Hi all

Proving that money CAN buy you fluffy towels, clean toilets and faster internet, we are now at the Life Resort in Hoi An and are LOVING free internet at the hotel, which actaully resembles our ADSL speeds.

The hotel is a wonderful 5* oasis in the otherwise unbearably hot Hoi An. Who could have guessed that it got hotter than Hanoi, but indeed it does. We went for a walk last night and Hoi An is about four streets - which is wonderful after Hanoi which was starting to do our heads in a bit.

So far we have been swimming in the pool (despite the fact its made for midgets and is as hot as a bath-yes mum millar its as hot as your pool! bring the ice I say!!!! lol), had beers from the pool side waiter, ate overpriced western food, had massages and facials and done a good job of avoiding the hawkers that mill around the entrance to the hotel. No we dont need laundry done, no i dont need a motorbike and I think id rather have overpriced massages at the hotel than go anwhere near your skanky shop.

Today we went clothes and shoes shopping. For the uniniatiated, this does not involve selecting from racks and trying a few things on - this is major made to measure, how many decisions can we pack into a three hours, who knew making clothes and shoes was so complicated kinda thing.

We went to a place that a friend of a friend had suggested and which looked ok when we did our inital scope last night. There are so many shops you have to make a choice and stick to it. I'm not going to disclose how much we bought but let's just say if the plane crashes on the way home, tell the investigators to start looking at an overloaded plane as the cause.

The shoe thing was interesting - they break a shoe down into its components - heel, leather, style - again, first time i have had to think about what kind of heel i like (answer is a high, thin one). Next stop are the markets where i am sure we will continue to get ripped off. I like to think of it as contributing to the local economy.

Tomorrow we are going to check out the artists area and see if we can organise a cooking lesson. We might also try to make our way to the beach, as long as its not too hard or hot or takes us too far from Tiger beer.

Ok, the eternal optimist, we are going to try again at the photo thing.....wish us luck