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The sleeper bus from nha trang wasn't half as bad as we thought it would be. Had the back seats as planned and mart could stretch out.
Arrived very early in hoi an had the usual mob of taxi men who we said no to them all. Asked the bus company to call us one of the green merlinh taxis (they are the good ones). We'd decided upon a home stay for something different..mart wasn't too convinced but I'd read into it and it sounded good.
The taxi took us through big bright green lemongrass fields and then stopped.
Lemongrass home stay is by far the best place we've stayed in. The staff we're so funny and friendly..only a tiny place with 5 rooms but very modern looking and clean. Even though we arrived at 07:30 and check in wasn't until 2pm we had breakfast and they let us go to our room. Had a nap and then they explained everyone gets around on bicycles or scooters in hoi an but they gave us bikes for free. So we set off on a bike ride around the town.
Hoi an is set on a river and also has a beach. We headed down to Central market an. Saw all the traditional fruit and veg markets browsed the many shops. It has a slightly French colonial feel to it..it's so peaceful the street light poles even have megaphones playing delightful calming music all day and night. Hoi an is quite famous for the tailoring of suits and dresses so there's lots of those shops. Later on we headed back down to the riverside for dinner before an early night for Martin!
Next morning we went to the rooftop pool to relax and then moved hotels they even gave us a free lift to our next hotel and hugs as we left.
Our next hotel wasn't as good as lemongrass but still nice. However the staff really don't speak much English. Still free bikes! This time we went down to the riverside at night where the whole town is lit by lanterns it's very beautiful. We watched women put floating candles onto the river saying prayers. Somehow managed to bike our way home in the dark without even a wrong turn, easy now we've managed to navigate the traffic although the traffic is minimal here. Nothing like HCMC.
Last day in hoi free breakfast at the hotel..I asked for shrimp fried rice..what I actually got I will never understand. I didn't want to appear rude so ate as much as I could without gagging. It kind of looked like a plate of squid..White jelly like circles with a sauce. Rank! we biked to the beach for the day which was a lot further than we thought but very nice..had a few hours relaxing. Visited an bang beach then rode another 5km to cu dai beach which was nicer in my opinion. On the way back to the old town we passed so many bright green fields full of lemongrass puckers we sat and watched them for a while.
Had dinner by lanterns again and then attended the night markets brought myself a lantern and a new purse. An American girl also asked me where I got my epic "fanny pack" from..Bangkok was the answer! Really enjoyed it here think I'll miss it.
Lots of sleep ready for the epic (but last long journey for vietnam) to Hanoi just the 20 hours to go!
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