Hoi An - a shoppers paradise

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Up early again to get the 8.42am train from Hue to Danang. Train station was very orderly and easy to find your way around, with the train ticket detailing the coach, berth and seat numbers on it and the coach number clearly marked on the platform. Very easy to find your place! Train was very clean and comfortable - we had a whole sleeping compartment between us with a locking door. What luxury! Settled down for the 2.5 hrs journey which took us down the coast, right next to sparkling bays. Was a really stunning view - would definitely recommend anyone to travel this part of the country by train. Beckie managed to read a bit of her book while Paul typed up some of the travel journal on his phone. We've got a bit behind with it all after being in Nepal - far away from a PC.

After what felt like no time at all we arrived in Danang and met with our taxi driver to take us the 40km or so to Hoi An. Is an easy journey and arrived at the Cua Dai hotel just after lunchtime. Wandered into town to get our bearings and some lunch and ended up having an afternoon of impromptu shopping (much to Paul's delight!). Hoi An is a total shoppers paradise - you can get clothes, shoes, handbags and pretty much anything else you want here, and all for a really good price! Paul ended up getting a t-shirt stitched with 'Same, same but different', which is a phrase we've heard everywhere since coming to Asia. It's amazing how often it's used here, to describe so many different things! Beck ordered a chinese style top, made to measure in a brocade style silk which only cost about £3.50. It'll be ready tomorrow morning so very fast indeed. Also bought a piece of parchment with Chinese writing, which will be perfect for when we re-do the bedroom next year - is really going to have a big Asian vibe!

Had a good wander around the town - as well as all the tailors it also has a very lively and energetic market, selling anything from fruit and vegetables to tableware. Many tourists and touts but is a lot of fun. It's really hot and sunny here and the holiday feeling is definitely here to stay. Yipee!

Out for a quick drink and a very average dinner in the local tandoori restaurant in the evening - didn't stay out too long as Beck has had a really bad stomach today and has developed a nasty rash all over her hands and fingers and isn't feeling too good. Early to bed - hopefully will feel better tomorrow!


Paul got up early the next morning to go for a run to the beach (about 7km away). It was really hot and hard work but good to be doing something exercise based again. Beckie stayed in bed and enjoyed the lie in! After a quick dip in the pool and breakfast (really good at this hotel - fresh fruit, eggs cooked to order and toast) we headed into town to pick up some clothes that Beck had ordered the previous day. She also found something else she liked as well- girl shopping heaven! We have both enjoyed eating with bowls and chop sticks here and managed to pick up some for a bargain price at one of the stalls. Even managd to get some fish shaped stands as well.... Lots of really nice china stuff here as well, but with the trip we are doing it's really difficult as there is no space!

Spent the afternoon sightseeing around the town. It's really small and compact and you can see things really quickly. We went to the Japenese covered bridge, a few Assembly halls (built as meeting halls for the chinese or sailors when the town was first built) and a couple of the Merchants houses.

Beckie went back to have a fitting for one of her tops, but it was too tight- think we might need to stop eating so much!

Ended up having dinner in the old part of town. Recommended by the guide book (Cafe Des Amis) they have a good set menu which is 90,000 dong where they bring you 5 dishes of meat, seafood or vegetarian fare. Met a couple from Sydney who seem really well travelled and spent a good few hours swapping stories - an enjoyable evening!


Both up fairly early the next day for a run to the beach and back. It's warm even about 7am and there is not too much shade on the way. Both have been eating well lately so need to do some exercise! Took a quick dip before breakfast - really glad of the pool here! Took some washing to a fella over the road - have done it all by hand to date so it's nice to give it to someone else. Everything is fairly grubby so it's good to get it done in a machine and get it clean for a change! It was 30,000 dong for 3 kg (about 1 GBP) so it was well worth it (Forget setting up a launderette here Doug!)

Wandered down to town and Paul bought another t-shirt - the obligitary Vietnamese flag and Beck picked up a sea shell bangle. Back to the hotel and then hired some bikes for the afternoon to get back to the beach (too hot for running now!). Bikes were OK here but they had shopping baskets on the front and no gears. Beckie also liked her bell to warn people that you are on the way. Had a great lunch of salad, water-spinach and garlic for about 1Gbp.

Loads of touts on the beach all peddling the same manicure/pedicure/massage/waxing, jewellery, snacks and fruit! Ended up buying a fresh pineapple from a cute old lady called Anne (number 1#; but then they all said that). Managed to find out she was about 75 and was still out selling her wares on the beach - a real hard life! No sooner did she start peeling the pineapple than 1/2 dozen other touts, some selling the same stuff descend upon us. Must have thought we were a soft touch, but we soon showed em! (Although they were a bit miffed that we did not buy from them).

One of the fellas who had chatted to us over lunch started to get a bit annoying after a while. He would just not give it up. Even started asking us how much the hotel was and how much our flights were! Told us that 'shit would not happen to us' when wearing his necklace - and that we should 'open our hearts and open our wallets'. Turned out he was hung over from too much rice wine the night before. He was amusing at first, but became a bit wearing after a bit. There was some desperation in some of them, so I guess times must be hard. Spent a good few hours on the beach before pedalling back to the hotel.

After a quick shower we headed down to town for some food. The lights over the bridge were alluring so we wandered over and found a restaurant on Cam Ran island. Ordered a starter, Beckies main and Pauls main (a Thai hot pot with lots of fish) - had ordered far too much food, but it was so tasty and the waitress was so attentive that it was difficult to stop eating. Green teas and fruit was forced upon us and the meal ended up being the most expensive to date - about 330,000 dong - about 10 GBP. Outrageous! Slowly rolled home - both of us felt a bit stuffed!


Up at 4am - aahhh! Thought those days were over! We have signed up for an early morning tour of My Son an ancient Cham temple complex about 50km out of Hoi An. Had to leave the hotel about 5am and there was no one around and the gates were locked. It was necessary to climb over the sharply pronged fence in the front of the hotel. All this was watched with much amusement by the Viet guys enjoying their morning tea in front of the launderette next door! The bus turned up a little later and picked up some more tourists along the way. Stopped for a dodgy breakfast of eggs and bread and then reached My Son about 6:30 am. The Viet Cong hid out there during the war so there are quiet a few bomb craters and lots of the temples have been destroyed. The Cham people mastered the technique of brick making about 1300 years ago, but they did not use mortar - just tree glue instead (might ask my friendly builder how he would get on!). It was an amazing and peaceful place, but to be honest we might be getting all 'templed out' and have seen many amazing relics recently. It was good to see but not awe inspiring, however it was a good mix again of Buddhism and Hinduism living side by side.

Paul fell asleep on the way back to the hotel, waking up just before we were unceremoniously dumped in an unfamiliar part of town. Ended up getting lost for a good hour wandering around, trying to find some roads we knew. We got a bit hot and flustered before finding the right way. Stopped for a drink to sort ourselves out- Beckie decided that shopping was the right way to cheer her self up, whilst Paul chilled by the pool. A lesson in there for all of us!

Met up at the Banana Split café for a drink and had some lunch of salad and 'morning glory'. Tried to check up on e-mails but the internet place was so slow (ADSL allegedly!) so gave up. Found out about postal costs at the post office and found another internet café. Managed to load some blog stuff for Beckies editorial correction in the morning (thanks for all the comments by the way nice to know its being read!).
Wandered back to the Green Moss café (same place as lunch) and had some great Thai food. It started really chucking it down over dinner but luckily we had a balcony to keep most of it off. Ended the day with a beer in the town. It's a tough life!

Up at 6am for our beach run - just trying to beat the heat! A bit easier without the sun beating down so much. Had the now obligitary dip in the pool to cool off and another great breakfast. Hired some bikes and put some laundry in (to the same guys we amused yesterday!) and then cycled down to the Post Office to post some parcels (Beckies shopping!) back to the UK. Caught up with the travel blog and posted some photos.

The brakes on Beckies bike were none existent so we had to take it back and get a new one. They are definitely needed here with all the mad people pulling out on you! Stopped for lunch on the way to the beach - it was a wooden building on stilts built over the river. They had two lovely dogs which just wanted to be patted and stroked - a first for us in Vietnam as the others seem petrified, probably afraid of ended up being dinner! We finally made it to the beach about 2pm and enjoyed the sunshine for a few hours. The steady stream of touts started trying to peddle to us immediately, but we had already decided to buy another pineapple from Anne if she was there. It did not take long for her to find us and she waited around for us to finally give into her mad guesturing!. We finally relented and she took off her conical hat to peel the pineapple into. Apparently her head got warm so she put a plastic bag on it - to protect it from the sun she said. She was a real character and dead entertaining. A few of the other touts got annoyed we bought from her, but hey ho you cannot buy from everyone!

Wandered back to the hotel, dropped the bikes off and picked up our washing (easy life!). Noticed in the hotel reception that there is a 10km international run the next morning starting at 6am. Our taxi was coming at 8:30 to take us to the airport so we should just have enough time to do it and catch our flight. Cool!.
Had an unmemorable meal at the Mermaid restaurant (lunch here was excellent, but the dinners not so), and then wandered to the night market to get some bananas for the morning before our run. Paid far too much for them and the hotel receptionist confirmed our fears - should know by now that you need to barter hard for everything. Doh!. Early to bed to be ready for the run tomorrow.


Alarm went off at 5:15 - why did this seem a good idea last night? Beer probably! Got our running kit on to the sounds of a torrential downpour going on outside. It was so bad we thought it might be cancelled, but no such luck. We were a bit soggy by the start, which seemed to be organised chaos with lots of people wandering about not knowing what to do! Finally find out our hotel should have booked us in the day before and got us some numbers allocated, but it was not too much of a problem and we managed to get some sorted out. Although the race was due to begin about 6am (leaving just enough time to get back to the hotel) we had forgotten about the Vietnameses' love affair with the microphone (especially ones with an echo!). The organisers managed to talk for about 40 minutes straight and everything was then translated into Thai and English. One poor American tourist was even dragged up onto the stage and presented with a wreath as the representative for the international runners. Bet she did not get a PB that day! We ended up having to bin ideas of the 10km run and joined in with the local school on the 4km one instead. It was a really odd race as we had only just about warmed up before it was time for a sprint finish. The local kids either were running barefoot or in flip flops and kept sprinting past us to get to a group of mates and then they started walking together. The race finished at the Japenese covered bridge and although to Becks disgust there was no medal, we did get a free T-shirt and a cap. Wandered back through town to lots of smiles and waves from the locals. The route back to the hotel ended up being the road for the 10km race. Paul felt like a real loser walking along the road whilst the 10km guys ran alongside. We got loads of heckling from 50 or so guys in the local coffee house - they had a real good laugh at us - did not see them entering though! Lots of them were pointing and mimicing that we should run- most embarrasing! Made it back in time just to get some breckie and then to make the flight to Nha Trang. Vacation Biffa and Bex style (all done just in the nick of time)!

Flight to Saigon was nice and easy - it was in a fairly small turbo prop plane so it was a bit more of an adventure than normal. It took just over an hour for the flight and there were great views over the coast as we came into Cam Ran airport. The airport is fairly small and only had a single conveyer so it only took a few minutes for the bags to start arriving. The taxi from the hotel was waiting so it was all really easy. We stayed at the 'La Suisse' hotel which was a pretty good location, fairly quiet, clean and free internet. Wandered out for some lunch and found a place called 'Same, Same but Different' which seems to be a common Viet saying. Lunch was ok but not long after Beckie started having a dodgy tummy so not too sure what it was! We decided to head over to a recommended tour café for booking boat rides, but in the end they were not there anymore. Unfortunately Nha trang was a bit bigger than it looked and it took about 30mins to walk to the place. We then jumped in a cyclo and headed over to Long Thans gallery. He is a local guy who only does black and white photography using film. His images were really striking and a great mix of old and new - lots of weatherbeaten faces and kids in the rain. A real inspiration. Took the cyclo back to the hotel for a while and then chilled out for a bit just catching up. Dinner was a chilled affair in the 'cyclo cafe' which served delicious pizza. Booked the boat trip for tomorrow with the hotel for $6 each - cannot really ask for more, as includes all day on the boat with food and free red wine!

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Photos

Detail on Ancestral Altar
Assembly Hall, Hoi An

Down at the beach
It's a hard life!

Anne - number 1
The best pineapple on Cua Dai beach

My Son
One of the surviving temples

Hoi An International run
Unfortunately we weren't the champions of the race...