Kieran:

Alreet!

We have now been in Hoi An for 6 nights- 2 extra than planned because we likes it so much!

We travelled here from Na Trang, which wasn't the best; our hotel let us down so we were left stranded, at 10pm, on a weekend, in an extremely popular Vietnamese resort, with nowhere to live! We wandered around for 2 hours with another couple we'd met on the bus before eventually finding a gaff that Emma accurately described as a hole (the room) within a hole (the hotel), with a hole (where a bathroom window would normally be). Needless to say, we only stayed for 1 night before promptly doing one to Hoi An, but not until after a fantastic day at the Brewhouse beach resort (pretty snooty), spending as little money as possible whilst taking advantage of their extensive facilities. And they only had real chuffing ale didn't they!!!

However, the journey to Hoi An was via an overnight, 12 hour sleeper bus: bloody awful, crammed in like battery hens and bounced around like big tiggers by our Vietnamese Colin McRae bus driver- no sleeping allowed!

Hoi An is fantastic though, it is another UNESCO world heritage site and a very very bonny little town. Our hotel is also the dog's baloneys, our room boasting a jacuzzi, computer, free bananas and a balcony overlooking the pool!

We've had a couple of lazy days by the pool (getting our money's worth), but have also done stuff! We've had suits and dresses (mine is a short, black little number) made by one of the town's 400+ tailors, biked 8km to Cua Dai beach and yesterday we went on a local fishing Eco-tour down the waterways used by soldiers in the war; I learned how to fish using huge nets whilst Emma learned how to kill a puffer fish by keeping it out of the water for too long while she petted it. This was followed by a sumptuous and bountiful fish banquet on board the boat.

The only minor blot on this place has been our hotel breakfast! The man whose only purpose in life is to cook the eggs to go with the guest's breakfasts, makes me look like Delia Smith. Ask for fried with soft yolk, get white and yellow cardboard; ask for hard boiled, get a partly-incubated chick.

Russell and Leah, the couple from Na Trang, caught us up here so we've spent the last few evenings drinking too much with them and a few others.

And oh yeah, our head tailor's name was My Dung. Snigger! And the highlight of today was hearing a van reverse down the road; instead of the usual beep-beeping, this van's reversing warning tune was 'Santa Claus is coming to town'!

Hoi An has generally been a blast and we will be a bit sad to fly to Hanoi tomorrow. Onward and upward though!