So our next destination was Hoi An and we were both pretty excited as everyone had said such good things about it, including that I'd more than likely spend far too much money getting clothes made!! We arrived after a not so bad 4 hour bus journey, and were kindly picked up by our hostel before quickly checking in. We were in an awesome location, as it seemed most of the accommodation was along our road, and with the ancient part of the town just 200m away. Our hotel even had a swimming pool.... but wait for it... in the restaurant! Random or what?! Once you reach the ancient part of Hoi An it becomes a 'walking and cycling town' and is soo peaceful... this came as a relief after North and Central Vietnam, there was barely any motorbikes to be seen!! This part of the town is made up of a maze of streets and alleys with tailoring shops (over 200), restaurants and bars everywhere, and just past this is the river, with one other strip the other side connected by a pretty little bridge.

Walking down to the river in the evening was so picturesque as there were lanterns everywhere and there was such a magical feel to the town! The next day we took advantage of being back on the coast by hiring bicycles and cycling the 3km to An Bang beach. Although it wasn't the sunniest of days we hired a lounger each and wasted no time getting in the sea, which was a nice change from back home as it wasn't freezing cold!! Surf was up too which was pretty cool and we spent about an hour getting battered by the waves... and almost being taken out by the local fishermen in their upside down tortoise shell boats too haha! We grabbed some grub from the beachfront cafe and had a giggle when one of the girls serving us (who was trying to sell us some of her handmade bracelets too) said 'cheaper than Tesco, better than Harrods'. She even proceeded to then tap me on the side of my bottom and say 'Asda Price!' which I found highly amusing! It was weird to think that they knew some of our most well known supermarkets back home..

That night we went to the loveliest little restaurant called An Hoi, and were welcomed in by Van, a crazy Vietnamese lady with a thing for bananas... especially Billy's!! Haha. She made us feel so at home and had us in stitches the majority of our meal, it's a wonder we actually managed to finish it...! Van introduced us to her sister, Tam, who works as a tailor here, and she was lovely but not quite as crazy. She showed us some pictures on her phone of the flooding here about a month and a half earlier, caused by the typhoon in the Philippines. The water looked so deep and she told us how her and her family (and so many others) had to move to the highest point of their home just to escape it.. as did Van with the very restaurant we were sat in right then. Looking around at the buildings there were no water marks, and all business was back to normal. It was amazing to think how a relatively small, but beautiful, town could overcome something so destructive, in such a small space of time... and not let it stand in their way.

The following day we went to check out the tailors, as I wanted to get myself a dress made. We soon discovered that if you so much as glance over at a shop the owner will immediately be on your case, with the most recurrent words being 'you want to buy something' and 'come in please', but 'no thank you' (our soon to be favorite words) being completely ignored!! Soon enough though we found one of our own accord, and Vung welcomed us into her home with the biggest smile and without pushing us to buy something. It took several cups of ginger tea and a whole plate of bananas, but we finally ordered our clothes and were all measured up! I got 2 dresses (both with some Billy design input!), and my boy got 2 swim shorts and a pair of linen trousers made. Leaving the shop that evening we were slightly dubious as to how she'd actually managed to make all of that for us by lunchtime the next day.... but she did!! It was all ready for us to try on, and there were only a few adjustments needed, it all looked so good. So good I may have got myself a bikini and a blazer made too, oopsy..!

The next day we decided to explore some of the old buildings of ancient Hoi An - the Fujian, Cantonese & Chinese assembly halls in particular were all really impressive, with a lot of colour, fountains, lanterns, symbols and dragons everywhere. I personally thought these were more stunning than all the Thai temples put together.... but each to their own and all that! There was also manufacturing and embroidery workshops (which wowed the socks off us), and the Japanese covered bridge which had a temple hanging over the water on one side of it.

On our final day here we braved it and hired out a motorbike.... which was so cool, but a liiiitttle bit dodgy at times! We drove to the beach and as I'd never ridden one before I was determined to have a go. Now I'm not a big fan of motorbikes as I think they're pretty unsafe, but I still wanted it to be something I can look back on and say I've done.... even if I did only ride about 200m down the road and back!

Our final night here was what we'd stuck around for - the Full Moon Lantern Festival. We'd missed Chiang Mai's lantern festival Loi Krathong by 1 day and were not going to miss this for anything! The festival takes place in Hoi An on the 14th day of every lunar month, and all electricity is turned off beside the river, so that the only source of light provided are candles and lanterns. We ate our dinner in candlelight next to the water which was pretty cool. The locals get into the spirit of things with traditional games and music, a countless number of boat trips go up and down the river, and everybody is happy - not a care in the world for those few blissful hours. Little kids are lined up along the streets selling the same lotus flower lanterns for locals and tourists to release into the river, as especially upon this day it will bring you love and good luck if you make a wish. Once the festival was in full swing there were lanterns floating all over the river and it looked so beautiful - even more beautiful than normal as there were so so many. We took a boat trip up the river and back, and it was just lovely and peaceful to be surrounded by nothing but darkness and lanterns. Perfect end to the night! We left this little gem of a town with big smiles on our faces, now ready to head further South for some proper beach fun..