Last day of the financial year. Good super returns thank god! Today we move to HoiAn. Kevin came walking with me this morning as he knew he had to get up a little earlier, so we left at 5.25am. After breakie we packed and got ready for our 9am pick-up. Well it didn't turn up so I rang the name that Ms Vang (from Betel Garden Hotel in Hoi An) had given me and Duy told me our pick up wasn't til 10am. Kevin not happy that I got the time wrong. Driver turns up in a 10 seat Mercedes Van for just the two of us. Packed away our gear and off we go. Reason for private car was to allow us to come over the Hai Van Pass which is 21km of twisting road and the pass has long been a challenge for drivers traveling between the Hue and Đà Nẵng but has seen less traffic now that the Hai Van Tunnel has been completed and saves drivers time. Historically many accidents including train and planes. When we got to Danang we met a private car and transfered over for the rest of the trip to HoiAn. Betel Garden Homestay staff were all there to welcome us. Mr Tuan, Ms Vang, Ms Hien, Ms Le (owner), Mr Vinh (gardener), Mr An (Security) and the kitchen and house staff. Met with a lovely boquet of flowers that Ms Vang had prepared for us. Also a nice refreshing passionfruit drink. After many hugs and kisses and catching up on each others lives we went to our room - bungalow 104 which has had a little makeover and been refreshed. New addition of bungalow 9 and 10 has just finished in past 2 weeks. Met Yvonne and her husband in bungalow 109 who have a Thia child, aged 9. Yvonne told me that they had just been to Thialand to meet the boys mother and uncle. A very traumatic event by the sounds. We arranged motorbikes for $5 a day each and Kevin went off for a practice run. We stayed around hotel until Ms Vang and Ms Hein had collected their children from kindergarten. Bo was very shy and would not leave Ms Hein side while Wing was running around like a mad hatter into everything. Decided to go to the beach - An Bang at 5pm for a quick dip to cool off. We rode down and there were hundreds of people on 'our' beach because it was a Sunday of course. We headed toward Soul kitchen but it was very busy so we went on a little further to Banyan and set up there. Off for a dip and the water of the South China Sea was very cool and refreshing. Only stayed til 6pm and headed back because I didn't want to be out in the dark on Kevin's first bike ride. Decided to have tea at hotel because we had had a late lunch at 2.30pm. Kwvin ordered pumpkin soup and I had vegetable soup. Both were yummy. Mr Vinh who we spent time with last year told us that he was leaving Betel Garden and today was his last day. We sat and chatted for a while and seems the hours are just too long and hard on his family. He works 24 hours then has 24 hours off. Would be very hard to get into this routine so he is going to stay home and look after his son Dreim while his wife works as hotel cleaner. He wants to also improve his english to enable him to get a better job. His english has certainly improved since last year and he is easier to understand. We aranged to meet him for a coffee later in the week. Mr Dong wasn't working today as he had a special family day planned.
