The front desk greeted us in style at the Prince Hotel. Our bags were put aside and we received a complementary drink and ice cold hand towel, then the sales pitch began.
" We have many excursions for you to go on," said Miss Than. She had been the lady I'd been in contact with in Hanoi regarding the taxi transfer from Da Nang. A lovely young girl, dressed in traditional costume and probably able to charm the birds from the tree as she went into a well rehearsed mantra of visiting caves here, mountains there and then we got on to the subject of tailoring.
Hoi An is world renowned for its clothes making and they can whip an outfit up for you in about two days. She gave us a card for a place called Be Be's (discount and free taxi service to the shop), we said we'd let them know!
The room here was lovely and clean with a balcony, the hotel itself small compact and again exceptionally clean - Booking.com were pulling some rabbits out of the hat for us as far as accommodation was concerned. (We only paid £44 for the two nights with breakfast)
That afternoon we took a taxi to Am Bang beach to get a bite to eat. The place was packed with holiday makers but there were enough restaurants beach side to choose from. We had typical seafood fayre however the crab was very difficult to get into, especially as they gave us a set of those nutcrackers you get at Christmas as we attempted to break into them.
A young street hawker sat with us and persuaded us to part with some money for costume jewellery. She was called Li and she said she could only dream of travelling like us but just can't make enough money. Her fantasy, she said would be to travel to London, the US and Canada. We would learn more about Vietnam later.
That evening we took a cab into the old heritage centre of Hoi An where you couldn't move without somebody trying to sell you something or get you to go into their shop. Suits, dresses, shoes, handbags, cafes, restaurants, all plying for your business. We made it unscathed and with our money safely tucked away in our wallet down to the Thu Bon River. " You want boat trip, sir, Madame." Even here we couldn't escape the salesmen.
The riverside vista was beautiful, we'd missed the lanterns floating on the water though, that only happens on a Tuesday according to people we asked. At night though it doesn't matter if there are lanterns floating on the water or not, it's such a beautiful place with most buildings and streets lit up by some form of light.
One advantage to being in the old town was the lack of cars althought the ubiquitous scooters, motor cycles and push bikes were still a danger to life and limb. We found a place called the Rice Bowl to gather our thoughts and consult Wi Fi as to the whereabouts of the Lonely Planet recommended Dive Bar.
As the Internet revealed, it was on the street outside the rear entrance of where we were sat. We also discovered the Hoi An old town is completely wired up for Wi Fi. Just register and you are instantly online.
It was a great vibe as you entered the Dive Bar with a DJ playing reggae sounds, backpackers occupying the sofas, people playing pool and a Carribean style back bar where we ordered draught Tiger at £2 a pint and cocktails at £3. It was one of those places you discover on holiday or travelling and think - this is going to be our spot for the time we're here, and so it was.
The following morning we received confirmation of our flight from Da Nang to Nha Trang. We could have done it on the train but that would have meant a whole 8 hours wasted, the flight was only an hour and it only cost £50 each.
We walked into town as the weather was cloudy (still warm though). It took us 20 mins to get to the river, good excercise! We spent the day just exploring the old town by day and buying a few lanterns. Well, Lynn has a new house to decorate in Spain.
We nipped into the Dive Bar for a pre-lunch refresher. There we spoke to one of the staff who are always inquisitive as to where you are from. Eventually she told us she envies us as in her words, "you have a choice in the west, we have nothing here." She went on to explain the average wage is $200 a month in Vietnam but they think all us foreigners are all earning over $4000 a month so can afford to buy everything. At least she did have a decent job there in the bar.
Lunch was taken in the very French Cargo Club complete with its own patisserie - it was sampled, don't you worry!
Near the famous Japanese covered bridge we spotted a bride having her hair done for he wedding - in the street. We wished her and her future husband well, you just wouldn't get that back home.
We walked back to the hotel, packed for the next day then walked back to have one more night admiring the lights along the river and a few drinks in the Dive Bar. It was back fairly early as our taxi to Da Nang airport was booked for 5am, next stop - beach time in Nha Trang.
The happy couple
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