Well, to be honest, Da Nang was all that we don't like - loud, glitzy, and a million neon lights - but it did have a lovely beach so we got to swim in the South China Sea. It was also a short drive to the My Son Sanctuary, where we saw some amazing ruins of temples from the Champa era, so there is a Buddhist/Hindu mix. American bombing is said to have destroyed most of the temples but the remainder are now a Unesco World Heritage site. I have to say it was an extremely hot day, 33 degrees and high humidity. Our guide was charming but insisted in going into great detail in every temple, and by temple number 3 we were flagging. By temple number 5 the whole group just wanted to get back onto the air-conditioned bus!!
Driving from Da Nang to Hoi An we passed gated luxury hotel after gated luxury hotel, and then more gated luxury hotels being built, and this went on for miles. There is obviously some sort of foreign investment going on here. Hoi An, on the other hand, was the city of lanterns and was lit up dramatically, but subtly, at night. Although touristy, in that the centre was pedestrianised, and you were asked to take a boat ride, or step into a restaurant, at every second step, it had a certain quaint charm and we loved it. This view might have been influenced by the fact that our hotel was outside the town in a quiet location, with a lovely private swimming pool that we spent quite a lot of time in! It was also here that we had some clothes tailor-made for us. We were measured one morning and the clothes were ready the next - quite a feat considering the steady stream of people. I have to say I felt like a giant when being measured, these people are SO petite!!
The real highlight of the trip so far though was billed as a foodie cycling tour. Off we set on bicycles - within a minute we had to do a left turn which meant negotiating oncoming bikes and cars from 2 different directions. How we all survived I'm not sure, but we then went out into the countryside to see how the food was grown. We were privileged to meet a couple who were both 100 years old, still held hands and still worked on the family land. They were so happy, shook our hands and welcomed photos. Our guide, whose English was good but not perfect, kept mentioning 'snacks' while we were in the fields, but it wasn't until he told us that growing garlic and lemongrass kept the 'snacks' away that I released he meant 'snakes'. Thank God we were surrounded by the stuff! I was a nervous wreck after that and was quite glad when we got back on the bikes and went back into the town to try some local specialities for lunch. I can recommend Cau Lau, Banh Dap and Che Bap, and we have also developed a liking for Ga Phe Sua Da, iced Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk, even though I don't usually like coffee. Work that one out!!