Hoi An and Nha Trang

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We arrived in Hoi An on Monday 14th October, it was absolutely chucking it down. It has been raining, sticky and windy in De Hang so we were expecting a storm, and we were informed that a typhoon was on its way and would hit Hoi early morning of 15th. Our hotel was not on the beach or the side of the river so we weren't evacuated, but told that we had to stay in the hotel from around 6 ish.

We got the waterproofs out and went for massages in the afternoon. Marks 1st back massage and the woman promptly mounted his back! Haha. He said she went on to dig in her elbows and when she found a part of his back that wouldn't immediately crack she used all her force and body weight.. He said that he felt great after though. And I was next to him so it wasn't due to a dodgy happy ending, evidently no pain no gain is true.

The staff at the hotel were great and really friendly, although pretty scared about the night ahead and we met a couple who live in Zurich, had our laundry done and waited for the typhoon. The electricity cut pretty early (but they had a HB generator) and we met some lads (who once went to Manchester uni too!) And they had woken in there middle of the night to a flooded room and had to move away from the top floor. Other than that and part of the roof over the restaurant section falling down, the hotel was fine. The noise of the wind bowling through it all night was pretty crazy and resisting the urge to open the window and shutters to see what was happening in the night was really hard!

Most of the damage was to trees, huge 100 yr old beauty's ripped out at the root, a few roofs were damaged and there was a lot of flooding by the river and beach. Chatting to 1 of the staff she said that her roof had come off her house, she had spent the night at the hotel though, as she was heavily pregnant. It's like another world. We agreed that we had never before felt so simultaneously lucky and guilty. We heard it worst to hit Hoi An in 7 yrs but we don't know for sure.

We stayed 3 nights and saw things slowly improve, by the time we left markets were running and people were being hassled to death to buy things - so I think it was business as usual even though repairs were still in progress.

Mark had a suit tailor made, he said it was an absolutely perfect fit and it looked pretty damn sharp. I had a dress made, the woman let me look at different styles and design how I wanted it to be, amazing!

On to an overnight coach with the Zurich couple to Nha Trang. We climbed in to our bunk beds for 14 hrs and tried to ignore the fact that despite the pot holes and state of the road the guy was driving like a maniac. Would recommend this though - cheap, easy and saves a nights accommodation. I was awake most of the time though and I didn't see the driver change, an Aussie guy we meet in ha long bay joked that the divers must be on speed and if they're not we should seriously consider getting them some!

We just 1 night in Nha Trang, which appeared to be a bit more of a holiday destination, the beach was great, the shops a little more up market (with doors and everything) and lots of night life. Now on our way to Mui Ne for few days, my gorgeous boyfriend and partner in crime has dared to tell me that you can apparently surf there.. Fingers crossed!

Sending our love to friends, family and Manchester,

Mark and Vicky xxxx

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