19th - 21st July 2009

We got a night bus to Hoi Anh and for the first time in a while we actually got good seats/beds so were able to get some rest. Hoi Anh is notorious for tailors as there are over 200 of them as well as custom shoemakers for you to choose from and get clothes made. Bri got a few suits made which turned out surprisingly well and us girls all got something made too. Kahlee paid for me to get a dress made for my birthday. I had an idea of what I wanted so I told the lady and was thrilled when it was made a day later beyond my expectations. I'd definitely be keen to go back and get some more clothes made - thanks for the dress Kahls!

During our time in Hoi Anh we decided to all rent scooters and go for some sightseeing. We headed up to My Son, some temples located about 30km away. We had a nice fun ride up there and saw the temples which were similar to some of the smaller ones we'd seen in Cambodia. While we were up there it started pouring with rain so we waited for it to ease up and headed back to town on our bikes. Because of the rain we all got split up when people would stop to take off jackets or ipods or whatever. Sammy and I were riding together with Bri and Kate up ahead when we slowed to wait for Kahls and Matt who were behind us (Sian stayed back catching up with some friends from Bristol). We stopped on the side of the road for 5 minutes and they still hadn't caught us so we headed back towards them. After about 5 more minutes of riding we found them and unfortunately Matt had taken a spill after riding off with his kickstand down. He was okay, quite shaken as you'd expect with several grazes on the left side of his body. We found a bike repair shop with the help of a nice local and got a bent piece of the bike fixed and they also washed it. On the way back we got lost and had to do several u turns across extremely busy roads. It was really scary but we all aced it. I took Sammy by surprise when I launched out into the middle of a busy road at first opportunity. He tells me his heart skipped a beat but I was fine! We took Matt to the hospital and got him all cleaned up so he spent the next few days not drinking and being quite sore. He was also pretty angry with himself because of how the accident happened but it's just one of those things and we're all grateful he didn't hurt himself any worse.

We went out one night and it was so funny when we heard this guy say 'Australia' in a real bogan accent. We all yelled back in unison 'Australia' and cracked up laughing. Was such a funny and well timed moment but you probably had to be there. Not long after that Kahlee convinced us it'd be a great idea to head to a bar on the beach so we jumped on the back of some scooter taxis and headed that way. Sammy and I went triple on the back of one and Sammy was very naughty when he started swaying and said to the driver 'See I can steer from behind'. The driver wasn't too impressed. We got to the beach and had a few drinks and went skinny dipping in the beautiful water. It was a great impromptu end to the evening.

On our last day there Sammy, Kahls and I hired bicycles and rode down to the beach to spend our last few hours there. When we were riding we would race each other and push each other back and generally be silly. We got there and were told that we had to park our bikes in a designated area and pay. We snubbed that idea and headed further along the beach where we took the bikes onto the beach. It was such a beautiful day where we played in the water and ran around on the beach.

The last thing we did in Hoi Anh was order some custom made shoes for Marky, one of Sammys good friends. With the help of Marky's girlfriend Sim who gave Sammy an idea of what he'd like we went to the shoemaker and designed the shoes for him. They were black Nike high top sneakers with white trim and stitching and a custom made anchor on the back. We got them sent back to Oz for his birthday without seeing them so hopefully they turned out well and will be much loved.