Lastnight we watched a walking dead episode so I was a bit late getting onto Skype. Liam fell asleep during my conversation with them, I was on for an hour and it was great! It was just like being with them only they got to eat cake and I didn't! I ended up not going to sleep until about 12.45am which kind of defeats the point of a lie on because I needed a LOT of sleep! Woke up an hour before the alarm too. Thankfully Liam slept like a baby, which is a good job because he was starting to get tetchy! We originally were going to go to a cooking class today but we cancelled hat as it was pricey and we didn't think it would be worth the money in the end. Our plan for today was going to be hire bikes and go to the beach. We got up, sun creamed up, put swimming stuff on under our clothes...only to look outside and it be raining! So we changed the plan and after breakfast and booking our transport and hotel for the next move ventured out to see what we could find around hoi an by foot. We walked around for a couple of hours or so, sometimes in the sun, other times in the rain.
The streets are so lovely, it's got a French feel to it, lots of the buildings are yellow with wooden shutters and hanging flowers/creepers over the walls and balconies. We went into a small museum with lots of artefacts from thousands of years ago which was pretty cool. We walked past a few places that were supposed tourist places but nobody was really around and a lot you had to pay to get in. They didn't look good enough to pay money in our opinion so we were happy to look at the architecture from outside before moving on. We crossed the japanese bridge which was a lovely wooden bridge built in the 17th century by some Japanese living here at the time. It's not just a bridge but also a temple with small shrines inside Hoi An was quite undeveloped around this time and the Japanese had a part to play in building new houses and infrastructure around the town. Hoi an is like a port town I guess so it has a lot of influences from different cultures over the years. On the other side we were greeted by a lovely little street, filled with lanterns with lots of shops...all with the same kinds of stuff in as everywhere else but it's all so beautiful. We both keep finding yourselves wanting to buy things, we will have to make a decision of what to buy out of all the things we want and maybe ship something back. After that we went to the river and sat on a bench on the riverbank watching all the merchants and boats whilst we snacked on some bread and fruit. We ventured a few different turns to see what we could find, always greeted by smiling Vietnamese people, mostly wanting to sell something but great people all the same.
There are tailor shops on every street, they will tailor make entire outfits for you for as little as £20...perhaps if we wernt leaving tomorrow we would have done that but it takes 1 day and we don't have that time any more. I mentioned before I think about the lady outside the hotel who sells a few drinks and foods on her stall and rents out bikes. She came and asked our names as soon as we arrived and every time we go out or come back she will get up and say hello, ask how our day was and stuff. We know it's s tactic to get us to buy from her but it worked because she's such a lovely little lady! So on the way in we bought a bottle of coke and thins cheeky bottle of vodka to start drinking later before we go out to save spending more on drinks in the restaurants. I said I need to be at least a bit tipsy, it's been years since I've not been with it being shelleys birthday and having a party every Halloween! After having a short chat with the lady we went back in, planning on going to the pool for a swim. But, surprise surprise, it started raining loads as soon as we got up to the room rather than the spitting it was doing before. After a short time of waiting for it to stop and nanna and grandad grandad catching me on Skype for 15 minutes, we bit the bullet and went out for a swim, or at least I did! After a short swim we then watched a scary film on the tv with vodka and cokes, it was called a stranger calls or something and was actually really bad but still, it was watched in the spirit of Halloween. The drinking was also in the spirit because I don't think I've had a fully sober Halloween since Shelley was old enough to throw parties with alcohol!
We then went out in the rain equipped with raincoats and a hotel umbrella and after the half hour walk and some time going from restaurant to restaurant deciding, we finally chose our one across the ricer bridge. The food was amazing, again. We're so surprised there aren't more ( or any, as we've never personally come across any) vietnamese restaurants in England...they would do so well! After eating some amazing food and having a cocktail each we initially went in search of a bar for further halloween antics. However we decided that we had both had enough to drink what with the vodkas and strong cocktails and we'd call it a night and head home. All the paths by the river were flooded and nothing was open because of it so the original plan for a spot of shopping went out of the window, but in all honesty we wernt too bothered as it just meant less money spent today. It was lovely walking back, you go from main hotspots that are quite busy to deserted French/Italian streets where it's just you, the rain and overhead lanterns for company We got back to the hotel at 10.45 and settled into bed fairly quickly for a good nights sleep...we have no idea what we're doing tomorrow as its forecast rain and we also have to check out by 12 and our taxi isn't until 8.30pm. We live life on the edge nowadays!
