We left Da Lat for Nha Trang on 28th March. We'd decided that we weren't going to stay in Nha Trang, but take the night sleeper bus onto Hoi An that same night.
Nha Trang is the beach capital of Vietnam. It's famed for many offshore islands and for diving. We found a bar called Crazy Kim's to rest and have some food after our four hour bus ride and we played a couple of games of pool. The owners have built a school at the back of the bar for street kids. After a good Italian meal (you need a break from rice and noodles) we boarded the night bus. We had only managed to book two seats together so Cliff was on the top deck and Liam and I on the bottom. It was stuffy, hot and the man next to me kept poking me with his elbow and knee. Not a comfortable journey.
We arrived in Hoi An the next morning about 6am, so we had breakfast in a cafe near the place we were dropped and managed to find a room at a hotel, the Hai Au. This turned out to be a little jewel. The staff were amazing friendly, we were looked after really well by Yummi (above in pink), it was close to town and had a pool. Good breakfast too.
Hoi An Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage Site, so we paid for tickets which entitled us to visit some of the heritage sites. We wandered around the lovely old town and the market. We visited the Japanese Covered Bridge (constructed 1593), the Phung Hung Old House, the Museum of History and Culture and the Huoc Kien Assembly Hall and temple that had some hanging incense coils that people attach prayers to.
And yes, we were approached by the young lady offering to take us to her 'auntie's' tailor shop - straight out of the warnings from the guide books. We politely decined. We did buy some really good ginger and roasted peanuts from another smiling lady though.
It was the full moon festival that evening and we saw a stall engaging in some pot smashing, a traditional game. Some clay pots are hung up and the player is blindfolded (in this case, wearing bamboo masks) and he/she has to smash the pot with a big stick. Easy you'd think but not with the crowd shouting and cymbals and drums being played very loudly. We all had a go, I think they felt sorry for us because they actually gave Liam a prize (a silk lantern) because whilst we came close, we didn't actually smash a pot.
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