& A Happy New Year

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Geo: 15.875, 108.336

Hoi An is a stunning place, from the beautiful beaches to the river boats, markets, stalls and temples, I ended up spending New Year here with a number of friends I made in Hue which was really good fun, I had good company in Michelle, Jessie, Rory and Cormac and hung out either on the motorbikes or for food and drinks!

The photos really speak for themselves, I love the fishing down on the beaches and the funny 'round' boats they use which I loved watching, and could all day I even spotted some of these with engines which look like a chain saw with a pole and prop added (probably use less fuel).

I rode out to De Nang for the day with Rory and Cormac and was in awe at the size of the Lady Buddha which can be seen for miles and miles. There were soooo many statues up on the hill and huge bonsi trees in all sorts of shapes and sizes... impressive. We also visited Marble Mountain and the exciting caves inside and climbed to the top with spectacular coastal views with Cormac. The whole surrounding area makes these massive marble statues, alot of them just with a stihl saw. We also visited China Beach which has white white sands and watched the local men fishing, they wear these fantastic wide rimmed hats (and not much else) but they have proper rods not the bamboo ones I've seen before, the beach goes on for miles, so all in all a fantastic day and I loved blasting the motorbike back along the coast road which was great fun!

Next day Michelle and Jess came with us to My Son, which is apparently similar to Ankor Wat which I cant wait to visit. There are a few sites of the temples which it's great to have a wander round but unfortunately I need to get my motorbike back for uplift which meant I had a bit of a race home, so missed some of it... oh well I'm sure I'll get my fill when I do actually get to Ankor Wat.

Hoi An is a really relaxed town, it is full of tailors and shoe makers mainly, and everyone in the town walks or cycles around in no hurry, it has a lovely feel to it, very picturesque. I enjoy in particular the river that comes in from the sea which I could watch forever and the markets selling fish and seafood, fruit and veg, and has lots of wee shops with trinkets to browse through, beautiful.

So here comes 2013, and I wish everyone a very happy, peaceful, adventurous, fun filled year ahead.

Happy New Year everyone x

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Photos

Hoi An
They all sit this this down on their hunkers'

Hoi An
Just chillin havin a beer

Hoi An
I love fishing!