After a quiet day in Hue, an evening in an Indian restuarant and a night watching an American film on the hotel TV (very cultural), we left for HoiAn!

We arrived at lunchtime and spent the afternoon wandering around the old streets, checking out the attractions. They were mostly old temples and workhouses and beautiful if not particularly exciting, but the wooden fronts of the houses in the old town were enough in themselves! HoiAn is famous for it's tailor made silk garments, so we visited lots of shops looking for dresses :) It was fun looking but nothing really caught my eye to buy, and Ollie refused to buy a tailor made suit however good they claimed to be! The night consisted of very cheap and some free drinks, with a free journey on the back of a motorcycle (to collect our free drinks) - I wonder how they make any money!!

The next day we rented bikes again to make the journey to the neighbouring island - just over a bridge! After that was the first visit to the beach, very exciting. Much nicer climate by the sea - pretty windy! I was particularly excited about the bus that night down to NhaTrang, as it was a sleeper bus. Basically, three rows of bunk beds on a bus! Clever idea, though Im not sure it worked so well for tall tourists! We worked out there were probably just as many people on this bus as you'd get seated, and for small people it would be far more comfortable than a seat overnight. Still, novel, if not comfortable.

We arrived in NhaTrang at 5:30am, which feels more like 2am after a rough nights sleep! Turned out to be good timing as we turned the corner from the bus station to see the beach, with the sun rising over the sea. It was a lovely scene - all the locals were out for morning exercise and in the water, so the beach was packed out! Seemed crazy to us, but I think its a way of life. We nabbed the cheapest hotel this time and set out for a day on the beach again :) Sandwiches sold by the road seem to be serving us for breakfast and lunch at the moment, consisting of baguette, cream cheese and tomato! At 20p a sandwich it's a cheap meal, and we're getting pretty good at haggling for things now, though usually, converting it back, over a few pence!

Today we took a boat trip to a nearby island for snorkelling. Ollie was very excited, and it made a good break from the beach as theres not much else to do in NhaTrang. We did a few hours of snorkelling overall and saw some awesome coral and fish - the water is really clear here so visibility is good. This afternoon has been rainy again, so we're ducking into internet cafes and restaurants for shelter. Our bus leaves for Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon) tonight, and we've been promised by the tourist agency we have the longest 'beds' on the bus - we will see!!!