Having settled in to our lovely hotel after the bike ride we turned to more pressing matters - FOOD! The new year holiday and remoteness of the places we had visited over the past 4 days had meant that a diet of noodle soup and occassional rice and pork dishes was all that could be found. For those of you that know me (Ads!) well I am not good when I am hungry and was anxious to eat anything apart from soup and rice. However there were ominous rumblings coming from both our stomachs and we were loathe to travel to far from the hotel.
 
Getting our bearings around Hoi An was made easier by using the local handicraft shops as key points on the map as Hoi An is famous for its amazing silk and cheap suit making! For once Nik was possessed by the shopping demons and everywhere was selling traditional fare that we had to have!  

Hoi An is a cross between old rural France and the twisting alleyways of small Cornish villages; in addition it just has lots of stalls sellling food of every description on each corner. The atmosphere is just fantastic, it is like stepping back into medieval times and the contrast of the yellow houses, blue shutters, ancient looking temples etc.. made it a beautiful destination not to be missed, we could have quite easily stayed here for a week and just soaked up the ambience! People were so friendly too, we bought some brillaint charcoal drawings off of a disabled guy and in return his whole family came out and gave us a massive bag of local sweets! Perfect for Nic but still not filling my empty stomach! We walked along the river and watched two old vietnamese ladies fishing in their long boat, then crossed onto a small island which basically had a fun fair happening for New Year with local kids on the old 'throw the coconut at the target!' bit like home!

Eventually the demons released their hold though and I dragged Nik to a restaurant. As a kid I was affected by the old adage eyes bigger than your stomach and so it was that evening, after feasting upon a pizza it was then time for a burger. I really regretted this later.
 
Having finished the meal we set off for another walk around the town but we soon realised that the hotel was calling. Looking back I think there were many factors that contributed to the inconvienience that night mainly we were just bust. We are not 21 anymore however much we think we are - afternoon naps the order of the day. Again we were meant to be on a tour visiting the ancient town of Myson then heading upto the town of Hue further up the coast these were postponed till the following day.
 
By now we were in touch with Zac, he of the infamous Nha Trang booze up. He had arrived 2 days previously via the 12 hour night bus complete with broken ribs after that fall in the hotel! Honestly we are looking after ourselves out here! He described the sleeper bus as being one of the worst experiences he had had. Food for thought, we did not regret losing our 50 dollar tickets at all!  

Having an unexpected day in Hoi An meant more time for looking around and more pictures there was all sotrts going on. Travelling during the annual holiday period has presented many headaches but the benefits have been many. There is a real buzz and excitement in the air we have felt that since Can Tho. The streets are adorned with Chinese looking lanterns, signs wishing you happy new year are hung from corner. (Also for Nik there are again sweets freely available in all the hotels - this is the best bit she says!!)
 
All around us are old ladies carrying fruit, meat, spring rolls, vegatables, dumplings all saying "you buy something?" "Where you from?" smiling toothlessly. The three of us walked for ages discussing the options for moving up the coast the bus had slipped down the ladder and even Nik was pushing for flying where we could. Asking around the travel cafes the decision was made to fly from Hue about 3 hours up the coast to the capital Hanoi thus avoiding the potentially horrific 14 hour coach trip. Plane tickets bought we settled down to more food after our afternoon nap preparing ourselves for the next days adventures.
 
My son is a world heritage cultural thingymabob and the place to visit around here - for me it was a bit odd. It is an historic area from the Cham era and consists of 6 ruin sites around which there is a small walking tour. Our guide as most of them have been was excellent but you cam only work with what you have got if you get my drift. There have been artifacts found but I struggled to put all the pieces together to build the overall picture of what I was seeing. It did remind us of a very small version of the Siem Reap temples and as it was set within the mountains you could see why it could not be found in the war..... 

Our bus for the trip to Hue was leaving at 2pm and we keep falling for this in England 2pm means 2pm here it means about 1.25pm. So whilst we are waiting for our food to arrive sat in the restaurant next to the hotel the coach turns up and no they wont wait. 3 frantic minutes later doggy bags in hand we are on our way to Hue. The journey for me will be remembered as one where the weather completely changed and the great fried rice combinations at the pit stop. (Just realised big emphasis on food and weather over the past few weeks sorry folks). And so the rain came out came the jumpers and woolly hats. The driver had a love affair with his horn and adam's tolerance nearly broke. Unfortunately this stretch is meant to be one of the most beautiful coastal parts you can do by train but 1. all the trains were full and 2. there was to much rain and fog to see anything! We did pass through one mountain tunnel for about 15km though which Nic actually managed without a panick attack and saw the outline of what loomed as very big mountains but that was about it.....
 
Arriving in Hue was a miserable scene and the realisation that we would not be in brilliant sunshine for 12 months finally hit home it was freezing and many layers were needed. Bet our english friends and family experiencing the same at home are now very happy!!!!First things first hotel room then food and beer. Hue I think has alot going for it lots to see and if the weather is good its all the more enjoyable.We ended up playing pool in the DMZ bar and met an english guy and american who work for the charity MAG, basically they detonate mines.... it was cool to hear of their work and also see how many bacardi's they can down after a full days work! After that job though I think anyone would...

The next day all 3 of us sat in a cafe (as the doors closed!) ate lots of food and drank lots of coffee avoiding being outside. But we couldnt stay there all day we walked around the city and took in many of the sites the forbidden city, the imperial enclosure and the flag tower all the while getting soaked and freezing. The weather and rain was too cold to do the boat trip down to the famous tombs unfortunately but that just means (as Nic says!) we have another excuse to come back! 

The old city was charming though and whilst getting lost,we walked through the old market, saw local families blasting out kareoke in their houses, experienced the river shacks that people live in and saw locals piling their bikes high with plastic and whatever they could to make money... Seeing them all in rain ponchos was also quite a change from the hotter parts of Vietnam!! A warming curry that evening helped and an early night was needed ready for the flight to Hanoi the next day.....