carolyn and set off, making it back completely drenched but having laughed most of the way home at the ridiculous power of the rain and the way it had turned all the streets to rivers inches deep.

Back at the hotel we had a quick shower then sat down with our cakes to watch a movie before heading to bed.

The next morning we packed up the majority of our stuff then went to have a final fit of our remaining clothes at Blue. Everything was great so we had it packed up while we nipped for a huge breakfast at a nearby cafe.

After breakfast we picked up the clothes then went back to our room to sort out our things. We packed everything we wanted to post home into bags and sealed up our rucksacks, before checking out of our room and storing our bags behind reception. We had booked a ticket for the night bus to Nha Trang for that evening, so had most of the day still to spend in Hoi An.

We then walked with our bags of clothes to the post office down the main street. Luckily it was dry again, but an unfortunate side effect of this was that we were ridiculously hot and sweaty by the time we arrived at the post office. We got everything packed up in a box, weighed and sealed, filled in the paperwork then said goodbye to our clothes hoping to see them when we got home in a few months.

With our chores taken care of we headed back to the market by the river and bought some souvenirs. We considered that we should have maybe done this before sending everything home but decided that it would just have increased our postage costs.

After our shopping spree we went back to Cargo cafe, this time taking a seat on the upstairs verandah where we had a great view of the river and the pretty buildings on the peninsula opposite. We had a drink and an absolutely delicious pavlova with tropical fruit to share, before wandering around town some more, picking up a couple of souvenirs and gifts along the way.

In the late afternoon we returned to the restaurant from the night before, Thuan Y down by the river, and had a couple of beers before deciding to get some food before the bus. We ended up ordering the fish in banana leaf again as it had been so good.

After eating we walked back up to the hotel and waited for our bus pickup. This came in the form of one man on a scooter. When we asked him how he intended to take the two of us and our two big backpacks to the bus he wasn't very helpful, suggesting he put the bags on his bike and we walked with him. so much for a 'pickup', but this was in line with the service we were receiving everywhere in Vietnam. Annoyed but not wanting to miss our bus we walked the best part of a kilometre to the bus station, loaded our bags onto another sleeper bus and took our seats for the night's journey down the coast to Nha Trang.