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1 July: Hoi Ann

I woke up just after 06h00 with the building going on outside, fluctuating between awake and asleep until 07h30 when we go up. Another swim before we headed out to breakfast. John and Barb had mentioned that in the market there were many stalls all selling breakfasts which they had tried the day before. At the market we found a stall and purchased a bowl of Pho soup which we shared between the two of us. We also bought a type of rice sugar desert, which the lady cut up skillfully, just to try it out. It wasn't quite our thing and two pieces between the two of us was enough. We headed onwards down the market only to stop two shops down, meeting up with J & B again. They had enjoyed a breakfast of Cao Lao and Mi Quan which they really liked. We settled down to try it out, a mixture of noodles soup, pork shavings, shrimp and vegetables with a spicy sauce. We offered our desert to them, but one piece was enough, we then donated it to a wanting local.

We had planned to wander through the market, heading to the Japanese bridge and the old town. J & B joined us as we headed there, showing us the places they had visited the day before. We walked through the narrow streets along the river, where only pedestrians and cyclists were allowed, those with motorbikes pushed them down the street as they went by. We stopped along the way at a handycrafts shop, where disabled persons were designing and making their handy crafts. From there we headed to the Japanese bridge and crossed into the old town, with small tourist shops lined the narrow road. Hoi An had been full of westerners, but for some strange reason they did not come to this part, our benefit.

We stopped outside one of the small art shops for a glass of ice coffee, which was so strong that you diluted it with the hot tea that they provide free of charge or some water, strange I know. After the coffee it was followed by at least 3 pots of tea, which we shared between the four of us. The discussions never seemed to run out and for another 4 hours we sat in the middle of the old town, with almost no one passing by other than a few locals discussing anything that came to mind. Very peaceful under a tree on the sidewalk with beautiful old buildings all around us. A lady passed by with custard apples which we hadn't tried before, at J & B's encouragement we bought some and shared them between us, different but very nice.

Afterwards we headed back , stopping at Sinh cafe to buy tickets for the My Son ruins tour for the next day. Back at the hotel, we were told to we needed to vacate the room and find another. We had been told the day before that we could stay for 2 days by one person and 3 days by another. We argued for 15 minutes, but it was obvious that we would get nowhere. Leanne went up to pack the bags, while I went next door to look for a room that we could stay in. The room was reasonable, again with internet, fridge and TV for $8. I went back helping Leanne pack, both taking a shower and sharing one of the two remaining mango's, before moving to the hotel next door, unfortunately with no swimming pool.

After the move we went for lunch just across the street enjoying another Cao Lao and fresh spring roles. Returning from lunch we caught up on some of the budgeting and diary work, before heading for HI. We were there just after 18h00 to start with our first fitting, both of us had one suit made for the day and a shirt or dress. The theory was that we first wanted to okay the work piece by piece, rather than be flooded by all the clothes at once. Leanne was up first with her dress, later the suit and then it was my turn with suit and shirt. By the time we had finished and voiced all the adjustments required it was 20h00. There were still other clothes that we wanted that they didn't have the material for in the shop. We jumped on the bikes with them and were taken to a material shop about 2 km away, where I looked for shirt material while Leanne checked for the dresses. Finished with everything we returned, it was now already 21h00, so we headed for a restaurant across the street from our hotel to enjoy a plate of Wanton soup and white rose. The Wanton soup is a watery soup with fish covered with rice paper, for the white rose we had no idea. Back home we settled in for an early evening considering we were leaving for My Son at 08h00.