Hoi An

We arrived in Hoi An to be greeted by the usual crowd of locals offering hotels, transport onwards or both, but this time we actually had to pay attention to them as someone from our hotel was supposed to be picking us up. It didn't take long to find him as he was so close to the door with a “Tom Mogridge” sign he was almost in the way. Following initial concerns that he had arrived to pick up two people and two oversized backpacks on only his motorbike, we did eventually get in a taxi he found and soon arrived at the hotel. On arrival we were greeted outside by the receptionist who, over the next three days, became my favourite local. She offered us honey tea and a sofa to sit on while she checked us in before getting another staff member, who was so small he could almost fit in my bag, to carry both our backpacks to our room. This turned out to be our nicest hotel in our favourite town so far, and the friendly receptionist even gave us a present on our departure.

Having arrived fairly late in the day we just had time for dinner so headed towards the centre of town just a five minute walk away. Hoi An is a very small town so even though our hotel was on the outskirts of town we could easily walk across it in about 15 minutes. The pedestrianised town centre was particularly nice as the Thu Bon River passes through the centre and all the restaurants have balconies overlooking it. However, it appears even in quiet Hoi An you can’t get away from the hawkers trying to sell the same purple light-up aerial toys that I seem to have seen in every town from here to Beijing. Having browsed a few menus, and using the same line on everyone as to why we’re not going in, we found a restaurant and sat overlooking the river where I enjoyed a lemongrass and chilli chicken and Linz had a chicken stir-fry. Although not the most adventurous meal she could have had, at least this was back-to-back local meals for Linz. Having turned down the owner’s attempt to sell us necklaces resembling our lunar calendar animals (Dragon and Rabbit) we headed across to the other side of the river to find an ice cream stall for desert.

Hoi An at night from the bridge over the Thu bon river

Usually recounting the story of purchasing ice cream wouldn’t warrant its own paragraph but not only was it good ice cream but, for a change, we actually conned some Vietnamese people! Firstly I paid for mine but was handed back my original note along with extra ones meaning I would be leaving the shop with ice cream as well as about a pound, however more luck was to come our way. When Linz paid, using a much larger note, she was handed back her original note as well as her change meaning she had earned about £14 just for eating desert. This did make up for the fact that on receiving her third scoop of mint choc-chip she dropped it and in an attempt to catch it crushed it against her chest. I think if we hadn’t been conned by the shoe repair and taxi mafias of Hanoi we would have mentioned something, but instead left for the hotel feeling only a little guilty.

The following morning we started with the breakfast which was included in our room which we could enjoy overlooking the neighbouring martial arts school. Based on the success of previous Lonely Planet walking tours we planned to follow the route laid out for us in the guide book so we could see all the highlights of this beautiful little town. Unlike other places in Vietnam, entry to Hoi An tourist attractions are gained by purchasing one ticket which allows you access to five of them. We just bought the one ticket each so would have to choose five of the nineteen we would be walking past to go inside. We got to visit a few free temples on our walk, but our main stops included a couple of ancient halls, a local workshop making lanterns and silk goods, and a couple of  old houses. The houses were amazing as each year the river floods and the residents have to move all their belongings up to the second floor and live up there as the water can reach almost 2m downstairs.

A market we stumbled upon while wandering around town

As almost every shop in Hoi An is a tailors we decided to get some clothes made. In reality I had actually spotted a shirt I liked in the doorway and, without realising it was tailor made for someone else, wanted to buy it so entered the shop. Having been measured up, we left planning to return the next day to pick up my shirt, which would actually look very different to the one in the doorway, and Linz’s dress.

As we had only booked one night at our hotel but had asked earlier to stay another, we had to change room in the afternoon, which was a shame as our first night’s room was excellent but the new room was still nice. After this we headed back into the town centre to have dinner at the same restaurant we had conned the previous night; the Cargo Club. After dinner, fully aware that we were still in profit from our trips to the Cargo Club, we headed back to the hotel through the dark and slightly eerie lanes we had used earlier as it seems Hoi An locals go to bed very early.

The following morning we fell out of bed around 4am as we had to be outside the hotel slightly later to be picked up for our trip to My Son (pronounced Mee-sun). My Son, described unjustly as Vietnam’s Angkor Wat, is an area about 60km outside Hoi An containing about twenty ruined temples of the Cham people from around the 4^th century.

Part of a My Son ruin just after sunrise

The reason we had to prise ourselves out of bed was so that we could enjoy the remains before the crowds arrive later in the day which proved to be a good decision. Our group, of about a dozen, were the only people there so we were free to wander around and, for a change, get photos without crowds of locals in the way. In addition to the ruins, which are a tiny percentage the size of Angkor Wat, we could enjoy the company of a friendly dog who walked round with us the entire time we were there. In fact, the only time he left us was to go and bark in the face of a tiny animal we think was a bird which had fallen out of its nest, although others thought it was a turtle.

The friendly My Son dog posing on more ruins

The presence of a dog was hardly surprising seeing as the human population in Hoi An is seemingly rivalled by that of the cute dog population, much to our enjoyment. On the return to Hoi An our guide actually stopped talking for a while but this was only so he could sing us a collection of his favourite Vietnamese songs. We were dropped off at the hotel at 10am which was already six hours into our day so we decided to go straight back to bed and not to rise until midday.

We have had a few lie-ins since being in Vietnam but have since learnt that Vietnamese people never lie-in and it is believed that by doing so is a sure sign of illness. Maybe that’s why the hotel were so keen to feed us when we woke. After our midday breakfast we returned to the tailors to pick up our clothes. I was very happy with the outcome, although a little surprised to find it came with poppers rather than buttons, but Linz’s dress was a bit long and didn't have the straps she had asked for so it needed some alterations. We left and killed some time before returning to the shop knowing that regardless of whether the dress was perfect we would have to take it as our bus leaving later that day. It was close enough so we both left pleased that we had got tailored clothes for less than off-the-rack clothing in the UK.

Before getting on our bus we opted for a quick dinner at the Cargo Club, meaning they eventually made money off us, then headed south to Nha Trang. At the start of our journey through Vietnam I harboured a lot of excitement about overnight bus trips, but I can safely say our 12-hour ride to Nha Trang thoroughly destroyed any remaining excitement. Initially I was optimistic about the journey as this bus, in comparison to our previous one, had adjustable beds so you could sit up, but a combination of insane driving and even narrower beds meant I got barely a few hours sleep. The positives did at least include waking up to see the sun rise over the South China Sea, however this was overshadowed by the fact that the driver spent the night trying to get the bus airborne.

The view from the bus as we arrived in Nha Trang