Hoi An

Sunday 16th December -Wednesday 19th December

We clambered onto our first sleeper bus - it had room to sleep about 35 people in two deckers, with three columns in each layer.We settled in and had a more comfortable night than if we'd been on a normal bus, although it didn't compare to a hotel bed, and we didn't get much sleep as the drivers kept pottering around the bus poking us and playing loud love songs.

After twelve hours, we arrive in Hoi An at 6.30am and are dropped off at a restaurant, where we eat noodles and drink coffee in the absence of any freshening up facilities, in readiness for a hunt for a hotel.

The town is already bustling, and we note that the motorbike helmet law that came in yesterday is being obeyed in full force - with the comical side effect of heads sprouting out in alternate directions for each member of the family on the over occupied mopeds, in the style of five people being stuck mid dance routine.

The hotel we head for is pricier than our usual at $30 a night, but the huge carved dragon in the foyer, two metre tall wooden eagle behind the bar, huge concrete mushrooms and clay 'tree trunk' pillars in the restaurant (reminiscent of the crazy house in Dalat), swimming pool and hairdryer persuade us… well, me, and I persuade Dave.Our balcony looks out onto a wall, and adds to the daft tackiness of the hotel.

The town, however, is far from tacky - at first impression it's very pretty, being one of the few towns left untouched by bombs in the American war by mutual agreement.The buildings are undamaged, and many are protected by World Heritage status.The feel is a bit like Luamprabang, and despite the many motos and hawkers plying their wares , it's quiet and peaceful.

The main occupation of the townspeople appears to be tailoring, with every other shop peddling made-to-fit clothes and shoes - you show them the design, they'll knock it up for you in a few hours for next to nothing.After a full 24 hours resisting the temptations, we are lured into one of the shops, and emerge the next day with a winter coat and pair of trousers each, plus a top for me… all for less than $100.The tailors buy copies of the Next Directory and other western clothes catalogues each season, as well as having lots of their own designs, and everything fitted perfectly.The fitting process was a bit more touchy-feely than I'm used to when clothes shopping - whilst trying on my new coat, I was assisted by four chattering girls and a random man with a motorbike helmet, all of whom were very pleased when, blushing, I confirmed that it fitted and I liked it.

We try the local food speciality, white rose.This is a prawns in white rice noodle flowers, dipped in fermented fish sauce…. delicious.We also bump into Tom and Miles who we had met in Saigon, so Dave enjoys some male company for the Liverpool v. Manchester United match on tv that night.

We follow the walking tour from the Lonely Planet at a leisurely pace, noticing the waist-high tide marks from the floods a few weeks previously, of which there is now no other sign.According to one restauranteur, it was business as usual - everything moved upstairs and the transport of choice was rowing boats rather than mopeds for a few days.We visit a ceramic transportation museum (more to look at the lovely courtyarded building rather than having any great interest in the exhibits, which are mostly broken plates), one of the pagodas where a family's dead are remembered (which has previously been used in a Marie Claire photoshoot), and a Fujian-Chinese meeting hall, from the ceiling of which hung hundreds of metre-wide incense coils… plenty of ash from these ended up on our head and shoulders by the time we had walked through.

On our way through the market, I show interest in a bra on one of the stalls - more because it's bigger than a B-cup, which I haven't seen since England - and am immediately manhandled into it by two women and a young girl.Fortunately, this is over the top of my clothes… Dave stays at a distance laughing while I attempt to extricate myself and try to placate the stall holder who was sure she had a sale.

We've noticed that the pet dogs are a lot smaller in Vietnam, and nowhere more so than here - there are Pekingese, Chihuahuas and other tiny 'palace' dogs… all of whom have been unconvincingly put into action as guard dogs for the shops… although what they lack in size, they make up for in volume and vigour.They befit the delicate and ornate style of the town.

On our last evening, we go to the Café Des Amis for a set meal - there is no menu, we just ask for one vegetarian and one seafood meal.We are then bombarded with courses until we can't eat any more, with lessons on how to eat each meal.The tangy soup, white rose, tender fish, and spring rolls were delicious… we weren't so sure about the unidentifiable egg-meat thing or the squid tentacles, but it was fun to have the opportunity to attempt further broadening of our palates.

Nearing the end of our stay in Hoi An, Dave got up at 6am to take photos of the fish market in action… he returned with some great pictures, but was accompanied by the unpleasant side effect of fish-covered shoes and trousers , and had to be banished to the bathroom to clean up.

Our bus to Hue is at 2pm, so we checkout and hang around the front of the hotel, people watching.The bus ride isn't too far but the people in the seats in front of us are both fully reclined, so we don't have much leg room.There are lovely views of rice paddies and valleys running down to the coast, and it's just four hours later that we arrive in Hue…