I had the best day so far today. While the rest of the group did the Foodie Tour, I'd opted to take a cycle in the Hoi An countryside. I was so lucky to be the only one on the tour so had Phu the guide all to myself. We picked up our bicycles from the Hoi An Express office, then set off through the streets of Hoi An down to the river. While it was a little nerve-wrecking at first, I soon felt at home on the bike and just kept to the far right of the road. We c...

This morning we had free time so I headed back into Hoi An central to try to track down the elusive candle holders I wanted. I'd seen a couple of shops last night that showed potential, but unfortunately they couldn't come up with the green ones I wanted. Although they didn't have the style I wanted on their shelves a couple of the shopkeepers knew the ones I was after so said "Wait a minute, I get them for you." Sadly they both could only get red ones and it too...

We arrived in Da Nang last night then drove to Hoi An, home of Hoi An Express, our tour company. My first impression was that it was a lot more spacious and less crazy on the road...not near as much horn tooting. As we drove past huge tourist resorts, I decided that maybe all of Hoi An wasn't like this...and I was right. It wasn't long before we were back amongst the traditional style Vietnamese homes. Our new residence for the next three nights, River Beach R...