Sun 19 Mar
Up early for 5am train to Da Nang (or Danang) – taxi came at 430 – yuk – ungodly hour! – uneventful train journey – lasting about 6 ½ hours – at least you could walk around to stretch your legs and have good windows to see scenery . You reserve your seat # when you book so at least is assigned seating. Sadly sitting backwards to direction of train – although asked Son for forward facing! We had bought a whole lot of cut up fruit the night before so ate that for breakfast on the train – ordered a disgusting cup of coffee from a local lady who had hopped on the train at one of the 10 min stops – just needed a few sips to get some caffeine – ha ha! No English speaking travellers sitting near us so couldn’t pass the time chatting! Blogged a bit but gave up with the bouncing! We were met at the station by a taxi sent by the An Hoi Homestay we had reserved through booking.com. Very friendly guy US$12 for the 45 min ride to Hoi An – he spoke English and of course they desperately want you to book all your excursions through them but said we were good and didn’t need anything. On arrival we were met by Hai – aged about 20 or so – sat us down for check-in – welcomed us with iced tea (green tea) and wanted to make sure we were refreshed before going to our room. The building was only 6 months old so lovely and clean and quite spacious. Met the Aunty Mai & Uncle (never did grasp his name) who ran the place – more like a GH than a homestay in appearance but so personalised and caring and friendly – more like a homestay I guess! CA$132 for 5 nts incl breakfast. Settled in then went to explore the quaint old town of Hoi An – boy what a stunning place! Just as described in LP – Graceful and historic, it is Vietnams most atmospheric and delightful town . Once a major port, it is now very easy going and provincial and has such an old town charm & character. It has become a major tourist centre but retains the beauty from its Japanese merchant houses, Chinese temples and ancient tea houses. Packed with bars, restaurants, boutique hotels and over 400 tailor shops – a wonderful place to cycle around too as is surrounded by picturesque paddy fields and greenery – small rivers traversing and then a beautiful sweeping beach only about 5km from town. We had to buy a ticket to enter the old town itself but this covered your entire stay and entry to five different heritage homes/sites in the town – paid D120,000 each. After getting our bearings we just sat on the riverfront in a café – watching the activities heating up. The later in the day it got the more tourists came crawling out of the woodwork..by evening it was jammed with tourists. Went back to the An Hoi Peninsula where the homestay was (ideally situated as just had to cross a small pedestrian bridge and walk passed the night market to get to our abode!)  The whole town lights up with lanterns at night, making it a spectacular vision along the waterfront . Shops and restaurants abound on both sides of the very narrow river. The river is full of narrow boats steered by ladies of all ages – wanting to take you for a ride along the river or even for the short hop to the other side! Floating candles also sold along the river bank – all making a beautiful vision! After showering we went in search of a little food stall that was recommended in Trip Advisor and wasn’t far from us. An Australian couple had written a glowing report, saying they lived in town and this was the place to go! Mr Ko was the name of the food stand – we found a whole row of them at the end of the peninsula and each one had a board with name of the person running it. Found Mr Ko in the middle and sat at his long table, plastic table cloth & chairs lining! Was another couple eating so got chatting and found out it was the Aussie couple themselves. We laughed about it and they chatted to us, telling about their life in Hoi An – 2 photographers living there for 6 months – mainly taking photos for hotels and GH for advertising online I think . Interesting talking to them and getting tips – had a delicious local meal at their recommendation! Walked back via the vibrant colourful night market – selling loads of pretty lanterns of course! Pretty tired after our very early start. Walked back to homestay – welcomed by family who wanted the breakfast order so they were prepared – sadly was all egg & bread choices or pho.

Mon 20 Mar
I was up early, keen and eager for my day to start as was going to find some tailors to make some things up for me. Had a good breakfast in the nook downstairs -seems like eggs were followed by a big plate of fruit after all – Mai made a delicious breakfast and her coffee was pretty tasty – we were allowed 2nd cups! Met the niece, Hong, who spoke good English and was so chatty. She came to help her Aunt out in the mornings for breakfast and wanted to ensure we were all kept happy! She worked for a Marketing Co during the day and wanted us to come and check out the hotel they were building! Red Alert! Timeshare! She assured us it wasn’t time share and was pretty chill about it all – so friendly so we couldn’t turn down her offer to come and check it out the next day! Made a plan to leave Al to his own devices for the morning and we would meet up at 12 .30 back at the room. I made a beeline for Hoang Kim tailors that I had found from a few recommendations online. Wanted to get a few things made up there but found the fabrics a little limited for what I wanted (more casual attire for me!). You need to go in prepared for exactly what you want – either from photos or clothing to copy. I had saved some screenshots of items I liked online. Decided on 2 summer dresses and a basic skirt – could not find fabrics I liked for a summer dress with short jacket to match! Discussed what I wanted with “Pheung” and picked out fabrics. US$45 for dresses and US$25 for skirt – not dirt cheap but made to measure! Told me to return tonight for a first fitting, then went in search of a tailor the young Aussie girl had told me about, wanted to see if the fabric choice were any better here. Found a shoe shop on the way and decided to get a pair of flat white leather sandals made up (another specialty of Hoi An is all the shoe shops making custom fit) – showed a pic of what I wanted and she measured my big feet and charged US$35, and told me to return tomorrow afternoon . Eventually found the Hanh Hung shop and requested Twee. Showed her my pics and found a few choices for the dress and jacket. Measured up – then she persuaded me to get some shorts made and showed me 2 they had just done – great idea so ordered those 2, then asked for a black t-shirt as was struggling to find one! More than intended had to get out of there as had no idea how I was going to fit all this into the backpack! On the way back through town I spotted a lady about my age getting off a scooter in a gorgeous floaty skort – looking like a skirt! Asked if she minded if a I took a pic and discussed her lovely skirt – she was an Aussie,also living here! She gave me the name of her wonderful tailor but after looking on the map I decided was too far to walk! Back to Twee – all laughed in the store when I came back with another plan! Found the right fabric and got measured for that! Def time to head back as would be late to meet Al. Again bumped into the Aussie lady and she told me the little hole in the wall restaurant she had just come out of was the best place to have Cao Lau in Hoi An! Made a mental note where it was and rushed off back to the room! Al had spent the morning wandering around town taking pics of the old town and some historic buildings. Went to find lunch at the Café Cao Lau and really liked the noodle dish with pork, herbs, lettuce, chilli sauce and crispy rice pancake on top! and then visited some of the sites around town. Tourist numbers growing by the minute – getting very crowded! Got a response from Rosie Quenet on fb as she was going to be in Hoi An at the same time . Organised to met up for a drink at 5.30 so wandered around town a little and then went and met Rosie and her 3 girlfriends that were on their Vietnam trip for 10 days. They were on bikes and making much noise as they approached! Went to a restaurant on the river front that they had sourced some good Sav Blanc at! Spent a couple of hours there – the friends all dashing off to tailors apts and the market but needed Rosie (their tour leader) to point them in the right direction! Ended up that one of the friends used to be married to a guy Al played sports with at Northlands Boys– so they Whats App’d him! Also another one of the gals knew a whole lot of the same people from Durbs, including John & B. Fun evening, consuming too much wine but was great to catch up with Rosie and hear all her news as hadn’t seen her since Aidan died so suddenly 7 years ago (Aidan & his brother were like family to Juliet & I as our parents were such close friends when growing up in Zim). Said our goodbyes, giving them recommendation of Saigon Scooter tour as they were going there next day . Had to take off for my fitting at Hong Kim and all looked good there, they make everything bigger of course and then do fine tuning! Said would be ready tomorrow for pick up.! Amazing how fast they are! Ate dinner in one of the riverside spots and then wandered along the promenade that was packed.  

Tue 21 Mar
Beach day today! Rented bikes for a couple of bucks for the day from the homestay. Had a lovely breakfast from Mai again - all smiles and happiness abound. Hong chatting up a storm and being so friendly. Rode on the bike out of town, stopping at Twee’s on the way – 1st fitting for everything – all needed to be made more snug. Al approved of everything – being plied with bottles of water by Twee and her gang to keep him happy! Set off for the 5km ride to An Bang Beach. Ride through Hoi An town and along the paddy fields, over a bridge, cross the main road to the beach. Passed a Water Buffalo with rider on the way : photo opportunity but of course a tourist trap as wearing his iconic hat – urging Al to take pic and then the hefty fee which Alan divided by 4 and gave him! They certainly know how to take advantage of the photo ops (ladies in town carrying baskets of food, adorned in the hats, also telling you to take pic and then demanding money – everything certainly geared for tourist) . On arrival at beach – vendors jockeying for your parking business (charge a bike guard fee) and you can't escape them! Lovely stretch of beach – lined with sun loungers and restaurants and of course you have to negotiate a fee to sit – if you aren’t going to eat. We were planning to have a lunch at a stop Rosie & friends had told us about that had a tasty crab dish, but was on the way home. Therefore we weren’t going to eat at the beach and just having a drink didn’t give you bargaining power! The further along the beach you walked the cheaper it got . Paid about 40,000 for 2 loungers and settled in under the umbrella for a few hours of R &R. Many beach hawkers pestering you and all pleading and looking forlorn and really chirp if you don’t bother to look up at them and see what they are selling ! Exhausting work! Had a laugh at one lady who just wanted to stay and chat for a while (think they want to practice their English too) – anyway she pointed at Al’s gut and said he looked like a happy Buddha – well I couldn’t stop laughing at that as was the second time he had been called that! Poor Al – of well we then spent the next 30 mins discussing our health plans for when we get home! Ha ha !? By about 3 we had had enough of the sun and set off to ride the rest of the loop back to Hoi An . You ride along the beach front road – passing many guesthouses and places to stay and eat on the back side of the dunes – and head up to the hotel strip at Cua Dai Beach. Rosie had told us we would find a restaurant right by the bridge as we started to cross back to head towards Hoi Ann. Found the Chinh Cafe – a lovely place right on a platform built over the river. We sat overlooking fisherman with their nets on the river – ordered the crab dish with Tamarind sauce that had been recommended. Of course the crabs had to be purchased still so the process took a while – we weren’t in a hurry just enjoying the shade and peacefulness. Eventually 2 live crab appeared and were weighed in front of us to get the market price! When they did arrive they had the most delicious sauce over the top – of course we had to work hard to get the crab and it’s the sauce that makes it all – cost D350,000 for the 2 – not large crabs but so tasty and they came with toast so you could put the delicious sauce on and not waste a morsel! Very good. Ambled our way back through the scenic roads, back to Hoi An. Showered and then back into town to get shoes and pick up clothes. Shoes were disappointing – not like my picture so asked for changes to be made – the happy friendly face from the day before wasn’t so happy now! Anyway took note on what to change! Went to Twee’s and added a basic sundress into the orders picked up the rest of the clothes – all fitting great and happy! Went to look for one of the historic Assembly Hall of the Fujian Chinese Congregation. Eventually found it – a temple with a green tiled triple gateway and murals lining the wall. The main assembly hall as a red skinned and a green skinned deity on either side. Interesting array of statues and large spiral incense burners adorning the halls- over powering smell of incense! Decided to go back to street food places next to Mr. Ko to find somewhere to grab some more Hoi Ann specialties. Ate at one of the end stalls – Mr Ba. Old Mrs Ba was there and not speaking English we pointed to what we wanted – time to try White rose dumplings and chicken wontons! Very impressed and liked both of them – surprised with the dumplings as look as they could be pretty soggy but have crunchy fried bits in the middle and also sprinkled on top so quite tasty! The wontons are fried rice pancakes with a delicious salsa and had the chicken ones…the sweet Mrs Ba sure made a treat! Gave us a plate of fresh fruit for dessert – so sweet and happy that we chose her place to eat at! Food festival was on and you could buy tickets to sample different dishes from chefs around the world that were cooking in “street food” stalls on the promenade. Very busy – we bumped into the young Swiss couple staying at the homestay with us – chatted for a bit and then headed back. Very hot here – about 36 degrees still!

Wed 22 March
We had organised to go with Hoang to her “office” by taxi after breakfast. She was so excited! About 10 mins away and of course wasn’t a timeshare but one up from it – the Odyssey Travel Club. Spent a while chatting to the Aussie guy, Dave who was doing the sales pitch. Wasn’t hard sell and was an interesting concept as a more flexible kind of RCI exchange. Well all decided it would be great if you lived in Aussie o thereabouts but not great for North Americans. We were glad we had done our bit to help Hoang earn some bonus points as the family had been so friendly and helpful to us! Got a free dinner voucher for the Bhe 1919 restaurant in town for our efforts! We went back into town and got dropped off by Hoangs work corner (trying to entice new business for the Odyssey) as she said she would take me to the market to buy some mascara, so I wouldn’t be ripped off as she was sure I would be! Very sweet of her and off we went on her scooter. Met Al back at the Café Cao Lau for some more tasty noodles. Looked around town at some of the historic homes and did a tour in some of them. A combination of Japanese, Chinese & Vietnamese architecture. All the houses near the riverfront get flooded nearly every year so the second floors have trap doors where all the furniture can be hauled up to a higher level until the flood subsides! Amazed the wood isn’t rotten but guess they use a hard ironwood which seems to retain its strength! Amazing they don’t do something to try and prevent water coming in – but they just shrug and accept that’s the price they pay for living there! Some beautiful homes with carved wood balconies and balustrades in the houses, one we went into had been beautifully modernised with fabrics and furnishings for the tourists to see and then the family live in the back rooms in basic accommodation! Visited the Japanese covered bridge in town – built in 1590 by the Japanese and the entrances are guarded by statues of 2 monkeys on one side and 2 dogs on the other. There is a small temple built into the northern side too. Very picturesque bridge. For dinner that night we decided to buy a couple of the tickets for the food festival and have a couple of appies here before dinner at one of the restaurants overlooking the river. Things were getting very busy on the waterfront as the evening progressed, what with food festival and music & dance stage set up with music blaring. We went and watched a bit of the music- a band performing an electronic version of many golden oldies. Quite fun to watch them for a while.

Thur 23 Mar
Time to pick up all the finished shoes and tailored clothing – everything fitting fine and happy with the changes made to shoes! We took off on the bikes again to Cua Dai Beach to find a stretch of sand. Stopped off for a coffee at a lovely cool spot bordering the rice paddies and the lovely owner made me an extra tall cappuccino! Continued on until we found some beach loungers and thought we were on to a good thing but 10 mins later a hotel guy came and chased us off..rode further down the road but noticed the beaches here were all washed away and that is why we had been told they were closed. Huge ships working on the shoreline to dredge the sand and rebuild the shoreline! We rode till we found a pleasant looking beach and managed to rent 2 loungers for about D 50,000. Spent the rest of the day here, ordering lunch from the beach chair man who sends his accomplice off on a scooter to buy the lunch (obvs from a restaurant) along with a mango smoothie. Spent most of the day in the shade as more pleasant reading out of the sun! Rode back to the GH – such a pleasant ride through the fields, over the small river and the back roads into town. Had dinner at the free voucher spot – had a very tasty meal there, right in the heart of old town with a busy vibe and right next to the “Morning Glory” Restaurant which I think must be the #1 eating spot – line ups and even a Morning Glory 2 over the road, think they have a cooking school too.