Hoi An catch up

Err so we are now in Saigon, I mean Ho Chi Minh City, no I mean Saigon, well the locals don't seem to know what it is called so how can I do any better.

When we last posted we had just arrived in Hoi An having done the very scenic trip from Hue over the Hai Van pass, the one they did on Top Gear. We had the same driver as the previous day so we stopped to take a few photos, and had lunch together at Great Veggie place we found in Da Nang.







We also stopped off at the rather tacky Marble Mountain on the way past, not amazing but it was only 90p to get in and some of the carvings were impressive.

We spent a rather luxurious five nights in Hoi An buying custom tailored clothes, and having massages.



Morning juice with flower on the glass!

Hoi An is a nicely preserved old town about half way down the Vietnamese coast. It has an unusual history in that it was a major trading and commerce site until the river silted up and the traders moved on. This history of over seas trading has left the town with a mixture of Chinese, Japanese, French, and Vietnamese building styles whilst much of the old town is frozen without a lot of modern development. Part of the old town is also, sort of, pedestrianised making it very pleasant to just wander around, even at night.
















We stopped one afternoon to have a drink at one of the coffee shops, sound familiar, totally at random we walked into Reaching Out Cafe (we choose it because the walls are turquoise). It was a great choice, there are lots of other reviews on the web so I won't repeat too much but we had some beautiful drinks, and a contemplative moment in a very peaceful setting. If you are in Hoi An (or Vietnam for that matter) find this little place.










The delay in posts is partly due to relaxing too much in Hoi An but also due to the really bad internet access in Mui Ne so that will be tomorrow's catchup post.