On Monday I got the train from Quang Ngai to Danang as planned, and once there, an opportunity to rectify my travel plans landed neatly in my lap. Normally outside train and bus stations there is a mob of moto drivers wanting to take you wherever you wish to you, and as luck would have it the first question I was asked when I came out of the train station was whether I wanted a moto to Hoi An. The driver wanted a very reasonable sum so he drove me the hour to Hoi An and I got some good views along the way of the Marble Mountains and all the planning along China Beach. The driver said the price would include him dropping me off at any hotel I wanted which is very lucky because it took four hotels before I found one that suited my budget. Once I'd checked in I got the usual speech about how he would like to take me on a "real" tour of Vietnam, but I've heard this so many times that I have a certain strategy. Just saying no doesn't work as they turn aggressive, so I express some mild interest and listen to them blather on, then ask for their card so I can think about it for a day. This results in them being happy and leaving you alone so it all works out good.

I spent the first afternoon getting my bearings, as well as giving in to the temptations of the multitude of tailors there are in the town. Within the first two hours I had ordered boots, sandals and jeans - but what girl can resist the lure of having clothes custom made? I found a little restaurant on the river front with a set menu of local delicacies and enjoyed it with a glass of wine. Hoi An is particularly known for 'white rose' a type of steamed dumpling with pork and shrimp, 'fried wonton' which is very different to the Chinese variety and is served with fried vegetables, and 'fish in banana leaf'. These three were all in the set menu so I had a taste of everything and enjoyed it all apart from the fish because there was a rather overpowering coriander taste which I'm not too keen on. Another thing seen on every street corner is a dessert which is strikingly similar to creme caramel and in fact tastes exactly the same as the ones from M&S!

Yesterday I booked a trip to see the My Son Cham temple sanctuary (pronounced me-sun) at sunrise so I was up ridiculously early at 4.30am! We were led to believe that we would see the sun rise over the temples, but we arrived long after it had started to get light, and either way it was too cloudy to see much. The sanctuary is in a really bad state as it was bombed a lot in the Vietnam war and there are bomb craters everywhere. The Vietnam War seems to have done so much destruction to this country, and it's something which you only really see as you travel through the different provinces. As well as ending thousands of lives and destroying the land, the war has also destroyed many sites that the Vietnamese hold to be of great historical importance and a source of their national identity which I think is truely awful. As a result of all the damage it was quite hard to imagine how magnificent the sanctuary must have looked as there are mostly just lots of bricks and the odd linga.

Today I did a tour of the Old Town of Hoi An, and this involved going to many temples, assembly halls and museums, the names and memories of which have all blurred into one. It was really interesting though, and the town escaped without any damamge during the war so the architecture is fascinating. One of the most memorable buildings I went to was Tran Family's Chapel which is about eight generations old. A recurring theme in the architecture of most of the houses was the roof beam with three horizontal lines to represent the lines on the palm of your hand, and five vertical lines to represent your fingers. Together I think it means prosperity for the family - there was a lot of different things supposedly represented in the architecture. While I was there I bought a ying yang necklace which is made of two coins that are about 1300 years old. You're supposed to shake them and if they land different sides up it is good luck and your wish will come true, but if they land with the same side up it is bad luck - you're allowed to try three times however. I got good luck on my first try, but if I ever need to wish for something I should take them off the necklace and try this.

This evening I did a cooking class, although really it was more of a watching class and was completely different to the one I did in Siem Reap. There was a group of seven on the course and we sat around a table watching the chef explain the recipes to us. Occasionally she would give us herbs or vegetables to chop, but we sat in our chairs the whole time and didn't physically cook anything ourselves. We "learnt" how to make 'beef salad', 'Hoi An deep-fried spring rolls' and 'fish in banana leaf' - the dish from the first night that I wasn't so keen on. We were also given a plate of 'white rose' and 'wonton', but apparantly they are dishes made by only one family in Hoi An and the recipes are kept strictly secret. The watching and eating of the food only took about an hour and a half, but it was still informative, and I'm a good enough cook that I've got confidence I'll be able to copy the recipes with success. It's a pity I'm not going to Thailand and Laos otherwise I could come home knowing how to cooking something from every South East Asian country!