Greetings from Nha Trang

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It's been a while since I last wrote, too much to do, so little time..

After Izzy arrived on the 2nd, we had another 2 days is hanoi at the History museum & revolutionary museum, showing iz the delights of hanoi, munching a lot of vietnamese food & drinking a fair bit of beer... and then we were off on our sleeper bus. slightly odd experience. bunk beds about as wide as a person and def not as long as a person. not really beds as such, more really reclined seats. v bizarre. i slept like a baby, as i always do. jay and izzy didn't fair quite so well.

we arrived in hue about 8 in the morning and got a taxi to the hostel where we were staying. chilled out, munched our free breakfast then went looking for the citadel. we found it, kind of. after about an hour of wondering around a few shops and houses and going this CAN'T be the citadel lonely planet & everyone else goes on about, then we stumbled across the back entrance and found our way in. it was v. pretty, old vietnamese architecture, a couple of elephants and a lot of photos of 'vietnam through the ages'. about half the citadel was under reconstruction works so we didn't get to see it all but what we did see was good! after our wanderings we were hungry so decided to investigate a nearby lonely planet recommended restaurant. there were 3, all with almost exactly the same name, in a row all claiming to be the lonely planet restaurant.. we eventually picked the busiest one hoping for the best. it was sooo tasty and SOOOO cheap. a very very good find! (and the correct one, we discovered later). that evening jay's friend from childhood was in hue at the same time so came to our hostel for 'happy hour'. (free beer!! no catch) so that was cool to see them.
next morning we hit the market, craazy busy and craazy cramped but good fun all the same. lunch in the same restaurant (it was that good!) and then back to hostel. our plan was to venture out and explore some other bars but alas, it was one of the bar staffs leaving dos so cocktails on tap forced us to stay where we were.

next morning we were up at 8 for a 4 hour bus ride to hoi an. we jumped in the taxi and went round the corner.. only for the taxi to spin round back to our hostel and the driver told us to 'get out, you have no ticket' after some confusion and translation help from the hostel owner it turned out our tickets had not been confirmed but he rang another company and managed to get us on another bus. but the bus was leaving in 10 minutes so we would have to get motobikes.. before the words had even left his mouth there were 3 moto taxis (xe oms) waiting.. i dont know how they do it. so we jumped on with our massive backpacks and off we went, racing for our bus. after rather a hairy trip which included izzy & her driver falling off and my driver cutting her hand open we reached the bus station where the bus was literally pulling away as we jumped on it.

4 hours through BEAUTIFUL vietnamese countryside and we made it to hoi an. it is SUCH a pretty town. the streets are all old styley buildings, all that cracked faded yellow colour and the river at the bottom of the old quater is soo nice. we found a hotel and wandered through hoi and to find some food and taste some hoi an delicacies, we realised there were an INSANE amount of tailor shops. nearly every shop front in a tailor shop. silk is what 'made' hoi an in the way back when days and no that the tourists have arrived the industry is stronger than ever! we wandered through market, managed to avoid going into any shops with beautiful beautiful clothes we went back and chillaxed by the pool. it was 38 degrees!!
next day was a trip out to the ruins at my son (unesco world heritage site) it was another ridiculously hot day but we just about managed to appreciate the beauty and mystery of the ruins before heading back into hoi an and then me and iz relented and decided to go shopping. jay stayed behind with his book.. the trouble with shopping in hoi an is the CRAZY hassling from shop assistants and you cant try anything on. if you want something you have to pick the style, fabric, get measured etc etc. some incredible clothes, definately a place to go to get suits and ball dresses and an entirely new summer wardrobe of flowery dresses and skirts... we managed to resist getting only 1 pair each of elephant fabriced trousers. the baggy ones where the crouch is round your ankles.. you know the ones. that evening pretty restaurant by the river for dinner with jays friends again.
3rd day we went to confirm our bus tickets for that night but bus was full, we couldnt go till the following night. so impromtu day in hoi an.. we didnt really do anything.. spent a while trying to sort out accommodation then swimming pool. sun. etc etc. that evening i beat jay at pool. twice. 😊
4th day in hoi an was by the beach, we got a couple of xe oms (the moto taxis) to the beach and chillaaaxed in the sun. soo nice, pretty beach, hot sun, under the shade.. very nice way to spend a day. lunch of sea food then back to hoi an for a few more games of pool (beat jay 3 times..) and then back on the sleeper bus to nha trang.

Nha trang is not pretty like hoi an but its more of a city so more bustling and busy. the beach is nice though, where we spent most of yesterday and then after our 4 isalnd boat hopping trip idea collapsed, today as well.

so yeh, pretty long entry. vietnam is awesome 😊 our trip down has been a bit rushed which is a shame but cant be helped as jay flies out of ho chi minh on the 15th.. in 2 days. cant believe in 1 months I'll be home.. nuts!!

love to everyone & aplogies for the lengthy entry, impressed if you're still reading!! xxxx

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