Hoi An

I was a little sad to leave our hostel in Hué as the owners were lovely, they even gave us free bottles of water for our bus journey. It took about 4 hours to get to Hoi An on the bus but it was a pleasant journey along the coast. 

In Hoi An we found our hostel and had half an hour to kill before we could put our bags in our room so we got lunch at the hostel restaurant (the hostel also has a pool which may be slightly amazing). I chose a Hoi An speciality meal called Cao Lau which consisted of rice noodles in a sauce topped with pork which tasted a little sweet. There was also some sort of crackling on top but it was nowhere near the standard of crackling I've made myself before. The pork was lovely though. 

With our bags safely in our room we strolled out of the hostel and along into the old town. Hoi An is only small but it's beautiful. I would describe it as the Kyoto of Vietnam. The buildings are also small (no high rises) and most of them are a lovely mustard yellow which stands out perfectly against a bright blue sky. We walked to the river and had a beer (only 4,000 dong but later we saw some for 3,000) before looking at some of the sights. 

The most famous sight in Hoi An is probably the covered bridge (or Japanese bridge) which is an old wooden covered bridge. The clue is in the title. It was rather quaint. Over the bridge we found some sugar cane juice and had been wanting to test it so bought a glass each. Neither of us liked it. Probably too sweet. I'm not a fan of a drink that tastes like sweets. 

Walking further through the streets we passed some assembly halls which were rather grand with the occasional dragon statue and pretty garden. There are also old houses in Hoi An that are open to the public. I find it a bit odd though as they're only 200 years old; I know plenty of houses back home that are as old as that. Maybe people in England should be charging for anyone to enter their house if it was built over 200 years ago. 

Many markets and shops fill Hoi An (every other shop is a tailor) meaning the streets are quite lively. If you wanted a suit tailor made, this is the place to get it. We also walked through a night market, picking up some ice cream on the way. It was similar to a mini milk but I chose a coconut flavoured one. I may have to get another tomorrow. The night market also had one stall that was selling lanterns, each lantern being lit for display. Some people could also be seen lighting a little lantern and sending it floating along the river. 

Before we trekked back to our hostel we passed a game of bingo that was taking place. This was Vietnamese bingo though so it was completely different. No numbers, only symbols, and chants were continuously being said whilst the game was being played. I'd have to google the rules before i even thought about joining in.