After Nha Trang, we took an 11 hour sleeper bus to Hoi An.
It is an awesome little city, with a tourist bit sectioned off, with the ancient town inside. There are old buildings and cobbled streets, and touristy shops with souvenirs and curios. There are also a lot of temples that you can go into.
We walked down from our hostel after a nap, and got some lunch. We then headed for the ancient city, but not before renting bicycles to ride. The roads in Vietnam are absolutely crazy, but the ancient town doesn't allow motorbikes or cars, which makes it a really nice ride. We rode around, saw a few shops, rode along the riverside, and stopped for a 3,000 dong ($0.14) beer at a riverside restaurant. We then rode through the town, and stopped off at a few temples, before heading back to the hotel. By that time, the roads were busier, and it was RIDICULOUS. At one point, a lady stopped her motorbike right in front of me, and I almost rear-ended her. No-one sticks to rules, so you never know where a motorbike will pop out from. It also doesn't help that some of them ride on the wrong side of the road. It was terrifying! Add to the fact that I haven't ridden a bike in years, and it was even more nerve wrecking! Haha! Not for the faint-hearted, that's for sure!
Later, we headed out to the old town again, and just wondered around. We got a great seafood meal, and had a couple of drinks on the riverfront before heading back to our hotel. Hoi An is a really awesome town. It's quiet and clean and the ancient city is amazing. It's all old buildings, with very French architecture, next to a really pretty river. In the short time that we spent here, I think it actually topped Nha Trang to become our favourite city. We could have easily spent a week here, and we kinda wish we had, but we needed to move up North.
The next day, at lunchtime, we reluctantly climbed on a bus to Hue. On the way, we almost jumped off the bus. Just a couple of kms from Hoi An are a few AWESOME beaches! Shoulda woulda coulda...
3 hours later, we arrived in Hue for the next leg of our Vietnam travels.
