The journey to Hoi An was in excess of 500km which on Vietnams road networks was to take about 11 hours so one of the more popular ways to make this transfer is on one of Vietnams infamous night buses. An air conditioned coach equipped with double decker cribs to allow you to travel overnight in relative comfort. We had spotted a couple of these night coaches while we were in Saigon and deciding that they looked ok we opted to save some time by making some of our transfers overnighters. We had booked the tickets the previous day and as instructed reported to the office at 7.30pm having had an early dinner. Once the bus arrived we all had to put our shoes into plastic bags and we were escorted to our bunks. As soon as I set eyes on ours I couldn't believe our bad luck as we were on the bottom of the very back row so instead of having our very own crib we had to share the entire back row with 3 other complete strangers! To paint the picture it was like a giant 5 man bed where we all lie side by side with the top bunk above us in the same configuration. The result is that you feel like a sardine in a cave as its so low to the ground and so dark from the bunk above it really felt like the worst seat on the entire bus. To make matters worse one of the beds was only half length which may suit a 3ft Vietnamese woman but for all 5ft 7 of me it was absolutely gutting. I have to admit that it took me a good hour to tuck in my petted lip and get over the shock of where we were spending the night. Even though it was only 8pm as soon as we left the bus station the driver turned off the lights and much to my surprise and absolute delight I fell instantly asleep! The next thing I knew they were turning on the lights for a toilet stop and as I rolled around there was Mike cuddled into me with a very unhappy look on his face! It turns out as soon as I dozed off so did the giant swiss man on Michaels left and within minutes he had rolled around and was spooning into Mike's back for the remainder of the journey! After a quick toilet stop it was back to the bat cave for the second part of the journey. Very uncharacteristically I almost instantly fell asleep again and Michael having made peace with his predicament wasn't far behind me! After what felt like a very short sleep the lights were on again for what we assumed was the next toilet stop so you can only imagine our surprise when the clock said 6am and we had arrived at Hoi An. Granted its not the best time to arrive in a new town with lots of touts and motorbike taxis trying to take full advantage of your tired and vulnerable state but we just got our bags on and walked off as if we had a definite place to go even though we didn't have a clue and that seemed to give them the slip! We had a hotel booked so it was just a case of finding the address and fortunately on arrival we only had to wait for 2 hours before they had a room ready for us. Feeling pretty fresh we headed out for a spot of breakfast before going to the old town to explore. Hoi An is a mainstay on any travelers itinerary due to its untouched and some might say unspoiled layout. The old town is free from all traffic which means no honking horns every few seconds, the building are within a conservation area so both the interior and exteriors are preserved as they looked a hundred and fifty years ago allowing visitors an insight into how Vietnam used to look and feel. We purchased a ticket which allowed access into some of the temples and historic houses for a closer look at the interiors. The ticket also allowed us to walk across the Japanese Covered Bridge, constructed in 1593 the bridge is covered over with stone to provide shelter and being closed in it has a temple within it for worship. The whole place is charming and with no traffic to watch out for it is an extremely relaxing place to wander around. We visited some of the places of interest on our tickets however we actually got more out of just walking the old streets looking at the tatty buildings showing their character in age as well as some of the better preserved specimens which had obviously benefited from the towns restoration and preservation mission. My favourite street had to be the one lined with shops making the traditional Chinese silk lanterns. The entire street was lined with brightly colored lanterns of varying shapes and sizes consuming every spare inch of space on both the inside and outside of the shop. Outside each shop sitting on the tiniest stool I have ever seen were equally tiny women constructing yet another colorful masterpiece. Another thing that Hoi An has a name for is its abundance of tailors ready to throw together a custom made suit for a rock bottom price. The main street running through the old town is almost entirely filled with tailors all displaying samples of things they can create in a variety of fabrics and styles. The shops were filled with sample suits, coats, dresses, skirts and trousers all there to get your imagination racing with what could be created to your exact measurements in materials chosen by you. Having not really entertained having anything made while here it was sorely temping seeing all the beautiful jackets and coats, something I can never quite get to fit back home!! After slowly meandering through the town we found ourselves in the produce market and unlike the markets in the cities there were no stalls or tables, all the women in their conical hats sit cross legged with baskets of fruit or vegetables on their knees ready to sell you something fresh from their garden! Each woman sold maybe one or two things so a trip to the market must involve visiting a vast selection of vendors in order to meet your daily needs! Our introduction to the town ended with a walk along the riverfront before heading back to the hotel to freshen up before heading back to the old town for dinner. Unbelievably Hoi An is almost as pretty at night as it is during the day as the streets are lit by red silk lanterns which creates an enchanting atmosphere and is what you imagine rural Vietnam to be all about! We found the most run down looking restaurant down by the river and had a delicious meal with a few beers watching the world go by out the window.

The next day we had booked a tour to an area called My Son about 40 minutes drive from Hoi An. My Son is a collection of ruins left behind from the ancient Cham Empire of the 7th century. Set in the middle of the jungle the backdrop only adds to the atmosphere surrounding the ruins. On arrival at the ruins we were given a short introduction as to the history and layout before being left to walk around ourselves. Whilst the Vietnam war had destroyed some of the ruins and the elements had destroyed others there were still plenty of structures left standing to give an idea of what the area used to look like. To think that they had been built in the 7th century and were still standing just blows my mind and to be in the midst of such ancient history is absolutely fascinating. We were able to walk around and touch the structures as well as go into some of them which for me was a little bit scary as they were so cold, dark and uninviting. After taking hundreds of photos from every imaginable angle we were ready to move on and explore some of the war torn areas which were interesting in themselves as you could see giant craters where bombs had landed completely obliterating the earth and the ancient structures that sat on it. After the tour we were taken on the bus to the riverside to board a boat to have lunch and sail back down the river to Hoi An's old quarter. On our way down the river we passed a floating fishing village and were able to watch the wee old men casting out their nets to catch not much of anything at all! On our way back to the town we also stopped at an island off the coast of Vietnam to watch a demonstration on wood carving with a view to us all buying one of the many beautiful and intricately carved pieces. After the brief island visit (brief because nobody wanted to buy anything) it was back on the boat to finish our sail to the old town. Once off the boat I wanted to have a closer look at some of the tailored jackets as I was keen to see if my travelers budget would stretch to a custom made piece. Unbelievably I was quoted twenty pounds for a fully lined, wool blend jacket with a fancy structured collar and the samples were just too pretty to resist so with a little coaxing from Michael I had my measurements taken to get one of my own and my first ever custom made jacket. Having only had a small lunch on the boat we decided to have a second late lunch and sample one of Hoi An's specialties Cao Lau, a flat noodle mixed with bean sprouts, mixed greens, croutons and sliced pork and it was here that I discovered my new favourite thing, pork!!!
Our last day in Hoi An was beautiful so we got up early and headed to the tailors to collect my jacket which not surprisingly fitted perfectly and was just as I wanted it to be. Not exactly the weather for winter coats it has no place in Vietnam so we went in search of the post office to arrange to send it home ahead of our return. Being the tailored clothing capital they were well practiced in dealing with foreigners sending home clothing so the whole process was surprisingly easy with them even preparing the parcel for me. As soon as we were finished at the post office we hailed a couple of motorbike taxis and headed to the nearby beach of Cua Dai. The taxi was a hoot as usual and as expected we were dropped off at the restaurant/beach bar of one of the drivers buddies and were instantly ferried onto the beach with an invite to use the beautiful comfortable loungers free of charge if we had lunch in the restaurant! Keen to ovoid being completely conned we went for a walk along the beach to investigate what the competitors had to offer however it soon became clear that the nicest place was where we had been dropped off so we headed back and were soon relaxing in loungers on the beautiful beach with a freshly made mojito in hand to help set the mood! The rest of the afternoon was a real chill fest with only a short stumble to the restaurant for lunch were I tried my first ever barbequed tiger prawn and enjoyed it so much that I ended up having 4! Once it was time to head back to the hotel the wee man from the restaurant summoned our motorbike taxi's from earlier and we proceeded to have a race back to the hotel, running red lights and overtaking giant trucks, every few minutes overtaking each other before my driver made a break for freedom on approach to the hotel leaving us the winners of a very amusing all be it scary race home.