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On Thursday 4th August we left Hanoi to begin travelling down Vietnam. We took a sleeper bus to Hoi An; the journey took 17hrs! It was a bit of an ordeal having to spend so long couped up in a stinky bus in beds that were way too small for western statures. I was also really paranoid about my stuff being stolen while I was asleep, so I kept everything in a money belt under my t shirt. One girl had her iPod stolen, so I was right to be cautious. Having said that, the bus was super cheap and the scenery surrounding us on the journey was amazing. We travelled along a mountain pass which gave us magnificent views of tropical forests, rural settlements, and the beautiful unspoiled coastline.
We finally arrived in Hoi An at about 2pm Friday and checked into the lovely Sunflower Hotel. It was definitely the most luxurious place we have stayed at so far, a world away from Peace House! The staff are very polite and friendly (a surprising rarity here), we had petals decorating our beds, a swimming pool, and a incredible buffet breakfast. Free food is always a winner with us!
We spent the afternoon exploring the narrow, car-free streets of Hoi An old town. The town has Unesco World Heritage status, so all the historical buildings have been preserved or restored, giving the the streets a lovely traditional charm. The town has a very french feel to it, with its huge market and pretty riverside promenade lined with restaurants
Hoi An is famous for its abundance of tailor and cobbler shops. Emily, Alice and I all got some clothes tailor made, which was very exciting! The tailors are renowned as master copiers- they can replicate any picture from a magazine or catalogue. I choose a pretty ruffled shirt that I would be able to wear for my hospital rotations next year; I picked the fabric and colour and then got measured up! We came back the next day very nervous about our purchases, but the clothes fitted really well. $18 for a tailored shirt made overnight can't be bad!
In the evening we headed to a hole-in-the-wall vegetarian place tucked away in an alley in the Old Town. The menu was displayed on a wooden board and simply read: rice, noodles, cao lau (flat fried noodles)! It was great to be in a proper 'locals' eatery, with no other westerners around. The meal only cost us 15000d, which is equivalent to 45p!!! It was really tasty, although I have discovered that I greatly dislike tofu- evil evil substance!
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