Hoi An

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October 29th 2010

Published: October 29th 2010

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YD84

Hoi An

My Son Ruins

Hoi An is a nice little quaint town. The old quarter is closed off to motocycles so it is a little easier to walk around, it reminded me of a little european village walking around the narrow streets with cafes and bars and a river, with millions of tailor shops. Hoi An is a place with hotels and not hostels, so when one of the girls I met on the bus (Jo) said 'do you want to find a hostel?' I was like ok, we managed to find a twin bed room for $10, so $5 for a private room with air con and a tv was cool. We headed out for some food and drinks as it was late and bumped into some friends I met in Hue, a Dutch guy (Stephen) and 2 English girls from Oldham (Anna and Amanda) so caught up and had some drinks.

Next day myself and 2 of the girls headed out on scooters, unfortunately I forgot my camera (common theme). It was my first time on a scooter (no license required) for $3 was strange getting used to starting, but once you got the hang of it, it was pretty simple. We

Hoi An

headed out to the hills and saw some great scenery. We headed back and half way back the heavens opened. First time i've been caught in the heavy downpour. Couldn't see where i was going, my glasses were providing a slight shield to my eyes, but as a novice on a scooter it was pretty daunting. It felt as if i was stood under a shower, my T-shirt was clinging to me. The street by the hotel became a river (again sould have taken some photos) so it was ponchos to the restaurants.

Jo was heading to Saigon the following day and I decided to stay 2 more days in Hoi An, I knew a friend I met in Hanoi was heading down so emailed im if he wanted to share and he gladly accepted. Toni from Sweden. Again didn't do to muh just walked around and had some food. Next day we hired some bicycles and headed to the beach to get some cloud tanning done. Had a dip in the sea and played in the waves. Decided to order some tailor made trousers. Purchased 3 for $139 maybe a bit much, but decided to go with some

Hoi An

Me playing in the waves

nice material.

We were heading to Nha Trang the next day on the night bus, so in the morning we headed to visit My Son which is some old ruins. Unfortunately I didn't learn much from the guy as I couldn't understand a word he was saying. So after 10 minutes of him talking Toni and I just wandered around ourselves. The first area was nice, but the other 2 sections were a waste of time as the temples have been moved to museums or for restoration, so was pretty disappointing. I had a banging headache this day so Toni (whose camera broke the previous day) took charge of my camera so you may actually see me in a few photos. The guide was pretty funny on the bus ride. Many people had paid for a bus ride to the temples then a boat ride back to Hoi An. Anyone who paid less to get the bus back to Hoi An the guide was trying so hard to sell the boat ticket. He pestered these 3 french girls on a continued basis refusing to take no for an answer. That's one thing about the Vietnamise they are desperate for