Couldn't have gone further away

Hoi An is a town full of tailors who grab you from the street by the lapels and offer to make you new ones. It's a World Heritage site where the aged buildings have changed little in centuries. A perfect example of the juxtaposition of Vietnamese history and rabid 21st century capitalism. even on the beach, respite is hard earned... but at least they don't follow you into the South China Sea. Cai Dai Beach is serene, looking out on Champa Island. We cycled there from town and survived the spontaneous and creative local driving techniques. still not sure which side of the road you're actually supposed to be on or where the supposedly invisible 'middle lane' lies. Perhaps we'll never know... Ate probably the best food of the trip so far in Green Moss restaurant. Thai-influenced curry, Waky (?) pumpkin soup and fresh rice paper-clad spring rolls. somehow the bikes seemed to have taken us there 2 days running... we escaped the tourist trail and caught the bus to the Central Highlands, a beautiful journey through mountain villages and coffee plantations. We passed houses with lawns of drying coffee cherries waiting to be roasted and endless war memorials/military cemeteries. Arrived in Kon Tum, a working city where tourism is low down the agenda. A good thing! even though they still sell you mangoes four times the local price with an enormous smile... the big highlight was the discovery of not one, but TWO vegetarian restaurants on the same street (although one claimed to be 'vegerian' we sussed it was the real deal). we ate superb meals and paid the same as the locals probably because these places are linked to a nearby temple...or the owners admired Sean's new 'monk' haircut. we cycled through local villages, waved to and got waved at by many children and got lost a few times. Manu's bike chain collapsed at this point but, thanks to the helpful intervention of 2 local jakies, the chain was soon mended and we hit the road again. We took a local minibus to cross the border to Laos, 15 people in a 12 seater... not bad. Parts of the road are relatively new, following parts of the Ho Chi Minh trail, others around the border are potholes with tyre-sized tracks on either side. The bus had to be started rolling downhill at times and took the mountain roads in controlled swerves to avoid stalling and challenging gear manoeuvres. Luckily we only met the odd bemused farmer coming the other way. incredibly, we made it to Laos in one piece, so here we are but that's another story...