21-25/ 12/19

Although Christmas is now just a few days away we are feeling anything but Christmassy. The old town and some hotels have decked the halls with gaudy decorations for all the tourists which is .....eeer lovely - but it's the thought that counts!

Getting into a daily routine of working when the weather's not so great and doing our own stuff when the sun pops out; we start to feel settled. Our room is large with an ensuite and two balconies. The house washing machine is in our room which is good and bad. Good, because it's at our disposal 24/7, not so good as our housemates need to pop in now and again to use it. The German/Spanish couple Katrina and Erdnan, and the English couple we met when we arrived Dave and April are both very friendly and we all get along like a house on fire. Although, we suspect that David and I are old enough to be their parents we are included in all aspects of day to day life in the house and feel very much part of it. Texting and messaging each other on our Group Messenging App is the way we all communicate when we're either busy working in our rooms or out and about in town and need to get in touch. Breaking News folks - David and I are finally embracing the world of modern technology.

To help us get about there are four rusty old bicycles and an ancient scooter to share, this means we can zip around town and to the beach easily. Whilst doing this we very quickly realise Vietnamese road ethics are completely different to ours. To us the motorbike riders and cyclists often ride on the wrong side of the road, traffic lights are ignored and when it comes to junctions it's a free for all. To them it's about keeping moving and they all follow their code and it works. Even so, coupled with the fact that they ride on the right hand side of the road and that our bikes are completely unroadworthy I'm amazed we (especailly me) hasn't come a croper or been knocked off yet. We wanted a challenging adventure and we're certainly having one!

David and I are are truly starting to feel at home in Hoi An. Our neighbours are very friendly and always shout out "Xin Chao" (hello) when we cycle by. Making friends with our local shop owner means we are given good advice on what to purchase and at good prices. Food and drink are really cheap - a decent local meal and a beer can be had for just a couple of pounds. The covered market in the old town centre is our favourite; a fabulous place to eat. Little mobile cooking units are dotted around the hall all selliing the same tasty local dishes. Sitting around the open kitchen you can (and we do) interact with the cook while watching your meal being prepared. This is a great way to get to know the locals and the real taste of Hoi An. Our favourite belongs to Mrs Hoa and her daughter who gesture their cutomers to sit at their counters with big welcoming smiles and shouts of "verrry gud fooud". Vietnamese food is light, fragrant and has real depth of taste and texture. Fruit, vegetables and herbs are the main ingredients and as such you feel really healthy bordering on righteous after one of their broths or salads. A throw back from colonial days is snack called Bahn My - a delicious baguette filled with fillings such as pork, pate, cheese and egg but all with stacks of fresh herbs and vegetables and an oriental sauce of some kind and topped with some fried off garlic and onion crispy bits. Also, each region is proud of it's local dishes which are abundant ; Hoi An has Cao Lau and White Rose. Cao Lau, a thick noodle dish with sliced pork simmered in a broth with pork scratchings topped off with herbs is delicious and White Rose is a delicate dish of rice paper parcels filled with minced pork and herbs served with a broth and a chilli and vinegar dip -mmmmmmmmmmmm!

Food thoughts over and back to work we go hey ho. It's 10.30am on 23rd December and we are all gathered together aroud the kitchen table with Travis for our first editorial. Computers on and note pads in hand it all seems surreal - I'm in Vietnam having a meeting with my new boss????? All goes well; Travis seems very happy with our work and provides us tips and pointers on material he'd like adding/removing from the articles being written. As it's an online magazine it's aimed at producing hits on Google so key words have to be used and the articles must be written in a positive tense; i.e "you will", not "you may". Come to think of it Travis must be pretty happy with our work as he pays our living expenses up front for the full three weeks we are here. The full 2.8m VND, just under a hundred pounds for us both for three weeks work. Coat hangers, cereal bowls and extra cutlery have also been delivered after being requested. The showers have been fixed so we now have occasional hot water - life is sweet yipee! Travis is very approachable and you are trusted - as long as you're getting on with some work you're free to do as you please when you please.

We have used the weather forecast to plan our work around the sunshine and as a consequence have broken the back of our first assignments whilst it is wet and grey. The good news is that Accu weather is true to its prediction and the weather is now fabulous so we make the most of it. Christmas Day arrives we treat ourselves to a delicous breakfast at our local cafe and head on into town to photograph the beautiful merchant houses, streets and the hectic food market. Whilst there we have decided to do something completely different to what we'd do at home and cycle the 4km via paddy fields to the beach. Although our bikes are old and rusty with gears that don't work, I have become a more confident rider. You will now see me zipping across busy junctions and zooming along on narrow bumpy paths. Riding home from our day at the beach - I'm starting to relax OMG! a herd of water buffalo is directly in front of me and coming my way fast. I'm not exagerating if I say it is like a scene from a David Attenborough documentary involving Wildebeast migration - well I am .. a bit. David confidently gestures to the traffic to slow down, takes a central position whilst signalling to the oncoming vehicles to move over while I stopped dead, jumped off my bike and weave my way through the traffic to the otherside of the road. My confidence returns once we are past the beasts.

As a Christmas treat to ourselves we decide to really push the boat out and have drinks at dusk at a lovely bar in town where they filmed The Quiet American. The film is set in the 50's as colonialism is ending in Vietnam and stars Micheal Caine. There are many scenes shot in this house but one is of an opium den - rest assured it is still a den but a drinking den today. The house is a 200 year old merchants home that has been handed down the same family throughout it's long and distinguished history. It's still in fantastic condition, is extremely well restored and we feel oh so posh as we sip our premium beers and nibbles overlooking the plebs on the street set out in front of us. Loving the vibe we splash out on a second round taking the bill to over £3! Whilst sipping the ice cold beer and watching the street scene we can't help ask one of the waitresses about a phenomenon that we have been smelling and witnessing all evening. Nearly every house and business has made a little fire with insense sticks and paraphernalia/rubbish in a large tin can and place them just outside their front doors. Apparently it brings good luck, it smells divine and they do this twice a year. We then enjoy a Vietnamese Christmas feast that includes a dish where you place hard rice paper discs in water to soften them before making a spring roll. We did not realise that the water was to soften the discs and must have looked very foolish (maybe we are the plebs too?) as we struggled with the non pliable rice paper. David exclaimed "you can't eat these they taste like plastic" and I gave up shortly afterwards. Thank goodness we got the hang of it as they were divine once we had cracked the recipe but you certainly don't have to prepare your own food down at Mrs Hoa's!

Wildlife Spotting#4; Bolting water buffalo