Hoi An

As we have now taken many bus journeys, we have developed a coping strategy, which involves getting a take away pizza prior to departure. Cold pizza is the equivalent of a 3 course gourmet dinner when you are stuck on a bus for eternity with stops at places that serve unmentionable things ! I won’t go into the details of the places we have stopped on these journeys, especially the toilets but all I can say is Moto services, you may be expensive, but you get my vote anyday!!
When we eventually arrived in Hoi An, I could not believe the increase in temperature – it felt about 10 degrees hotter than Nha Trang, with no breeze. Hoi An was really beautiful – it has about 800 old buildings which have been granted Unesco status and feels similar to places like Florence. We only spent 3 days there, most of which was spent exploring the old town, and then resting in the shade!

Hoi An

The town is also famous for its tailors, I decided to have a suit made, but was not prepared for the amount of decisions I would need to make to do this – quite incredible! I was quite concerned about how it would turn out, but the end result was pretty good. Tim also had some trousers made, and when the lady measured us up, she told us that we were both fat! This was an unusual sales technique and slightly irritating as between us we have lost a couple of stone – which we did tell her – she wasn’t interested – in Vietnam apparently we are still fat!! Having had success with the clothes we had made, the shoes that we had made were not quite such a happy story..

Hoi An - Japanese bridge

Another highlight of Hoi An was discovering a brilliant restaurant, which had amazing food – very reasonable and draft beer for 3000 Vietnamese Dong – which is about 10p – cheaper than water. Although we were only about half way up the country, we have already noticed lots of changes in the food –each place has different specialities – central Vietnam food is spicier than the south.

Hoi An - Em's chosen her dress!!

Hoi An, Vietnam