Day 19: Hoi An

We had originally intended on getting off at Hue however it has dawned on us that we are running short on time and so although we only paid to Hue our ticket is to Danang a further 3hrs south as a result we decided to stay on capitalise on the free journey.

Brenda and Kevin left us at Hue but we shall meet again in Cambodia in a week or so. As we stepped off the train in Danang the heat hit us in the face and it felt like we were on holiday for the first time. We stood getting harassed at the station while we were deciding how to journey the 1hr south to Hoi An. We noticed one lad and one girl both travelling alone who seemed in the same situation and so the four of us climbed into a taxi to share the fare. Between Danang and Hoi An there is a 30km stretch of golden sand named china beach and the road followed the ocean all the way. By the time we arrived we were dying for a shower or a pool or a swim in the sea.

Having not booked any accommodation we walked for a while into the town until it was too hot too walk anymore. We went in the nearest hotel and decided to treat ourselves in a £30 a night room with flowers on the bed, the kettle, the tv, the toilet, the sink well everything come to think of it! We showered, enjoyed the air con before venturing back out.

After researching another sleeper train south to Saigon we found out it was a 15hr journey and for the same price we could fly and be there in an hour or so. We booked the flight and had some lunch before taking a private tour to My Son 35km out of Hoi An. My Son is some ancient brick ruins of temples from the Cham Era all set in amongst lush green valleys and due to the time off day we were the only tourists there and it felt as though we were the first people to discover them.

Back in the holiday town of Hoi An we showered again and walked into the old town for dinner. We had intended to find a nice restaurant on the riverside however we came across a street corner which was very popular eating place for locals and foreigners and could not resist. Mr Dong’s was tasty and to burn it off we wandered along the river edge and into the lantern lit streets of the old town. Kris noticed some chocolate cake in a café window so we had to go in.

We thought we would sit upstairs which just kept on going and turned into a funky bar with free pool table and more importantly… fans! We had buy one get one free drinks and played pool where we met a golf pro and an English teacher who we doubled up with to play. After a few games a local lady wearing next to nothing wanted to team up with me to take on the lads. It was a black ball game which we lost but was very random and a memorable night.