19/10/09 Hue to Hoi An (Tuesday)

We had a short 4 hour ride to Hoi An and passed thorugh Da Nang on the way. It is a horrible place but there is a big port here and was the first place the Americans landed in Vietnam. Poor b*****s must have been in quite a shock when they arrived as it is not very nice. We arrived in Hoi An at 1 pm and the bus driver did the usual trick of stopping the bus outside a mates hotel to get a bit of commission if anyone stays there. Phil went off to confirm our next bus but came back after about 20 mins looking pretty fed up as he had a rubbish map and hadn't found the office. We went to our hotel in a taxi and couldn't believe it when after about 15 seconds it pulled up at our hotel. We should have walked but we only paid a small fee anyway so not so bad. The hotel was fantastic with a lovely pool and very glamorous decor. We booked into our room which had a bad smell of damp unfotunately. It had been raining so we put it down to that and went off to book our bus through to Nha Trang. Once we had sorted that we went looking in a dressmaking shop we had called into on the way to the ticket office. A lovely young girl called Kim owned the store and she helped us to chose a couple of designs and fabrics for some clothes for us. Hoi An is famous for its good quality made to measure clothes which are made in less than 24 hours !! We could have spent so much money but held back and liz got two dresses and Phil had three shirts and a lovely winter coat. We left our measurements and choices with Kim and needed to go back the next day for a fitting. If we had needed suits or anything they are very cheap and really well made. You can get a best quality fabric suit with a silk lining for about 50 pounds made to measure!!! Phil was very tempted as they were very nice but Liz talked him out of it as he is a little overweight now and it wouldn't fit him back in the UK . Kim couldn't say Lizzies name and kept calling her Ellillibelle which Phil loved and has now adopted too. All the stores will send stuff overseas and we are sure we will order some more things from Kim as they are so cheap and they can also make a made to measure copy of any picture you send them..brilliant. Designer styles at primark prices. We next went towards the old town for which Hoi An is also famous. It is very charming and was an international trading port as far back as the 17th century and is largely unchanged. You can imagine how the merchants used to live there. We crossed the An Hoi bridge crossing the Thu Bon river running through Hoi An and had a drink in a bar overlooking the riverfront watching geckos running along the ceiling catching bugs. We had a happy hour drink and looked at the picture postcard view of the buildings and river all lit up with candle and paper lanterns...romantic eh? There was a boat drifting along the water and the people in it were lighting and releasing lanterns to float down the river. We then walked back through the old town to our hotel and unfortunately still stinky hotel room for bed.

20/10/09 Hoi An (Wed) HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY STEVE

We had booked onto a trip to see nearby ruins of My Son. They are only 35km from Hoi An and are the best remaining ruins of the Champa empire. The site is now a Unesco Heritage SIte. We got onto the bus and the guide started to explain the day. He had good English but bad pronounciation. Bless him he was explaining things over and over and we were all still pretty confused. There was a choice of bus or boat back to the town but when he explained the instructions for each option he said 'Ba on the but"and "ba on the bow" which wasn't too clear. We decided to just go with the flow and see what happened over the day. Vietnamese find it hard to say T at the end of words they are saying in English so it can be quite hard to know what they are saying. Once we arrived at the temple area we waited for some jeeps to drive us to the actual temple complex a few KMs away. We were like extras in Good Morning Vietnam driving on a forest track in a little jeep. The Champa people were Hindus and the temple ruins were carved with images of Vishnu and Shiva. The ruins were pretty overgrown and again unloved looking but were very interesting and different to anything else we had seen in Vietnam. The area had been bombed extensively by America during the war as they suspected VC to be hiding out there. Unfortunately only 10% of the original structures remain. Although they claim to be reconstructing the rest we saw little evidence of any work happening there which was a real shame. We spent about an hour looking around the site and spotted many bomb craters that were peppered around there. After that we got on the bus to a boat "bu to the bo" for a small cruise along the Thu Bon river to a craft village on Cam Nam island. The crafts were wood carvings mostly and some were really intricate. We bought a carving of a Vietnamese symbol for happiness that you see evrywhere here. We arrived in the dock of Dhoang Van Thu back in Hoi An and walked back to our hotel. After a nice cooling swim we went round to Kims shop to see our new clothes. Liz tried hers on first and they fitted perfectly. Phil was a bit shocked to see Liz in a dress and all he could say was ït looks like a nightie" what a charmer!!! Liz was really happy with hers though and then it was Phils turn. He tried on his new shirt with his new coat and Liz has never seen him look so smart. The coat really suits him and the shirts were a good fit too. We dropped the clothes off at the hotel and and went for some food at a nearby cafe. We had only had a small meal of rice and veg on the boat trip earlier so we were starving. We went for another wander round the old town and had a few beers in Treats bar. We played pool but Liz won the first two games so then Phil wouldn't leave until he had at least a draw two frames later...not at all competitive. After that bar closed we walked along some more but the whole place seemed to be deserted. We managed to locate another bar in Salsa club on the river and had more drinks there. We were a bit squiffy and walked back to find our hotel. When we got there the gates were locked and the sleepy looking night porter had to let us in. He handed us the right key without us asking so we were obviously the only dirty stop outs!! Once back at the hotel Phil called his friend Steve to wish him Happy Birthday as it was his 40th. Sorry to mention that again Steve!!! We fell asleep then.

21/10/09 Hoi An to Nha Trang HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARE

We packed up our new clothes to post home and went for breakfast before venturing to the post office. When we got there the post lady asked for the stuff we were sending and gestured that she would pack it. We saw the box she was using with a single piece of tape holding it together and then asked to do it ourselves. We made sure it was all taped up and addressed securely then handed it over to her. She then spent ages taping up the box really well to within an inch of its life so we should have trusted her in the first place as she did a much better job than us. We also had a small package for Phils grandparents which she has taped so much they may never manage to open it. Dont tell them please its a surprise but when it does arrive make sure they are careful opening it. There were loads of other people in the PO wrapping up bags and bags of clothes, shoes, bags and other items they had had made there...big business.We went to check out of the hotel and put our bags in the storage room until later. We went off to find lunch and Phil went for the very Vietrnamese option of cheeseburger while Liz ate the local dish Cau Lao, pork slices, noodles broth and greens which was delicious. We went for a final walk round and found the tailors that our posh hotel had recomended. It was really smart with plush decor, uniformed staff and a seating area to browse catalogues . All a bit upmarket compared to Kims little set up but also the prices to match but the same results. Liz stopped and bought a handmade paper fan from a poor chap who had one leg and one eye and almost no vision in the other. He had such a beaming smile when we handed over the dollar he wanted for it. We have seen many landmine victims in Vietnam and also many disabled mainly due to the effects of agent orange. Thank goodness for our welfare state, these people have no support at all while American soldiers exposed to it have been given massive compensation by their government...terribly sad. We found a really cute little pattisserie when Phils cake-dar went off again and sat there watching life pass by. We looked at the Japanese covered bridge and then went off to meet our bus. Liz called her sister from the reception to wish her Happy Birthday then we had to go. Hoi An has been the highlight so far as it is so laid back and much quieter than elsewhere . We really enjoyed our time there. We walked to the bus stop but then got told it was picking up elsewhere pretty much back to our hotel. On cue it started raining as we were all relocating to the other place. The bus arrived and it was much nicer than our other night bus but we were again sitting/lying at the back but this time we were up the top. We sat with a couple who had met travelling, a young guy from Sutton Coldfield and a girl from Canada. We had quite a laugh with them for a few hours then settled down to try and sleep.