Bus Journey and Hoi An

Posted by Brian

Posted on August 13, 2007

So we left Hanoi about 4 days ago now, not really sure, it all kind of just blurs into one. We got a bus from Hanoi to Hoi An, on the Vietnamese coast. The bus was meant to take 16 hours but we left Hanoi at 8 and didn't get here til 6 the following evening. Jonny wasn't too bad on the bus, but it was agony for me. I had no leg room and was just in bits the whole way down. Not pleasant.

When we got to Hoi An we quickly found out that most of the accommodation was full. We ended up spending 15 dollars a night for a dive, so we said we'd get somewhere else. The place we are in now is 18 dollars a night, but its really nice with a pool. Its probably way too much and we shouldn't splurging on it but its nice and comfortable and I don't care, I just wanted a place with a pool :)

Of course on the the first full day here I managed to get sick. Had to spend the whole day in bed. Was not happy at all. Took a load of Vitamin C though and yesterday I felt a lot better.

Hoi An is about half way down the Vietnamese coast and has about 34km of white sand beaches. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to them, yet. It also has a tailors on every street, multiple tailors in fact. Everywhere you go, you pass loads of them. Jonny bartered one shop to 200 euro for 3 suits, 3 extra pairs of pants, 3 shirts, and 3 ties... All tailor made. I am still debating if I want to get a suit, although I doubt I will. I hate shopping too much, plus I have absolutely no need for a suit. The one I have is fine! Don't know if its worth the money, I could be spending it on fancy hotels :)

Hoi An seems to be Vietnams version of the Costa Del Sol. There are a lot of families here and couples and there seems to be less young people here. This serves to make everything more expensive, especially food and drink. There is apparently some festival on here but I haven't seen anything to do with it. Supposedly there is a sticky rice pudding festival! Wierd.

Till next time

Brian