Sunday 17th May, Hoi An

So after our bus driver believing he was Lewis Hamilton we arrived safely in Hoi An at about 12pm. The drop off point was only around the corner from our hotel so off we went and checked in. And what a hotel it was!! At only $8 a night each we both had a double bed and the hotel was more of a mini resort with villas and outside pool! Yippee-god how we savioured the pool!! We spent the best part of the afternoon around the pool, swimming, sunbathing and reading. At about 4pm having not eaten all day we decided it was time to shower and head into the town. We also managed to say hello to the guys from Hanoi before they all left that night. We decided on a moto into town as the free shuttle bus was not for another half an hour. It was 3 on a bike, with the driver, me and Caroline. A little strange that they don't find it necessary for the middle one to be wearing a helmet, this rule also seems to apply for children as well!! Don't they know children don't bounce!!! Its very frustrating to watch, as all Caroline and I keep thinking is about brain damage! Anyway so Caroline was in the middle holding onto my legs with me holding onto the back. We thankfully got there in one piece! From here we had a wonder and then both feeling very hungry just decided on Treats cafe. It was recommended in the Lonely Planet and is a bit of a backpacker favourite. We both were very American and had burgers! Home made though-very tasty. It was also happy hour. The night came in and we played some pool, 1st just the two of us and then doubles after with a couple we met called Sharon and Jamie. Hometime came about 1am with a 20 minute walk back to the hotel. We were told it was only a 10 minute walk! They lied! It was also amazing how quiet it was at this time.

MONDAY 18TH MAY, HOI AN

Managed to wake up today in time for breakfast and then post that we hired bikes and headed to the beach. It was about 5km to the beach on some hilly roads. We biked there along the coast road and it was all going well, apart from the heat, until Caroline decided to try and stand and peddle up a hill. The bike didn't like this and decided it would break half way up the hill. Thankfully it was only the chain, and a very nice young Vietnamese boy stopped to help us put it back on! Oh what girls we are!! We eventually made it to the beach and spent most of the day sunning ourselves. A good view across the sea as well. The only hassle of the day was people constanly tring to sell us thinks. From Mangos to fags to tiger balm. Along with jewellerly, bags and sunglasses! They didn't know what to say when we asked them if they did prescription sunglasses! lol! We also discovered that some of the ladys on the beach wear 4 layers of clothes during the day to protect there skin! And were not talking just t-shirts, no big jumpers and hoodies. Its crazy but they believe that the sun will go through layers of clothes!! We knew that it is beleived that if you have white skin you have a better job and if you have dark skin you are known to be an outside worker but still 4 layers of clothes! Ridiculous! The end of the day was spent eating spring rolls over looking the beach. This was also the time when the locals love to come to the beach. Its when the sun is going down so its cooler for them to swim, play football and eat on the beach. Fun to watch. We cycled back to town along the river, where there were lots of lovely bars overlooking the river. Noted for the next day. Caroline also had some fun with a water buffalo. He was tethered alongside the road but the rope was fairly long and as we tryed to cycle around him he kept coming in our direction. I manged to get around him but Caroline had a bit of a problem until some nice Vietnamese woman helped keep him out the way! A bit scary as his horns were fairly big. Once back at the hotel and showered we took the shuttle bus into town and ate at a local restaurant where we had a set menu of local food. The restaurant also overlooked the river and the An Hoi pennisula. After dinner, we used the internet had a few beers and then made the 20 minute walk back to the hotel.

Tuesday 19th May 2009, Hoi An

We hired bikes again today and went on a bike ride. We started off biking into town and getting some lunch as well as finding the bus office which wes printed as number 37 it actually turned out to be number 73!! After getting our bus booked to Nha Trang we carried on with are bike ride. We cycled along the river and found Mr Phong's resturant where we wanted to book a village tour through him but he wasn't going to be there till 5pm. During are bike ride we saw the Japanese bridge and the busy food market. We then decided to go to the beach again for a few hours, we took the scenic route along the river and through one of Hoi An villages, which was fun encountering chickens, Buffalo's, snappy dogs and many friendly locals shouting hello. Towards the end of the village road when we were nearly back on the beach road some random vietnease man on a motorbike grabbed my boob, in total shock I'd didn't really know what to do so I just shouted "F**king pervert" Suzie totally unaware of what had just happened heard me shout and turned round "what did you say" "that man just grabbed my boob" after recovering we carried on along to the beach. We stayed on the beach for two hours then cycled back into town stopping for a few beers in a riverside bar on the way back. Cycling in the dark with no lights was fun!! On the way back we went back to Mr Phongs resturant to book our tour for the next day. Dinner tonight was at another local restaurant on the riverside where Suzie sampled grilled fish in Banana leaf-very tasty but very meaty. I had some very big prawns in ginger and lemongrass-lovely!!

Wenesday 20th May 2009 Hoi An

Early start today for the tour we were picked up at 8am and taken to Mr Phongs village 15km outside Hoi An to his house. Once there we had some tea and he told us about the War and the culture of Vietnam which was very interesting. He then showed us around his house and the family temple at the house of the last three generations (They have another family temple in the village for the other generations). From his house we were taken to look around the village where we saw a rice wine brewery, drying out tabacco leaves ready for the factories, fish being dried out ready for the rainy season, ear wax cleaning shop, a hairdressers in a shack (but they still have straightners), the local market and the other family temple. After the village tour we were taken back to his house for lunch which was prepared by his wife the food was amazing!! We were dropped back at the hotel at 2pm were we updated our blog and got ready for our bus to Nha Trang which picked us up at 6pm for the 12 hour Journey).