Hello all!

Well since leaving the easy riders we've had a mixture of experiences both good and bad!

Nha Trang we did not like at all, it was such a terrible cheesey, touristy contrast to everything we had done the previous few days. Everything had tack written all over it!

The boat trip we did round the islands was very disappointing which is a shame because it should have been wonderful. I think it was very geared up for tourists i.e encourage drinking, general sleaziness and get as much money possible out of a captive audience- anything extra such as swimming (with horrible little stinging jelly fish) or sunbathing you had to pay for! Still it's an experience we can look back on and laugh about- at lunch time we had to sit and watch the 'band' play for us in the sweltering heat. The lead singer then pulled people from the audience onto the stage and made them sing along to a song of their nationality (i.e australia= walzing matilda and Ireland = some really obscure song which later we found out was some pro IRA anthem- Bizarre!). Anyway he didn't pick on us which was just as well for him.

Having left Nha Trang behind us never to be visited again we arrived early yesterday morning in Hoi An and fell in love with the place instantly. It's very quiet in comparison to most places we've visited but big enough to hold plenty of tailors and shoe makers, all beatutifully situated around the river. At night there are locally made lanterns lighting the streets and the evening meals we've had by the river have been fantastic.

Today we hired out a scooter for about $8 for the day and although we'd never driven one we were soon whizzing through the streets and out of the town centre in the direction of cau dei beach. We soon arrived at probably one of the most scenic beaches i've ever seen- palm trees, light sand and turquoise waters. we spent the day there- vic soaking up the rays most of the time while i hid in the shade under the parasol!

We've both bought tailor made clothes here- vic's got a great little red dress and some leather sandalls and i've got myself a suit and two shirts for a fraction of the price we'd pay back home.

Tomorrow we head up the coast to Hue and will definitely be very sorry to leave this brilliant place!

Love to you all,

Joe and Vic