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Wednesday 27th April
We arrive down to reception for 7.30am sharp.People start appearing and we eventually leave at 8.45am.Everything about this country is unorganised..Every person tells you a different thing.It's so frustrating!!We get to Halong Bay Harbour at 11.30am then we are told this bus will be leave at 12noon.ANOTHER LIE.We wait until 12.40pm and they send a bus too small.Hen and I have to hang out the bus door.Luckily we are only going for lunch 10mins away.The guide said we can change bus so we can get back to Hanoi quicker, so we don't miss our night bus to Hoi An.WE MAKE IT.We rushed and worried and the bus doesn't even get there until 40mins later than it was supposed to, no surprise there then.We get to the bus and we are told it doesn't leave until 7pm.Ah well we should know better by now lol.We get on the bus and there is 3 rows of bunk bed style beds, upstairs and downstairs.Not much room.We choose the bottom bunks as it is darker so we should sleep more.Along the journey we are still picking people up but there is no room anywhere.They pick up local people and they end up sleeping on the floor right next to you.It's horrible.I give one man my scarf and jumper to use as a pillow.Around 8pm we stop for dinner and food is expensive and appalling.Henry and I get a few beers to try and numb the pain of the journey lol.Back on the bus.Just another 15 hours to go.We arrive in Hue and get off the sleeping bus onto a coach.Then we are told it will take another 4-5 hours to Hoi An.
Thursday 28th April
We arrive in Hoi An later afternoon and head to a guest house recommend to us by Si.It's clean and that is the main thing.We are so tired we do not care.We dump our bags and go for a walk.We go to this restaurant called 'Moon Restaurant & Lounge'.We order Hoi Dumplings to start with and they are so tasty.I have pictures in my album of the food.We also order some meat and veg skewers which come with salad and a peanut sauce.You get a bowl of warm water and hard rice pancakes.You put the rice pancake into the water and they go soft.You then add the meat, veg, salad and sauce and wrap it up.They are delicious.This is the best food we have had in Vietnam so far.I highly recommend this restaurant.We sat up the stairs and it was a lovely romantic atmosphere.We love Hoi An already as the streets are very pretty and it is very calming here.You have to have a walk at night down by the river.There are bars and restaurants all along the riverside and there is a great atmosphere.
Friday 29th April
Today we have booked a tour to 'My Son' (pronounced 'me son').It is a world heritage site which has a very important complex of Hindu temples which are a symbol of the Champa art.They were developed from the 4th to the 13th century.In 1999 it was listed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site.It was around 60,000 vnd for your entrance ticket.If you as a tour you will pay extra for transport etc.When we arrive we get to go up from the entrance to the site in an old jeep left by the Americans in the war.It was pretty cool.It was really nice just walking around the temples.Some of them were in pretty bad condition but it was very peaceful walking around the temples.On our way back to Hoi An town we stopped off and went on a boat to another small village.In this village was the woodcraft workshops.Some of the pieces of work were fantastic.Once we arrive back in Hoi An we go down by the riverside to sit in the sun and have some dinner and beer!We go to a restaurant called 'Thuan Y Restaurant'.We order the traditional Hoi An 'Rose Dumplings'.They are delicious.So delicate in flavour.They also sell Bia Hoi so we are very happy.We sit there for most of the afternoon watching all the local people, eating local food and drinking Bia Hoi.Great afternoon.We are on the night bus to Nha Trang tonight as it's Henry's birthday tomorrow and I am going to make sure he has the best day as he has been a little stressed out with all the travelling and I think Vietnam in general lol.
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