Hoi An.

So far, apart from the fact that two scooter drivers tried to rip us off as soon as we stepped off the bus, Hoi An has been my favourite place in Vietnam! It's much smaller and quieter than the other places we've been to - and a lot cleaner as well (the old quarter that is). The architectural style and colours of the buildings were gorgeous and we ended up just wandering around for a whole day in the old quarter looking at shops and sights.

Hoi An is famous for its tailors, who can whip up practically any item of clothing that you desire, within a day or two. There used to be only 4 tailors in the whole of Hoi An, but nowadays there are over 400. If we were still earning pounds, I probably would've had quite a few things made here, as they are master copiers. Show them a photo of any item of clothing and they will be able to reproduce it for you. It took quite a lot of self-restraint not to buy a small backpack and have it filled with custom made dresses and outfits to post back home.

Don wanted to have a suit made to wear to his sister's wedding in January in New Zealand, but it would have been impractical to cram the thing into a backpack for 6 weeks. He did end up going in to get a quote - just for the hell of it - VERY cheap. We also learned a lot about what to look out for, what kind of quality you get for your buck and all about the kinds of materials used for suits and shirts. Eventually he ended up having four work shirts made. And I must say this - he looks pretty fly for a white guy…… J

We spent our second day in Hoi An exploring the town on rented bicycles and then cycled to Cua Dai beach for some chillaxing and tanning. It was good to feel the sun on our backs after the rains of Hue. One sad thing here (and I think that this will become quite common in the years to come) - there are a large number of resorts suddenly springing up along the coastline, which take up a lot of the beach. It therefore won't be long before the locals will not be able to access their own beaches, as they have all been privatised (much the same as what has happened in Jamaica and Mexico). Talk about selling your soul in the name of tourism! Glad we got to see a bit of the natural Vietnamese coastline before it is all eaten up by commercialised resorts.

On our third day, we went on an excursion to My Son, which is a stunning old Cham temple complex located in the jungle about an hour and a half's drive from Hoi An. Unfortunately there was a lot of fighting and subsequent American B-52 bombing here during the Vietnam war and the large parts of the complex were either destroyed completely or severely damaged. It still is beautiful and majestic to behold and one can just imagine what it must have looked like originally. We spent quite a bit of time meandering around the ruins in the blazing sun (whilst sweating like horses - it really is humid). Afterwards, we hopped on a boat back to Hoi An, which was a pleasant change from the annoying buses and traffic. However, here we saw once again, damage caused to Hoi An and its surrounding areas by the same floods that we experienced whilst in Hue, a few days prior.

The next day, we cycled to the fishing village on Cam Nam island to see how the locals live - away from the tourist areas. After a stop for an ice cold bear, we headed back to Hoi An. Then it was time for yet another overnight bus ride from hell, south to Nha Trang.

New road here does not mean completed road!!!