We're in love!!!!!! NO NOT ME and DAVE!!!!, We are in love with Hoi An. So much so we have booked 2 extra nights here.

We arrived here following the coach journey from hell . For some strange reason, the only coach from Hue to Hoi An is a sleeper coach which travels during the day. This means you have to lie down for 4 hours in broad daylight in pretty claustrophobic conditions, shoes off and feet tucked into this box thing. When we first got to our seats/beds whatever you call them, ours were on the floor with other beds directly over us, Dave was pretty much hysterical and I was looking around for a paper bag for him to blow into to stop him from hyperventilating [slight exaggeration there]. Luckily some rather handsome young men took pity on us and gave up their seats/beds/what-ever-you-call-um and we were able to lie on the top row [I'm getting used to top bunks by now] which was only ever so slightly better. The photos do not do the experience justice and all that remains to be said is; we will not be taking a sleeper coach again.

Luckily the agony was worth it as Hoi An is one of the prettiest and most characterful places we have ever seen. Quaint old streets and buildings, a bustling market , lovely riverside cafes and restaurants and a busy working river with people fishing, washing, and rowing up and down going about their daily business. The people are so friendly and there are smiles and greetings wherever you go.

As we are now quite adventurous we hired bikes [pedal ones not the speedy, dangerous types with engines] and we had a wonderful time exploring along the river side and the myriad of streets that are Hoi An. We collapsed in a bar for a bottle of orange and a bum rest then continued our mission back to the river for a beer. [We never did find the beach so we will leave that for another day]

Later in the day we went for dinner back down to the river where, to our surprise and delight, there were lots of things going on in celebration of the full moon. Music, dancing, games and lots of candle lanterns floating down the river. [Not quite the same as the full moon celebrations in Thailand, Laura and any other young whipper-snappers who may be reading this]

We got chatting to a young couple who encouraged us to join in with the Vietnamese Bingo. Those of you who know me well will know that, I have, in the past, won the odd game of bingo and low and behold I won tonight, though I didn't have a clue what was going on, [well look at our photos and see if you can see any similarity to our bingo] they kept bringing me yellow flags [which at first I thought was the prize] but no, once I had 3 flags everyone was clapping and cheering and they called us up to the middle of the stage and gave us a prize of a big Vietnamese lantern. We felt like kings and queens, we were suddenly everyone's best friend, though how the hell we are supposed to get the lantern home God only knows.

Friday

Today we booked a coach trip [of the sitting up variety] to My Son where we visited the Cham towers, Ancient Places of worship, many of which were destroyed during the American war. We saw bomb craters and heard horrid stories of villages being wiped out by bombs and chemical weapons. Our guide told of a group of his friends who were killed by a land mine just 10 years ago when they were playing as children. Our visit to My Son was followed by a lovely cruise down the river with lunch on board back to Hoi An.

Of course when we arrived back, we had to stop on the riverside for a 'fresh beer'; locally brewed and even cheaper than others we have found. I have gone from 'strictly tea total' to a 'right old soak' it seems to go down too easily here and the tea and coffee is not nice! Well, I think actually it's the milk, which seems to range from coconut milk, to stuff with a green crust floating on the top to what I can only imagine is water buffalo milk as you don't see many cows. Whatever it is it doesn't taste like good old pasteurised cow's milk so I will be giving it a miss and sticking to black tea and the local brew.

Saturday

We couldn't resist the lure of the bikes again so we this time we ventured further afield into the countryside. We have some wonderful memories of a completely different way of life, where nature is key and hard work is the norm. We have never seen an idle person of any age here and they just seem to work from sunrise to sunset. All equal opportunities too, women are working the land, working on building sites and sweeping and repairing the streets alongside the men. Old and young all working together to make ends meet.

We are now back at our hotel for a siesta, Dave is snoring away and I am writing this blog. When it gets a bit cooler we are going to brave renting a motor bike [just the one, I will be riding pillion] to try to find the beach. Hopefully we will be back later to up-date the blog and put some more photos on. I can't believe we are leaving Hoi An tomorrow, we love it here, it is definitely a place to take your time, watch, listen, smell, taste, and think. Tomorrow, it will definitely be 'until we meet again' rather than goodbye.

We are back from our 'motor bike renting for a trip to the beach escapade' and the least said the better. We were 'mounted' for the best part of 5 minutes. There is now a coach traveling around Vietnam with a big scratch on its side and a taxi driver all the richer for driving us to the beach [which was gorgeous] and back. We are not cut out for the adventurous side of traveling and, we don't want to be sampling the delights of a Vietnamese hospital after seeing the restaurant kitchens and toilets!

Let me tell you a little something about the driving over here. To be fair, we haven't encountered a lot of cars but there are buses, lorries and literally millions of motor bikes, No-one looks anywhere but straight ahead, they don't look when they are pulling out, they don't look when they turn left or right, they don't look when they drive the wrong way down a one way street or in the wrong way up a two way street, they don't look when they jump red lights [not just whilst its turning red but all the time its red] they have no regard for lanes, there can be 5 rows of traffic in 2 lanes and whole families ride one motorbike, mum, dad, a couple of kids and a tiny baby and the shopping goes on too! People use them as work vans carrying huge loads [see photos, I will post more] And they honk their horns constantly. I am not exaggerating, it works for them but it was nerve racking for us and I forgot to mention potholes and helmets made of plastic like the bob the builder hats you buy from early learning!

We make no apologies for the number of photo's we have put on of Hoi An, we have loved every minute of it, it is beautiful and we wanted you to see them. They are best viewed with a nice cup of tea, feet up and click slide show. x