Days 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42

We had booked to leave Ho Chi Minh City for Hoi An on the overnight train with a journey time of 17 hours We had a 4 berth compartment, which weren't as nice as the 2nd class compartments of the Thai trains, and we weren't sure if the bed sheets we were using had ever been washed. Having said that our train journey was the most interesting yet! We were sharing our compartment with a Vietnamese guy, who couldn't speak a word of English, and was amazed with Jamie's card tricks. This resulted in Jamie being dragged into the compartment next door where 12 vietnamese guys were celebrating the start of their holiday after a boost in profits at their rubber plantation. This involved many shots of rice vodka and hundreds of hard boiled eggs! Our nights sleep was ok but we were woken early (5am) as the Vietnamese are early risers. The last leg of our trip brought another visit from the guys next door as they wanted us to eat lunch with them before saying goodbye. They even gave us some 'lucky' money to spend in Vietnam (some kind of local tradition).

We eventually arrived in Hoi An that afternoon, and checked into our hotel, Southern Hotel and Villas, which was really nice and had a huge swimming pool. We headed into the town that evening and were not disappointed, as Hoi An is very scenic and much quieter than HCMC. Its even more spectacular in the dark as the streets are decorated with Chinese lanterns, and the river is lit up too.

The next morning we went back into Hoi An to explore the town. Jamie wanted to find a tailor's, which wasn't difficult, as Hoi An is famous for its high quality cheap tailored suits. We decided on a place called Mr Xe's, and Jamie chose to have one cashmere black and one charcoal grey suit made up. Jamie was measured by Mr Xe himself, who was very thorough, and oddly strict. We were then told to come back the following day for the first fitting. Another thing Hoi An is famous for is its French baking, and so we headed to the biggest cake shop I have ever seen (I was in heaven), and we had chocolate truffle cake and brownies. To burn off the calories gained from this we headed back to the hotel for a swim.

As Hoi An is a small town surrounded by traditional rice fields and close to the beach we decided to rent bikes from the hotel to escape the main town for a bit. It was really good fun and we biked along the coast for a couple of hours stopping along the way at a cafe overhanging the river. We then made our way back to Mr Xe's for Jamie's suit fitting. They were a pretty good fit and only a couple of things needed to be altered, so we arranged to go back again the next day.

We had booked a cooking class the following morning so had to get up early to meet at the restaurant in Hoi An for 8am. We were given a welcome drink before heading to the local market, which was quite an assault on all of the senses. It was interesting to hear about all the different types of fruit and veg, and we even got to try a milk apple. The meat and fish sections were very different to our own markets with live chickens everywhere, baskets full of ducklings and chopped up sharks and jellyfish. We then took a short boat ride up river to the cooking school (Red Bridge). Our cooking instructor was a Vietnamese guy who had a dark sense of humour but was very funny. We got to make fresh spring rolls, Vietnamese pancakes with peanut sauce, and Eggplant curry cooked in a clay pot. Lunch included everything we had made plus a seafood salad and fresh fish served on vegetables. It was good fun and we met some very nice people too. In the afternoon Jamie went for his final suit fitting and Mr Xe had also made him a nice shirt for free. He was very pleased with the result and is just hoping they make it home in the post ok.

For the final day I decided I wanted to treat myself, so booked into Hoi An day spa for a body scrub, massage and deluxe pedicure (only £15, bargain!!). Jamie wanting to be manly decided he was just going to sit and wait rather than have anything for himself. It was very relaxing and definitely well worth the money.

We are getting the train tomorrow lunchtime for our trip to Hanoi (arriving at 4am eek!) and we are very sad to be leaving Hoi An, as it has been one of our favourite places so far.

Hopefully speak to you all soon, and thanks for the messages, lots of love xxxxxxxx