Hoi An

Hoi An is nice, if a little dull. Actually I probably think that because it's quite a lot like Hue and I had a feeling of been there done that. I also had a little bit of a cold and sore throat that possibly put me on a bit of a downer in general.

The first day I arrived just consisted of a little bit of wandering around the little town. On the positive side it is a very attractive little place with old french colonial style buildings and winding little streets. It's reminiscent of being in some old film set. A lot of character sums it up well I think.

In the evening I took a stroll out for dinner and a beer. Usual thing, find a place with a pool table and you get talking to someone before long. I met up with an English guy and a Welsh girl and I think the pool table must have had big pockets because I was kicking ass for once! After that bar we headed on to one of the towns few late spots - King Kong bar. It was run by a jovial Canadian fella (and his dog called Stinky!). He took us off to another random bar to see the sunrise over the river which was very beautiful. I got an especially good view as an old lady offered to take me out to the middle of the river in her little canoe! The little thing was shaking all over the place as I fidgeted but she managed to keep it upright and even let me row it back to shore. Very random. After that I headed off for a noodle soup breakfast with Josh (the Canadian) and hit the hay.

Obviously most of the next day was one of those all too common washouts but I managed to make it out for the evening. That night I met Esther from Holland around the same pool table and ended up hanging out with her over the next couple of days. The following morning I got up and rented a bike and cruised over to the beach for some much needed r and r. After a good afternoon topping up my tan and swimming in the South China Sea I met up with Esther for dinner. I'm proud to say not one drop of alcohol passed my lips! For a whole day, it's a rare occurence!

Next day I met Esther bright and early (at 10 am!) and we got some more bikes to head over to The Marble Moutains. Unsuprisingly they are mountains made of marble where you can visit some quite impressive holy caves and sweet little pagoda's. Really nice, even if the ride was a little bit hairy at times. Vietnamese driving is not safety first I can tell you.

I was due to head off to Nha Trang the following evening so we went out for a last dinner and some food. We bumped in Josh which is a common occurence in these parts in such small towns and relatively few ex-pats going to the same places. Then slightly later in the evening I bumped into some of my Irish buddies from Hanoi! They were down to 3 now as another 3 of them had got bar jobs in Hanoi! I had a few with them and it turned out they were also off to Nha Trang the next day.

I got to bed pretty late again and just spent the next day packing and sorting my stuff out for the 12 hr bus journey ahead. I have to say I'm getting a little bit tired of buses now. I think I might look at getting boats or something around Cambodia.