Hoi An

Pic: The beach outside Hoi An - our view for three days, sigh....

Saturday 3 June
Our journey took us on a 5 hour bus trip south to Hoi An ; spectacular scenery on the way down the coast with stunning beaches, lagoons and mountains. Our bus made several stops on the way down at some of the beaches, the Marble Mountains and China Beach (as of the old US TV series). China Beach was actually used by the US army during the war as part military hospital and part respite area for soldiers.

On arriving in Hoi An, we were sheperded by our tour bus to a hotel called "An Phu" - the prices given were within our budget but the existence of a swimming pool sold it for us. It was probably the nicest place we stayed in since Bangkok. So what you gonna do when you get off a bus after 5 hrs, its 38 degrees outside and its still only 2.30pm ...... hit the loungers at the poolside.

That evening when the temperature fell to a "cool 28 degrees" we decided to venture out and explore the town. We weren't long on foot when we were accosted by a girl who practically dragged us to her sisters shop to check out the clothes. I must explain - Hoi An is famous for its tailoring shops - thats all thats in the town other than the gorgeous beaches. We picked out the styles and the materials and the clothes were ready for final fittings the next day at 4pm - there is a 24 hr turnaround time on most items ! Very quick , impressive work and most importantly - very cheap.

The next few days we divided our time between the pool and the beach. We rented bikes (mine had seriously steering and questionable breaks) but we got on fine and were flying around in no time like the other psychos on mopeds on the dirt roads around the town.

Hoi An is a beautiful spot - a combination of chinese, vietnamese, french and european influences. Even though we were hassled like crazy by sellers of all ages and all levels of english. One funny american (!) aptly named walking down the main street like "Running the Gauntlet".

We did make friends though with some of them on the beaches - Lina, Qin, Binh number 1 and Mango. As a result of the french influence there was plenty of cafes and bakeries selling baguettes, pain au chocolats and other french delights !